Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 100470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
I can’t breathe.
I’m crying.
I’m dying.
Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap.
The abuse continues forever, the pain growing so intense, I vomit all over my sleeping bag. The acidic scent of puke plus the needy grunts coming from Logan are too much.
I black out. For how long, I’m not sure. And then I’m back to my nightmarish reality.
Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap.
I attempt to replay the moment with Raegan.
Just her and me. Just us. Her soft whimpers.
But it’s not enough. He steals me from her.
Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap.
Logan is raping me.
He’s fucking raping me.
Everything feels as though it’s spinning, but finally, the brutality stops. I’m left half naked, messy from his spent cum spitting out of my ravaged asshole, and sobbing uncontrollably.
It’s not until I hear his snores beside me do I allow myself to finally relax all my muscles.
I can’t take this again.
We have to get the fuck out of here.
* * *
* * *
This is taking forever.
Me and my brother are good trackers, but they always seem to be too far ahead of us. We wasted a couple of days when our trail went cold again. It opened up to a huge meadow near a water source. Bears, wolves, deer, and other game trampled down the brush, leading in many different directions. All we had to go on was the general southeast route they had been taking this whole time and assume it’d continue.
We were wrong.
The trail quickly went cold and we were forced to backtrack, losing half a day by going in the wrong direction. Another several hours were spent splitting up and searching deeper for the trail to pick up again. Wild eventually found it, shooting more southwest this time. By the time he rounded us up, it was dark and traveling through the night when we barely picked up their trail seemed stupid. We couldn’t afford to lose any more time, so breaking for camp was a necessity.
“We’re never going to find them,” I grumble, rolling Raegan’s earring around between my thumb and finger. “Who’s to say they’re even still alive?”
My stomach roils at the thought of losing any of my siblings.
“Raegan probably already mouthed off and got herself killed,” Wild agrees with a snort. “We should pack it up and head back.”
Rowdy bristles at Wild’s words but doesn’t say anything. In fact, he hasn’t said much at all this entire trip. Wild keeps saying things to rile him up, but Rowdy’s not rising to the bait.
When neither of us says anything to Wild’s attempt to stir the pot, he huffs and then stomps off to his tent. Me and my brother sit in silence, the crickets singing in the dark, until I’m sure Wild has finally fallen asleep.
“Hey,” I mutter, elbowing Rowdy. “What’s your deal with him anyway?”
Rowdy doesn’t speak for a full minute before a sigh rasps out of him. “He hates me. Thinks punishing me is his job now.”
I roll my eyes in the dark. “I could figure that out on my own. But why, man? What happened when you stayed with them four years ago?”
With only the moonlight shining through the trees, it’s hard to make out Rowdy’s shadowed expression. We’d decided against fires in case we get close to the traveling group. No more fires and no more gunshots if we want to have the element of surprise.
“I wanted to go experience life,” Rowdy says, voice soft. “Back then, I’d felt trapped at home, you know? Every day was the same with the same people. Pretty boring. I’m sure you get that.”
He was my age when he left us. Difference is, he chose to leave, whereas Dad was going to make me leave. Not sure that’s on Dad’s list of priorities anymore. I can certainly hope not.
“Sure.” My lie seems obvious to me, but Rowdy relaxes and continues.
“I showed up at Uncle Atticus’s. Evan, Wild’s cousin, was there. It was nice to hang out with another guy—a man.” He picks up a stick and snaps it in two. “Wild seemed so…young. Like a little boy and so far from who I was becoming. No offense, but he was like my little brother and I was trying to get away from all that.”
All that being us.
Nice.
Rather than bite out a retort, I wait for him to continue.
“Evan was cool. Funny as shit. And he got me to try things. It was exactly the experience I was after.”
“How does Wild come into play?” I ask, canting my head to look at him better. “He was annoyed with not being the center of attention?”
Rowdy pauses for a bit and then tosses one of his broken sticks away from us. “Something like that.”
“Dude, that’s all you’re giving me? For fuck’s sake—”
“I kissed him. Evan. We were drinking, smoking a little pot, and then we were kissing. It happened all so fast.”