Chapter 32: Chapter 32

“What the fuck was that Em?” Julia ask when the coast is finally clear. “And who the hell is the evil hunk who is after us?”

I roll my eyes at her antics. Of course she would find someone like him to be attractive. Tall, dark, and handsome pretty much fit her type to a tee. As I think of Maximus I realize that we pretty much have the same type. Laughter fills my chest and as it bubbles up I am unable to stop it.

Tears fill my eyes as I laugh. This situation really isn’t funny, but I can’t seem to stop myself. Here we are in the middle of the forest looking for dragons. Now we have one hunting us with his little army. All of this and the first thing that comes to mind is the type of guy I am into. The utter ridiculousness of the situation just seemed to manifest itself in laughter and tears. Truthfully, all I feel is fear. A deep overwhelming amount of fear because of the danger I have put my best friend in.

She shouldn’t even be here. She should be finding her own story and her own path in life. She shouldn’t be anywhere near the dangers that these beast hold. I shouldn’t even be here. I should have been with him and yet all I feel is that he didn’t want me anymore. I freaked out completely because I felt the opposite. After everything I heard from his dragon, the fact that he was willing to kill so that I could stay safe, I wanted him even more. I still want him.

“Oh god Jules. I’m so sorry that I got you into this. I’m sorry that I’m such a shitty friend. Sorry that I just quit your job for you. I’m sorry that I took your grandmothers ring and much more I had you lie so many times for me. I’m sorry that----” My apologies are quickly cut off by the sound of her laughter.

She hunches over holding onto her knees as she laughs her ass off. As I look at her I realize that she is an absolute mess right now. She’s covered in twigs; leaves dirt and god know what else from the forest. Looking at myself I see that I am even worse off. The once blue robe is now almost fully brown from the amount of things I have touched. I walk over and hug her as I start to laugh along with her. As she hugs me back, I find that I am glad she is here even if we are now running for our lives.

“You are a beautiful hot mess, Em. You don’t have anything to be sorry for. There was no way I was leaving you when I knew you needed me. I can get another job, but I can’t, however, ever get another one of you” she says as our laughter dies down.

“I love you too, Jules. You have always been like a sister to me. I wouldn’t change meeting you for the world” I tell her with all the love I feel.

“Okay girlie, now enough of the mushy shit. Let’s go get this dragon of yours so I can give him a piece of my mind too” she says as we pull away and wipe at the tears on our faces the best we can.

“I just wish I had a way to know that we were truly going in the right direction. I’ve been relaying on the satellite images they showed us” I admit allowed.

“I know. They made us all study those images. We are going in the direction that dragons were spotted in” she muses aloud. “Just curious though, did your dragon man show you that trick back there” she ask as she watches me closely.

“I didn’t even know that I could do that. It has to have something to deal with the fact that I am his mate” I tell her as she looks at me quizzically. I start walking as tell her what I mean. “According to them, they are all destined to meet the one that is perfect for them. I guess you could call them a soul mate even though they only say mate. They only have one other couple to go off of” I state.

“And the thing I saw you do, what’s that” she ask again.

“That would be his ability. He can make his self-invisible but when he does I am the only one that can still see him. He can use the ability to travel too. It’s probably how he got me back to camp without any of you see us” I muse allowed. Suddenly the thought has both of us stopping in our tracks. As I look at her face I can tell that we are having the same thoughts.

“If you can use that ability of his. Shouldn’t you be able to use the other one too. I mean do you think that could work” she ask as my mind runs a million miles per minute. Theoretically I believe it could work but I wouldn’t even know where to start. I can try though.

“Perhaps. I can definitely try though. Give me your hand” I tell her. As she places her hand in mine I try to clear my head.

“Wait” I look at her as she shouts. I raise my eyebrow at her wondering what could make her want to stop me. “So, don’t get mad. But do you really want to try this? And if you are successful, do you really want to show up looking like that” she ask.

At her question I immediately look down and grimace at my clothing. She definitely has a point. I try to remember more about the map as we take a look around at our surroundings. If I am correct then there is a river close to us. I may not have access to another robe right now but I do still have the other shorts and shirts I packed for this expedition.

“Come on, this is the direction of the river” With a nod form Julia we start to cut through the trees of the forest. If this idea turns out to be farfetched then it will still only take a few hours out of our journey.

We make it to the river in record time. As I dipped my foot in to test the temperature a s the sun is rising is already a of the day as the sun is rising is already unbearable. I really want to be closer to their camp than I think we are. We drop our packs and both wade into the water allowing it to come up to our waist.

I dip my hair back into the water as Julia goes over to our bags to get the soap. “This sure would be a lot better if I knew exactly what was lurking in these woods.” She says. I chuckle since I feel the same. This does feel like heaven after the last few days.

“What do you think could make this better” I ask her curiously.

“The fact that I could take the clothes off without looking over my shoulder. I wouldn’t mind the right one looking but all these trees kind of freak me out” she says with a visible stutter.

I take the soap from her gratefully as I strip off the robe and start to wash my body. “Don’t worry about it, we can watch each other’s backs. We will be quick” I tell her. She nods her head as we hear a heavy chuckle. I quickly turn my back to Julia as I start to back away from where I heard the sound.

A man wades just a few feet away from us in the water. I start to panic because I didn’t even hear him get in the water. How much of our conversation was he listening to.

“Please, don’t dress so swiftly on my account. I think a slow tease would be best. You know to keep your audience happy and all” He says with a smirk on his face. I grab Julia’s hand as I start to make an attempt to exit the water by walking backwards.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, my friends are also here in the water and we don’t like abrupt movement” he says with a smile.

If I weren’t jerking us to a stop because of the threat in his voice I would have definitely stopped once I saw his teeth. There were so any of them and instead of being near square shaped, they were all long and pointy. Now that I take him in more, I can see many other differences about him. His skin nearly glows against the water. Even though half his body is submerged I can still see the full length of it.

“Please tell me I am not the only one seeing the scales. He does have scales right?” Julia ask in a near panic.

I nod my head in fright as he chuckles at her once more. “We don’t want any trouble. We were just passing through” I tell him as I look toward the riverbank.

“You see, you passing through is the problem We don’t like your kind around here.” He raises his hand above the water and suddenly there are more people. We are now surrounded by beautiful women. I gasp when I notice that most of them however have no tops on. There are literally boobs of every shape and size filling my vision. I fight not to cover my eyes.

He steps closer to us and I feel Julia’s hold on my hand tighten. “The scent of your fear is intoxicating. I can only imagine what the potent taste of it would be like” I grimace in disgust as the women around us laugh. “Why don’t we have a little fun with our food first. Ladies?”

I am jerked by the foot by something underneath the water. The forest disappears as the darkness of the river takes hold of my vision. I scream underneath the water as I fight for air that I desperately need. My gaze swims around trying to search for Julia. I shiver in fear when I can see nothing at all.

A hand attaches to my shoulder and I struggle against it. I am quickly running out of air. As my eyes close for what I think will be my final moment, I hear a soft voice on the waves. Remember.

------

I groan as I awake. My head hurts and I’m so thirsty. I try to get up from where I am only to start struggling. I can’t move my hands. Why can’t I move my hands? I try to move my feet but they won’t move either. Suddenly a bright light fills my vision as something is removed from my head.

As my eyes burn against the light I nearly gag at the smell. It smells like rotting trash. I blink once more and things start to show up. I see that I am not home. Where is my mommy? How did I get here?

“Hello” I shout. “Can anyone hear me?”

“Now, now little girl. Why don’t you keep it down before you awaken the neighbors?” someone says. Their voice is deep. It must be a man. I try to turn my head to see who spoke to me but I am unable to move far. I’m so tired. I try to speak once more but my voice cracks.

“Will you please help me? I just want to go home.” I tell him as tears come to my eyes. A flap moves in the distance and I realize that I am in some kind of tent. It looks just like when I went camping but only bigger. There are a lot more things inside this tent too.

“Ah, I see that you are finally awake. It looks like it’s time to start the show” A man says. I lift my head so that I can look at him better. I find myself squirming in my chair as I try to get away from him. He has the largest scar on his face I have ever seen. He looks like an evil villain. When he comes closer the heat from his breath causes my eyes to water.

My stomach starts to hurt from the smell of him. He smells like the rotting trash in this room and like a potty room. He stinks and needs to take a bath. I don’t want to be here. I just want my mommy. “Who are you?” I ask as my eyes water. He laughs at my question and lowers his tall frame so he is closer to my height.

“I am going to be your worst nightmare kid. I have some questions that I want you to answer. If you answer them correctly, then I will let you go back home to your mommy. If you answer wrong then I will bring your mommy here so that I can hurt her too” he sneers.

“You can’t hurt my mommy. She knows the police. You’re lying” I yell at him in anger. He reaches toward me and I flinch as his hand connects to my face. I cry out against the force of his hit. My entire face hurts now.

“Now, that’s more like it. You don’t need to open your mouth unless I ask you a question. And before you decide to lie to me, remember that we were able to get to you outside of your house. We know exactly where your precious mommy is. You going to answer my questions now” he ask as he uses his hand to apply pressure to my jaw. I cry out at the pain it brings. Unable to speak I nod.

He quickly takes his dirty hand off of my face. With a snap of his fingers the man that was standing behind me moves forward to bring him a chair. He sits on the chair and leans forward in my direction.

“My first question. What is your name little girl?” he ask. He removes something from his pocket and starts to play with it. The silver color of it catches my eye and they widen at the knife.

“Em-Emily” I say.

“Good. Now how often do you play at the park with Max?” he ask.

As he ask the question he points the knife in my direction and I flinch away from it. “Every Saturday. He is my very best friend” I tell him honestly. “Are you his family?” I ask curiously. I really want to know why he is asking questions about Max. He says he doesn’t have a family and never wants to talk about what he does at home.

“Yeah, you could say that. I am his papa. I was just worried about him when I couldn’t find him. Do you play all day on Saturdays?” he ask.

I nod my head quickly. If this is his papa then I can just give him the answers he wants so that he can let me go. “Yes, sometimes he has to leave to go to work. If it takes too long he will come back to say goodbye. Momma says that he is too young for a job but that everybody has to work eventually” I tell him.

“Okay that enough of this shit. Wake the little fucker up” he yells as he rises from his chair. His change of tone causes me to cower in my chair as I wonder about what the evil man meant.

I hear water hit the floor on the side of me and that’s when I see him. Max jerks awake in his chair and quickly looks around the room. When his eyes land on me he starts to panic and tries to get out of the chair. The evil man hits him in the face. The hit is so loud that it causes me to flinch as I cry. He looks at me as he hits Max again and I cry louder.

The man smirks and I quickly shut my lips so that he won’t hit Max again. Why is his papa hitting him like that I think. As I look at Max he pales. I can see that he has bruises on his face and arms. His head is bleeding and so is his mouth. He looks so hurt.

“Let her Go” He says to his papa.

“Shut up you little shit. She is here to teach you a lesson about lying to me. But don’t worry kid I will make sure that you are alive to remember her suffering” he says as he walks over to me. He walks behind me and I crane my neck as I try to see what he is doing. My head is jerked back as I shout when he pulls my hair. He laughs at my reaction and pulls harder.

“I see why you went to meet her so often. She sure is a pretty thing. Tell me Max, have you had a chance to sample the goods yet or will I be the first one” he says as he leans toward my face. I gag as I feel his tongue against my cheek. He licks my face like a dog and throws my head forward. My churning stomach releases and I throw up the spaghetti that I had for dinner.

"You better not fucking touch her. She is min” I hear Maximus yells. When I am done emptying my stomach I raise my head to see that the evil man is hitting Max again. Max’s eyes are closed and he grunts as the man hits him in the chest. When he is done Max is no longer moving.

The disgusting man stands up to his full height and runs a hand through his sticky looking hair. When he turns in my direction I start wiggling once more to get out of my chair. I have to get out of here. If I stay here he is going to hurt me. When he approaches he crouches done once more and grabs my face so that I can look at him.

“There, there beautiful. It will be over soon” His thumbs wipes my face as he removes my tears. “You are dismissed, go find something else to do” He says to the other man that was in the room. he leaves quickly as I stare at the evil man. I try to look at Maximus but he won’t let go of my face.

“Please” I beg through my tears. I just want him to let me go. I want to go home to my mommy. I just want to go home.

I hear Maximus groan in his chair but I am still unable to look over there. His other hand comes up to touch my leg. I flinch against the roughness of his skin on my knee. The look in his eyes has changed and he licks his ugly, cracked lips. The scent of his breath grows stronger in the air and I struggle against the hold he has on my face. His hand removes from my knee and comes up to my shirt.

“No. No” I scream at him. The evil man laughs as he undoes my buttons. I try to jerk away from him but he won’t let me move. If only I could get my hands a loose. Thinking quickly I lean my head forward and bite his hand as hard as I can. The taste of dirt fills my mouth and I spit trying to get rid of it.

“Little Bitch…” he screams and then he hits me in the face once more. My cheek stings as I cry from the pain. I feel as he rips my shirt. The air in the room is cold and I try to hunch over to cover myself as I cry.

“Max, help me” I cry out loud as I struggle against his filthy hands on my skin. “Please”…..