Page 4 of Corruption
“We were sent here to kill you, and I will,” he declared confidently. “But I’ll do your bitch a kindness and spare her life today. I’ll just take her with me. I’m certain we can find suitable work for her, preferably on her back.”
The laughter that erupted from the man behind me did nothing to settle my stomach. I hadn’t eaten much during my time locked in Jared’s room. All that churned within me were traces of alcohol, which I cursed myself for ingesting now, as it made me feel increasingly queasy.
“Release her right now, because if you lay a finger on her—” Jared started.
“Then what?”
“You have no fucking clue.”
“Sounds like you do care,” the man taunted, and I could see a faint twitch on Jared’s face, revealing too much. We both knew this was the end of the line. The other man might not have had the chance to fire a shot, but this time I wasn’t escaping. I never thought that when I signed my name on that fucking contract, it would lead to the end of my life. Maybe I hadn’t merely struck a deal with the devil. Perhaps I’d traded my soul, and now he was here to collect.How ironically fitting,I mused inwardly, before closing my eyes. I wanted to shout at him to get it over with. The anticipation itself was the true torment, and it was making me lightheaded.
“Listen, things are being taken care of. No one else has to die tonight,” Jared negotiated.
“Unfortunately for you, I don’t believe you.”
“So, what do you see happening? I’m not moving, and she’s your leverage. Kill her, and I will kill you. Try to kill me, and I’ll still kill you,” Jared stated, casting himself as an entirely different person before my eyes. However, my attacker grew uncertain about his next move.
“Maybe I won’t kill you tonight then,” my attacker mused. “Maybe I’ll just take your whore with me.”
“I’m not moving,” Jared reiterated.
“You will if you don’t want a bullet in her pretty head.” The gun pressed harder against my temple, and I whimpered. The sound seemed to shake Jared, and he took a small step forward, eliciting a tsk from the man. “Ah, ah, don’t come closer.”
Suddenly, Jared astonished me by releasing the gun with one of his hands, holding both up, and no longer pointing the weapon at my attacker. What on earth was he doing?
“Let her go,” he demanded, his voice carrying a near-pleading tone. I glanced at my attacker noticing his smile. “You can have me. I killed Pete. I’m the one you want, but let her go now.”
I could see it in my attacker’s eyes. I was either going to be killed or end up trafficked. How had my life come to this? I knew I deserved punishment for the things I had subjected Jared to, but the idea of being sold for my body intensified the churning in my stomach. I wanted to claim that I handled this situation gracefully, but my reaction was like a volcano erupting after years of dormancy. Stomach acid and the expensive alcohol I had been drinking spewed out between my lips as I bent forward, catching my attacker off guard, and his grip on me loosened slightly.
“What the fuc—” He didn’t get to finish that sentence before another gunshot rang out in the house. His grip on me slipped away, and I heard a loud thud, but I couldn’t focus on what had just occurred. I was coughing, feeling as though I were being choked by my own vomit as I grabbed the balcony railing, slowly sinking to my knees. My body shook uncontrollably, as if I’d been drenched in icy water. It did nothing to ease the turmoil in my stomach as I retched and coughed, disgusting and burning saliva dripping from my chin and lips.
“Alison! Alison!” Footsteps approached rapidly, and I felt hands on me, but I screamed and pulled away. I was no longer tethered to reality. Everything around me screamed danger!
Chapter 3
-Jared-
I had never driven so recklessly or sprinted so frantically as I did tonight. It was a night filled with entirely new experiences. The cold sight of a gun against Alison’s head, the horrifying promise of her imminent death... I had believed myself immune to shock by now, but this had shaken me to my core. My heart thundered in my chest as I rushed to Alison after shooting the man who had been holding her. She was huddled against the balcony railing, coughing violently. My instincts screamed at me to check for injuries, to make sure he hadn’t harmed her. But every time I reached out, she recoiled. I tried again, and she screamed at me to leave her be. Time, however, was not on our side. I had no idea who else might come after us, so we needed to get out of there, immediately.
I grabbed her arm once more, but she turned her head and sank her teeth into my wrist. She was like a cornered animal, instinctively lashing out to defend herself. I couldn’t help but yelp in pain, biting down on my lip to endure the sharp sensation. She bit down on the hand that held the gun, prompting me to reach out with my other hand, gently stroking her hair. My hope was to soothe her, to bring her back from the brink, but her bite was relentless.
“Alison, we need to go,” I leaned in closer and whispered, trying to break through her shock. She seemed lost in her own world of terror. I grabbed the back of her collar, pulling hard. The pressure forced her to release my arm, leaving a red, burning mark behind, but thankfully, she hadn’t broken the skin.
“Come on, we need to go,” I implored, making her focus on me. I kept three fingers wedged beneath her collar, maintaining the pressure to keep her attention. Her eyes were wide, her pupils almost swallowing the entire iris as fear coursed through her.
“Alison!” I urged her, but she shook her head, trying to turn away. I didn’t have the luxury of time to comfort her, as much as I understood the shock she was experiencing. We had to leave. I slipped my fingers free and encircled my arm around her.
“No!” she screamed, clinging desperately to the iron bars of the balcony railing.
“We can’t stay here!” I yelled, attempting to pull her away.
“Let me go!”
Finally, as I managed to make her let go of the railing, I tried to force her with me, but she screamed and tried to escape in the opposite direction. Our last hunt had been thrilling, but at this moment, only a razor-sharp, focused mind drove me. The image of Alison with a gun to her head ignited a dark rage inside me, and I couldn’t risk her being caught in the crossfire again. She wasn’t safe here. Frankly, I was uncertain about the severity of the situation, but arriving even a second later would have meant discovering a lifeless body. If she wouldn’t heed my words right now, that was okay, but I couldn’t leave her alone.
I turned, bending down to effortlessly pick her up. She dangled over my shoulder, kicking her legs wildly in the air as I carried her back to my room.
“No! You fucking bastard! Let me go!” she screamed, shouting and calling for help as if someone might miraculously hear her. If there was one thing I had learned from a young age, it was that people rarely cared. You could thrust the world’s horrors right in front of their eyes, and somehow, they would still find a way to fixate on an imaginary rainbow that didn’t even exist in the picture.
