Taken Again

I can’t breathe.

Victor's palm clamps over my lips before I can scream again. His grip is chilly, hard, and much too familiar. My heart accelerates as his face creeps closer, his dark eyes studying me like a predator.

“Miss me?” he murmurs into my ear, his breath chilling my skin.

I thrash against him, kicking madly, but he merely chuckles and tightens his hold.

“Feisty. Just like I remember.”

“Let me go!” I manage to shout as I finally bite his hand.

He curses and jerks away, and I break into a run. My feet pound the icy wooded ground. I don’t know where I’m going—I simply need to get away.

“Isabella!” Victor’s voice follows me, deep and teasing. “You can’t run from me forever!”

Branches claw at my face, my legs ache, yet I keep walking. I can’t let him catch me. Not again. I can’t be his prisoner. Not when I’ve battled so hard to break free.

Then, abruptly, someone grabs me.

I scream.

“It’s me! Isabella, it’s me!” Dante’s voice breaks through the panic.

My body crashes into his, shaking. “Victor...he’s here. He’s alive.”

Dante peeks over my shoulder, eyes probing the darkness. “We need to go. Now.”

“No! We can’t lead him to the cabin. He’ll find us!”

“We’ll head the other way. Toward the river. Come on!”

We run again, this time united, evading trees and darkness. The woodland looks unending. The sky is still dark, but glimpses of morning begin to ooze into the horizon.

“What if he catches us?” I ask, panting.

“He won’t,” Dante murmurs, clutching my hand tightly. “Not while I’m alive.”

But I know Victor. He doesn’t give up.

We reach the riverbed, the sound of rushing water slamming in our ears. Dante kneels, seeking behind a rock. He pulls out a tiny black bag.

“You had a stash here?” I ask.

“Always have a backup plan,” he replies. He tosses me a hoodie and pulls out a knife.

“I hate this,” I whisper. “I hate running. I just want it to stop.”

Dante looks at me, his gaze milder now. “Then let’s stop running. Let’s disappear.”

I blink. “Disappear?”

“Together. You and me. No more Lucian. No more Victor. No more danger.”

I hesitate. “You think it’s that easy?” hmm

“No,” he concedes. “But it’s better than waiting for them to destroy you.”

His fingertips brush mine. Slowly, slowly.

“You don’t belong in their world,” he continues. “You were always meant for more.” That is why you have to follow me to anywhere i choose.

“I don’t know what I want anymore,” I whisper.

“Then let me help you figure it out.”

His hand grips my cheek, gaze fixed on mine. I should pull away. I should end this before it starts again.

But I don’t.

Because a part of me recalls. A part of me still aches for the boy who once kissed me like I was the only thing that mattered.

His lips are on mine before I can think. Soft. Familiar. Dangerous.

I kiss him back.

For a time, I forget the dread, the lies, the suffering.

But only for a time.

A piercing crack erupts through the trees.

Dante pulls back, eyes narrowing. “Someone’s coming.”

I swirl around.

Victor.

He steps out of the trees like a ghost, face twisted with wrath. “Touch her again, and I’ll gut you.”

Dante shoves me behind him. “You’re not taking her.”

Victor laughs. “You really think you can stop me? You couldn’t even defend her last time.”

“I won’t fail again,” Dante growls.

Victor lunges.

They collide together, fists flying, bodies bashing into trees. I scream for them to stop, but neither listens. It’s brutal. Violent. Desperate.

I see blood.

Victor hits Dante hard in the jaw, bringing him to the ground. He raises a knife.

“No!” I scream, hurling myself at Victor.

He shoves me off, but I claw at his face, giving Dante just enough time to tackle him from behind.

“Run, Isabella!” Dante shouts.

“I’m not leaving you!”

“Run!”

I do.

I don’t want to. But I do.

I rush back toward the road, toward the faint lights of a faraway settlement. My legs are trembling. My mind is a storm. I don’t know if Dante’s alive. I don’t know if Victor is following.

But I run nevertheless.

I stumble into a quiet street just as a black automobile screeches to a stop in front of me.

Lucian.

He bursts out, eyes wild as he runs to me. “Where the hell have you been?!”

“I…I don’t…Victor’s alive!” I cry, sinking into him.  His arms wrap around me securely. “I know. I know. I was tracking him.”

“Dante’s fighting him! We have to go back!”  He pushes me into the car. “I’ve got people nearby. They’ll find them.”

“No! We can’t leave Dante!”

Lucian grips my hand. “I’m not losing you again. Not tonight.”  He steps on the throttle, tires shrieking as we drive down the road. I glance back at the trees, horror squeezing my chest.

“Why are you really here?” I ask, my voice shaking.  “To protect you,” he says.

“You said that before.” “And I mean it now more than ever.”  “Because you love me?” I inquire, voice barely a whisper.

He doesn’t look at me. “Because I can’t breathe without you.”  I close my eyes. I want to believe him.

But I’ve been burnt too many times.

The automobile screeches to another stop near a villa. Guards run out to meet us. Lucian yells orders, eyes scouring the shadows.

He drags me inside. “You’ll be safe here. Just for tonight.”  I follow him into a warm, dimly lighted room. He sets me down on the bed gently.

“Rest,” he says. “I’ll keep watch.”  As he turns to leave, I grab his hand.

“You still care?” I ask.  He glances at me, something profound in his eyes. “More than I should.”

“Then stay. Just for a while.”  He nods, sits alongside me, his hand never letting go of mine.  I close my eyes. I don’t know who I am anymore. I don’t know who to trust.

But in this moment, I don’t feel alone.

Hours later, I wake to shouting. Lucian is gone. I sit up, my heart beating in my chest.

There's was a Footsteps. Voices.  Then the door bursts open.  Victor stands there, battered and bloodied.  Behind him Dante. Barely conscious. Hands tied.

“No…” I whisper.  Victor smiles, evil and cold. “Miss me again?”  He steps inside and locks the door.

“Let’s try this one more time, shall we?”