Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 294(@250wpm)___ 245(@300wpm)
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Just like my heart, he quickens his pace until he’s right in front of me, staring down at me like a hellhound ready to kill anything in its sight.
His hand lowers and grabs my throat before I realize it, and he manages to lift me off the ground with ease.
“No, p-please,” I gasp, unable to form a single sentence from the sheer pressure around my neck.
He lifts me to meet his gaze, eyes narrow and darkening. Until they suddenly open wide, pupils dilated.
His grip around my neck loses all force in an instant. I’m dropped to the ground, coughing loudly. “Please, stop,” I mutter, tears staining my eyes as I look up.
But the figure gazes over his shoulder instead, searching for something—or someone—who is no longer there.
Father?
“Papa?” I cry out, glancing between the thick calves in front of me.
The figure’s chest rumbles with a growl emanating from deep within. His head slowly turns back to me, square jaw tightened, nostrils flared, the emerald glimmer replaced by pure hatred.
He bends over and picks me up by the waist, throwing me over his shoulder like I weigh nothing. Screaming, I kick and punch, but to no avail. He carries me out of the living room, marching across the bloodied floor and over the bodies until the last whimper of the fallen pervades my home in permanent silence with the slamming of the front door.
And my life as I knew it, in all its pain and beauty, ceases to exist.
CHAPTER 3
Aurora
I’m thrown into a van in broad daylight. My wrists are locked in place from behind, a thick strap keeping me from freeing myself. When I scream, he grabs me and pushes a piece of cloth into my mouth. Then a bag is pulled over my head.
Darkness.
Pure and utter darkness.
Terrifying.
My nostrils flare as I breathe fast and desperate, even though the bag has holes. The panic only rises the second he closes the doors.
Silence.
Oh God.
Why me?
Where is he going to take me?
And where is my father?
I hear something unlock and hold my breath as a door opens. Someone steps inside in the front. I can hear two massive feet settle as he sits down on the chair.
The engine starts, the sound only adding to my crippling fear as the van begins to drive. My breathing is labored and noisy. I feel like I’m lost in a nightmare I can’t escape. I sit up straight and try to focus on seeing through the bag, but it’s impossible. All I can do is breathe through the tiny holes, in and out, in and out.
C’mon, Aurora, focus.
Listen to the sounds, feel the way the van moves, and remember the directions so you know where he’s taking you.
But the longer it takes, the less I remember about the entire journey, forgetting lefts and rights everywhere until it’s all one jumbled mess and makes me want to cry.
After a while, the van stops.
My heart palpitates so fast it feels like I might have a heart attack.
I stay still, cornered in the van, and when the driver’s door shuts again, I jolt.
The van doors crack open.
I shriek into the cloth and scoot back on my ass as two hands grasp for my legs.
The man grabs my ankles and spins me around so I’m helpless to fight back as he drags me out of the van.
With a simple motion, he throws me over his shoulder again as though it comes naturally to him.
SQUEAK.
A door is opened.
“Look what the cat dragged in.”
It sounds like a woman, but definitely not a voice I recognize.
“You look like you just stepped off a battlefield,” the woman adds.
The man holding me like a victory prize merely growls at her.
“You want a room?”
The sound of money clattering onto the counter catches my attention.
“You can stay for the night, but I need you and your business gone by tomorrow, understand?” the woman says. “I don’t want any trouble with the cops.”
No verbal response from my captor.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
His footsteps are like moving mountains as we go up a staircase. And another one. Three in total. Then some more walking. A door opens and shuts, and I’m thrown down again onto soft bedding. My breathing is ragged as my body sinks into the mattress, and I struggle to turn my neck.
Suddenly, he swooshes me around, and I kick around wildly to get him off me. Until he rips the bag off my head, and I come face-to-face with the devil’s hound himself.
But all he does is stare.
Straight into my soul.
Beast
For a moment, it’s as if time stands still.
There is nothing in this room.
In this world.
Nothing.
Except her … and me.
Her caramel eyes enchant me, forcing me to pause and take in her beauty. Her rage. Her tears.
Some of them tumble down her cheeks, her eyes desperately searching mine for answers. Answers I don’t have.