Chapter 41: 41. Red eyes

She had to get out of there.

To get far away from this place.

Away from the man.

Those were the only thoughts that were going through her mind, all she could think about when she came to stand inside the downstairs bathroom she’d been shown to.

When she'd noticed Shane leaving the dining hall in the presence of Lilly, she’d waited. When the man had been gone longer than expected, Danika figured it was the perfect time. It was now or never. It was then she feigned the need to use the bathroom, to be granted the chance to get away.

Though the thought of going into these woods terrified the shit out her, the thought of remaining in this place did more so. Those girls' attack on her earlier had made it even more prudent to get the hell out of this place. Had it not been for the asshole coming upon the scene when he did, then Danika had very little doubt of what would've happened.

She'd be dead.

They would've killed her.

"Don't be long," he warned, "Shane will be back soon."

"I won't," she promised.

Allowing the door to close behind the man, Danika proceeded to lock the door, to keep anyone from coming inside of the bathroom. Thrown into action when she heard his footsteps head back towards the dining hall, determined to be gone before anyone noticed her absence.

Pulling out the cellphone she considered contacting Aliciah, to fill her in on what was going on, but at the last minute changed her mind. There was no guarantee that she'd actually be able to get to her unnoticed and she didn't want to take the risk of troubling her mind if Danika failed.

Spurred into action at the thought of the difficult road laid ahead, Danika moved towards the window on the far wall. Opening it she was immediately pelted with the rain pelted down on the ground, the sky had opened a downpour on the ground. That worked out perfectly. The rain would keep all the critters of the forest safely tucked away in their dens and burrows for the night, until the storm cleared.

Meaning that she had a far better chance of escaping this place, slipping past the wolves that called these forests their home. Not to mention it’d help keep Shane and his people from tracking down where she'd run off to, as the rain would cover her tracks. Yes, the fierce storm definitely worked out to her advantage, improving her chances of getting away from here.

Hurriedly removing the high heels that would only impede her movements, Danika then tucked the hem of the gown into the waistband of the shorts. Confident she wouldn't be hampered by the folds of the silk garment, she scaled up to the wall. Crouched on the window sill, Danika looked out. Taking a deep breath to gather her strength and courage, pushing down the fear that threatened to take over, she jumped.

Dropping to a perfect crouch on the ground four feet beneath the window, she was pleasantly surprised by the lack of pain. Immediately jumping up when she'd assured she hadn't come to any harm, Danika surveyed the area around me. Thankfully there didn't seem to be any of the people that Shane had milling around his home, undoubtedly all of them were inside for dinner.

Confident that she was safe from being spotted, Danika quickly made my way along the side of the enormous stone castle. At the edge of the building glancing around the corner, slightly heightened vision picked up things in the darkness lost to others. Still safe, no one was around.

Taking a deep breath to calm the racing of her heart, she double-checked to ensure that the way was cleared and took off running. Feet pounded on the earth. Danika skirted around rocks and jumped over ditches in the ground. Maneuvering the land as if she’d been born there, a knowledge few others would've ever been able to accomplish. She showed no care for the rain that was pouring down on me, though she couldn't help the involuntary flinch at the crack of lightning.

She pushed my feet to move faster, harder. Her only thought at that moment was to get away from this place, knowing she had a limited time frame to escape. Having little doubt that when Shane returned to the dining hall he’d immediately question his men on her presence. Or lack thereof.

And the second that she failed to come back to the bathroom at a decent time, he'd come search of her himself. And no matter how oblivious he seemed to her presence since he'd brought me to this place, he wouldn't let her escape. After all, Danika held an important meaning for him. For some insane reason, he wanted her to have his child, making it seem as if she was the only one who could do it. She didn't know why the man was so determined that she bring his child into the world, but she wasn't letting him stop her now.

Blanking out those thoughts before they’d the chance to distract her, Danika remained focused on the goal at hand. Escaping this horrid place. Of escaping him.

Reaching the first gates in record time, Danika considered the enormous wrought iron gate that rose high above me. It was higher than she'd been anticipating, had to be a good twenty to thirty feet. It wasn't going to be as easy to scramble over the top as she'd been hoping and if she fell there was no way in hell she'd come out uninjured. No, it would definitely be a bruising fall. Bone rattling at that. She didn't allow the thought to stop her. This was the only chance she had of getting beyond the walls of the wilderness, where the world of normalcy awaited. A world that she was desperately determined to get back to.

Bracing herself mentally for what she was about to do, her hands grabbed ahold of the metal bars and her feet were positioned on the lower bar. Then slowly and deftly she scaled up the wall of the fenceline, showing none of the difficulty that another would've experienced. A couple of times Danika was forced to stop, in order to catch her breath or to keep from falling. The rain might be helping in concealing the course of direction she'd taken tonight, but it had made these fences dangerous. Still she kept moving upwards. She wouldn't allow the thought to stop her. She couldn't. Her life, as well as that of her future child hung in the balance.

More than halfway down on the other side, she dropped down from my position. Her feet touched the ground with a jarring thud, wincing at the gravel that dug into the bottom of her feet at impact. It definitely hadn't been the smartest move to leave barefoot. Of course, the heels would've been a hindrance that would've held her back and going to the room to get her shoes wasn't possible. Danika was sure that people would've noticed if she went upstairs to retrieve her shoes. That definitely would've sent up red flags of what she could be up to, and run the risk of Shane finding out. A risk she couldn't take. Brushing off the gravel that threatened to cut open the soles of her feet, Danika started running towards the second gate.

From the car rides taken to this place, though there had only been a couple of them, when she'd arrived and a trip to the doctor. Despite everything she'd been paying attention to her surroundings, knowing that escape would be something she'd need to be prepared for. From one she could tell through the ribbons of fear that wracked her brain the gates were a good two miles away from each other. Possibly three.

Danika grimaced at the difficulties that lay ahead of her, aware she had a limited amount of time to get to it. There was no way she'd be able to reach the main gates of the property before Shane was alerted of her absence. It'd already been fifteen minutes since the asshole had escorted her to the bathroom. She was pretty confident by this point Shane had been informed of her decision to go to the bathroom. She had maybe ten minutes, if she was lucky before he came in search of her himself.

She'd gotten a whole of five minutes away -less than six hundred feet- when suddenly Danika dropped to my knees on the ground. A hand clutched over the area where her heart rested, desperately gasping for breath, as that vital organ hurt something fierce. What the hell? It was almost like...like she was feeling his emotions, his pain. NO, that didn't make any sense. How could she be feeling his emotions? The man didn't have any.

But yet even as she tried to assure herself it wasn't that, Danika could not deny the agony that sliced through her heart. That was then followed by panic, fear, until finally it settled on rage. Whatever could be going on, she knew these feelings all belonged to him. Yep, he was pissed. Enraged was a better term. She knew at that precise moment Shane had arrived at the downstairs bathroom, discovered the window standing adjar.

By some means the man had learned of her attempts to escape the manor, pissed off that she would even attempt to. Meaning her need to get out of there was profoundly worse. Now that Shane was aware of her attempts to escape the manor, he would be coming for her.

Her heart rate picked up. Was that fear or excitement that thrummed through her, that electrified all of her senses? Fear, she told herself. Profound fear, at the thought he could destroy her plans. There was no way Danika could be excited at the thought that he could be coming after her, stopping her from getting away. Nope, it was fear that beat inside of her breastbone right then, that propelled her towards the gate looming into the distance.

Excitement meant that she was looking forward to having him chase her down, anxious to see if he'd be fast enough to stop her. Even as Danika assured herself that she wasn't excited at the prospect, she kept glancing behind my shoulder. As if hoping to catch sight of him. Like she wanted him to.

She shook her head. What the hell was wrong with her? Why did this man seem to have this strange power over her? She didn't like him. Hell, she didn't even want him. This was the same man who'd used her love for her sister against me, blackmailed her into submission. He was now holding her hostage out in the middle of the forest, surrounded by his psycho-cult members, to produce a child for him. In the course of the last twenty-four hours, she'd been abducted, locked in her room and attacked on two separate occasions. All because of the brute. No, she most definitely didn't like the man.

Then how come your heart's pounding so much, her inner voice -her consciousness- chose that moment to enter her mind, reminding her of the state of her. Or the fact that you're slowing down. You want him to catch you, to yank you into those strong arms of his, to fuck you right there on the ground. No I don't, Danika adamantly denied the prospect of what she was telling herself, pushing her feet to move faster towards the gate.

Laughter erupted from her mind, You can lie to the rest of the world all you want to, Danika, but you can't lie to me. I'm you, I've seen all the nasty little thoughts inside of your head. The naughty dreams you have. You want him to stop you. You're hoping he's fast enough to catch up to you, that he'll pick up where he left off this afternoon. You want him to tear the clothes from your body, throw you down on the ground and fuck you like the animal you know he is.

Danika closed my eyes against the mental picture that popped into her mind, brought on by the accusations she was making of herself. But no matter how much she tried to push the images out, the scene remained firmly planted there. Haunting her by what had happened earlier, what she wanted to happen again. Fuck! I don't want him, she growled in response. He's a violent, angry and self-centered bastard, I could never want him.

Oh yeah, her consciousness chuckled in the darkness of her mind, determined to make her face the truth of her own feelings. Then how come you are so wet? It's the rain, she denied. Of course it wasn't, even she knew that. The moment she knew that Shane was coming for me her body had reacted to the thought, wetting in preparation for his enormous member.

Her head might be saying one thing, but her body was saying another thing entirely. The complexities of her own wants and thoughts were so confusing, she doubted she'd ever be able to understand them.

Why did she want him so much?

Why did she yearn for him?

Crave his touch? His kisses?

The man had been a total asshole towards her from the moment he'd discovered her loitering inside of his bedroom. He'd been cold and distant, treating her with a total disregard for her feelings. He'd manipulated and blackmailed her to do his bidding. Ignored her wants and desires.

Yet, even knowing everything he'd put her through over the last couple of days, it failed to change her feelings towards him. Towards what she wanted from him. No matter the hell he'd brought into her life, Danika still wanted him. Craved for more moments like this afternoon, to have him tear the clothes from her body and fuck in a mindless passion. To show her what it was all about.

Danika was less than five hundred feet from the gates, almost able to feel the sweet relief of freedom that awaited beyond them. Only to be thrown backward when something launched itself over the top of her head, right into the cluster of trees. Snapping her head in the direction of the rustling of trees, her body tremored as she spied the eyes that appeared in the darkness. Glowing red eyes. They were freaking glowing! While part of her was petrified by those eyes, another part of her, a side she'd never really understood, was pulled closer towards them.

Don't you dare, she warned herself.

They're beautiful, her mind said.

Beautiful or not, they scared the shit out of her.

"Where do you think you're going?" a deep voice growled.