Taylor

Horror gripped me as I began to twist to break free while his lips crushed mine. I winced in pain at the pressure of the cut on my lips. I tried to move my head to the side, but his hand held my chin and forced it back. Adrenaline began to pump through my veins and I began to fight him as hard as I could.

For a moment I felt relief when the weight of his body eased from mine, but that relief vanished when I saw the evil inside of his soul. His fist connected with my cheek and I was momentarily stunned. It hurt and I lifted my hand to my face.

"Behave," he instructed fiercely, "or I will make you."

He was going to hurt me either way. It was the second time I'd ever seen evil in the form of another human being. My cheek throbbed. I'd never been hit before.

Taking advantage of my sudden shock, he began to pull at my shirt. The abrupt action pulled me out of my daze and I tried to stop him by holding onto the shirt. When he couldn't pull the shirt over my head successfully, he ripped it with his hands. I tried clutching the shirt, but another fist hit my right eye and the pain that exploded in my head made me scream out in pain as both my hands released the shirt to cover my eye.

"This is going to hurt if you keep fighting me," he warned in a deadly voice and I knew he meant every word, but it wasn't going to stop me from trying to stop him. Tears squeezed from my eyes as I began to struggle to get free. Another hit to my face made me cry out as I struggled to fight off the darkness that wanted to protect me from what was to come.

I felt him tug at my sweatpants from my legs before I had a chance to fight back. I was missing half my clothes and my face was pulsing with pain. He held my gaze as he stood before me and took off his shirt.

Oh no!

I had to do something now or else it was going to be too late. I scrambled off the bed and stood beside it, putting myself on the opposite side of Eric, but the problem was that he was blocking the main exit out of the room. I felt a moment of dizziness before I gritted my teeth.

Somewhere deep inside of me the little girl who had survived the horrific slaughter of her parents rose up in me and gave me the strength I needed to keep fighting and hold on to the hope that I would make it out.

He smiled at me and my blood ran cold. His eyes told me that we were far from over and there would be plenty of pain to come. I swallowed hard, trying to keep my eyes focused on him, which was becoming harder because my one eye was swelling shut.

He laughed when he walked closer and I jumped onto the bed. I shot a side-glance to the door to calculate how far I was from the door, but before I could even try and make a dash for it he was in front of the door. He locked it and put the key in the pocket of his jeans.

"You are not going to leave," he said when he turned to face me, leaning against the locked door. He said it with so much confidence that I was starting to believe him.

The only other exit out of the bedroom was a window. I jumped off the bed and went straight to the window to try and tug it open. Horror filled me when the window wouldn't budge. Frantically, I tried to see if it was locked, but I felt hands grab me and toss me back onto the bed. Before I could try and get off, he held my body down with his.

"I don't know why you're fighting the inevitable," he said, breathing hard.

"I will never be yours," I spat back. I knew saying it would only anger him, but I didn't want him to think that for a second I was going to let this willingly happen.

"But you can't stop me," he reminded me with a smile and I began to struggle again. He lifted himself off me and he punched me in the stomach. Winded and startled at the sudden pain, I clutched my stomach.

"I wonder how much longer you're going to fight me," he murmured, looking down at me like I was some sort of experiment that he was studying. There was no connection between his conscience and his actions.

"Until I can't fight you anymore," I said fiercely, struggling with the pain I was in. The blow to my stomach had been a direct hit to my already tender bruises from the accident.

He grabbed my hands and pulled them above my head. I whimpered from the pain as his mouth covered mine. He pressed his body against mine and I felt his excitement. Tasting the metal taste of my own blood I felt the sting of tears.

This couldn't be happening.

I struggled against him and he let go of my hands to grab my hips and pull them firmly against his as his mouth slid along my throat. Through the blur of my tears, I saw the lamp beside the bed. It was just out of reach, but if I could just move a little closer I would be able to reach it.

As his hand covered my bra-covered breast, I inched my fingers toward the lamp, moving slowly so he wouldn't realize what I was doing. His hand squeezed my breast and I felt only revulsion at the act.

I wanted to push him away, but this was the only opportunity I would have to escape. I needed to stay calm. I was going to make it out of here, I swore to myself.

My eyes went back to the lamp and I inched closer. The moment my fingers touched the lamp, I wanted to cry out in relief.

Eric was trying to unclasp my bra so he never saw it coming. My hand wrapped around the lamp and, with everything I had, I swung it against his head.

"Ahh!" he yelled as he rolled off me and onto the floor with a thud.

"Goddammit!" he yelled as he held his head. Adrenaline pumped through me. There was no time to waste. I scrambled off the bed, my pain forgotten as I kicked into survival mode.

My eyes shot to the door. He had the key in his pocket so there was no way I could get out that way.

The only other option was the window that wouldn't open. I had to break it.

I grabbed the lamp and I swung it against the window, looking away. The window shattered. The groan that came from my injured kidnapper reminded me I was running out of time.

Frantically, I tried to clear as much of the broken glass as I could so I wouldn't cut myself too much while trying to climb out. I glanced back quickly to see Eric get to his knees, but he was still clutching his head and groaning.

I couldn't waste any more time so I put one leg through the broken window and I held onto the top of the window frame to keep my balance. Freedom was within my grasp.

More groaning from behind me made me panic, and as soon as my foot touched the ground outside, I pulled my other leg through. I winced as pain shot through me. My skin had caught a jagged piece of glass.

The sight of Eric getting to his feet and looking in my direction made me pull my leg through despite the pain from the glass cutting through my skin. No pain could compare to the pain he would inflict on me if he caught me now.

Once I was out, I tried to get away as quickly as I could. I couldn't run—I was too injured. It was dark, but the soft light that illuminated from the surrounding houses was enough for me to see where I was going. I stumbled a couple of times, scraping my knees. No matter how bad the pain was, I got back to my feet and kept going. My face, stomach and leg hurt, but I couldn't concentrate on that pain.

I brushed my face and looked down to see dark liquid on my hands. It took a moment to register that it was my blood. The fear that Eric was just behind me kept me going even through the pain. I felt the blood run down my leg as I hobbled along.

I didn't know where to go and a wave of dizziness hit me. The world began to tilt and I dropped to my knees on the road. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment before I opened them, hoping everything would remain still.