It's a Good Year for a ***

I don’t think twice when I hear him say it. I just run. My feet carry me through tall bushes and I fall. Crashing into water, I stumble onto the bank and crawl forward, ignoring the pain in my ankle. He’s close behind me as I jump up and hobble away. Praying that one of the boys will save me.
“You can run!” he sings out “But you can’t hide from me!”
“Zacky!” I shriek.
I run towards a group of trees, looking for any place to hide from him. Just as I reach the first tree I find myself falling. My face hitting the ground hard knocks the breath out of me and I gasp for air, inhaling dirt. I cough and spit up, trying desperately to catch my breath.
“Gotcha.” He whispers in my ear as he puts more pressure on me as I squirm underneath him.
“No. Get off me.” I groan.
“Such a pretty girl. Your boyfriend shouldn’t have let you out of his sight.” He coos.
I can’t help the tears that flow freely. I try to slide my arms out from under me, but as soon as they are free he roughly grabs them, pulling them behind my back. I feel a hard plastic rubbing on my wrists.
“Always come prepared.” He laughs to himself.
“Zacky.” I cry out again, my voice scratchy and hoarse.
“Shh. Quiet now little one. No one’s going to hear you scream out here. Wait until we have some privacy to let me hear that beautiful scream. And I promise, you will scream for me.”

He grabs my hands by the restraint, zip ties I assume from the feel of them, and drags me away from the trees. I kick my feet and cry out in pain as I’m dragged across the ground.
“Now. You’re going to stay here while I go get the car. Then we’re going to have some fun.” He smiles at me. He pulls out more zip ties and restrains my kicking feet.
“Jimmy! Zacky! Please!” I scream loudly. “Please I’ll be good! Please!”
A hard slap to my already bruised face shuts me up long enough for him to wrap a bandana around my mouth and silence me for good. I cry into the bandana as he walks away and leaves me there in the bushes.

Closing my eyes I don’t even try to stop myself from crying out in pain. My ankle is swollen and pain is radiating up my leg, my face is tender and uncomfortable from the bandana rubbing it, my legs are cut up from being dragged across the ground, and my lungs are on fire from all the screaming and coughing.

A hand suddenly lands on my shoulder and I involuntarily let out a muffle scream. I shut my eyes tight and throw my bonded hands up in attempt to protect myself.

“Sh. It’s ok Bells. It’s me. Jimmy.”
My eyes shoot open and I try to hug him, resulting in me hitting my head on his boney shoulder.

“Careful now Bells. I have t be quick, he’s on his way back to get you.”
I shake my head no and cry harder.
“Listen to me. Nothing is going to happen to you. We’ve just gotta make sure it’s done right. We’ll be behind you the entire time. Vengeance won’t let anything happen to you, you know that. In fact, Shadows and Gates are holding him back right now. He’s hell bent on us just killing him right now. But I need you to understand that you have to put up with this for just a little bit longer. We’re not going to let anything happen to our little Bell-a-Bear.” He smiles at me as he wipes my tears. Then he backs away and blows me a kiss, disappearing into a thicket.