Chapter Text
I rode until I physically could not bare it any longer.
Approximately two days had passed, and I had barely slept longer than a few hours, at most.
However, the physical part of leaving is doable.
The mental part is not.
Being sad is heavy… almost too heavy. Anger is a much more productive emotion, and I can only wish that anger was the weight in my mind instead of the debilitating sadness filling my heart.
Jean.
It doesn’t even matter if he’ll come to forgive me. I can’t ever see him again if I want him to be safe.
I can only hope that he won’t try to come for me, which is why I stopped in the middle of nowhere.
I managed to come across a dilapidated house of sorts… if you could even call it a house.
It had definitely been raided by a gang or two - cans of food were scattered on the ground, pieces of paper lying everywhere, random articles of clothing and broken pieces of what furniture was left…
It would have to work, for now.
………………………..
The next several weeks were spent building up the house into something more liveable. Going out on hunts, chopping firewood, doing laundry so I could rewear the minimal clothes I was able to bring, cooking and preserving food…
I’m surviving. I give myself no time to dwell on what life was like during the months prior. Whenever I get that sinking feeling, deep within my chest, I find something to do.
Which is what I’m doing today.
Today is a hunting day, and I have ventured out into the woods to find some game for the next few days… maybe a week, if I’m lucky.
Just as I was getting my gun adjusted onto my arm, I heard a twig snap directly to my right.
That’s odd… considering I would have scared any rabbit or raccoon away by now if they were this close, and I would have seen a bigger animal in the clearings between the trees.
What the hell?
Out of nowhere, a lasso wrapped around my body and hurled me to the ground. My face hit the dirt with such force, my vision went blurry.
What the fuck is going on?
“Look, boys! We got a pretty one.”
The voice of a man I didn’t recognize creeped up from behind me and sent a chill up my spine. I could hear heavy footsteps moving towards me, and heard the deranged laughs of at least a few other men.
Must be a gang of some sorts. Lovely.
Suddenly, I felt a hand in my hair and my head yanked up.
The face I was met with was absolutely fucking horrifying. Eyes that bore into my soul, yet didn’t have a soul of their own. Blood encrusted in his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth. A menacing smirk plastered on his face.
I know who these people are.
“Hey, sweetheart. Do you know who we are?”
I let a moment go by, not being able to form words.
“I asked you a question, slut.”
Faster than I could blink, I felt pain ripple across my cheek and into my nose.
This motherfucker really just punched me.
Before I could react or say a word, he drew his hand back again and hit my mouth.
“Want to answer me this time?”
I spit blood in his face, forcing him to drop me out of his grasp. As I scrambled to grab my gun, my feet were ripped out from under me by the lasso, sending me into the ground once again.
I’m so fucked.
I heard all the men laughing again, and I started to feel sick to my stomach.
The leader of the group (I’m assuming) spoke again in a voice that made me fight back screaming at the top of my lungs.
“We are the Skinner Brood, and we are going to have such a fun time with you.”
On his last word, I saw his foot moving towards my face, and that was the last thing I remember.