Page 96 of Healing Conviction
“Where is what? I’m sorry, you’re gonna have to be—”
He lunged for her, collapsing to the ground and landing on his knee with a wail. She tripped away, barely remembering to kick out and try to knock the log out from under the rock. But the drunk man screamed out and grabbed her leg.
“Gotcha you little bi—”
A pop and loud boom interrupted him. Screaming followed shortly after, and Nora slapped her hands over her ears before turning to see a fiery eruption about twenty feet from her, catching both her and her captor by surprise. She collected herself first and looked back at her attacker, still splayed out on the ground and holding her ankle. He stared dumbly at his friend screeching in pain, seemingly enraptured by the blaze.
Yeah, definitely the drunk one.
He had a bloody wound on his free arm curled up against his chest. She scooted on her butt closer to him, causing his eyes to snap back to her. Before he could get a better grip on her, she kicked his bloody sleeve. He howled and let go of her, clutching his arm as he curled to a fetal position. Without a second thought, she got up from the ground and kicked the log as hard as she could.
A loud snap made her instinctively crouch on the ground at the same speed that the large boulder crushed her attacker. The sickening crunch of bones combined with his chilling howl of agony. It silenced just as the earth shook underneath her knees. Dust and leaves scattered over her scalp and her forearms as they uselessly tried to protect her face and head.
The shrieks behind her crescendoed and cut off abruptly, but the crackling flames blazed on. Her breath shuddered from her chest.
She waited, quaking in the explosive silence ringing in her mind. The air seemed to thicken as she tried to listen for any indication that someone else was out there.
Faint sirens sent a jolt of panic in her chest before she relaxed again.
Oh right… Gail called the police.
Slowly, she lifted her head and took stock of her surroundings. The fire made Nora’s shadow dance against the large boulder she’d released. A lone hand stretched out for her. It twitched, and she ducked her mouth into the crook of her arm to keep from gagging.
I killed a man.
Again.
She swallowed and caught her breath.
Gotta get up. Go to the clearing so Drake can find me. If the fire starts spreading, meet him at the truck. Get out of here before the police come.
She got up, gathering the box in her arms and her backpack onto her tired body. Her muscles screamed at her, threatening to give out after all the tension, the literal electric shock from the gate, and the nonstop exercise she’d put her body through.
A lifetime of never working out is finally catching up to me. Drake is probably in more shape than I am right now.
Drake… where are you?
Taking slow, measured steps, she continued down the thin path toward the camp, hunching low now. The fire might’ve been helpful to guide her way, but it also illuminated her like a target for enemy eyes.
Her brain planned and strategized. All the while, her limbs grew heavier with each step, her fingers trembled, and sweat poured down her back as the adrenaline roller coaster once again went on a downslope. It was the strangest feeling, like her brain had walled off everything from the neck down in order to concentrate on her next move, leaving her body to fend for itself against all her fighting emotions.
Whelp, compartmentalization is killing my relationship with Drake, but at least it’s saving my life right now.
Despite the fact that her mind was convinced otherwise, Drake wasn’t a threat to her physical or emotional safety. He’d only ever been solely devoted to saving her.
This is just great. Nothing like a useful revelation at a useless time.
She added “scary good at dissociating” to the list she was going to unpack during her reunion with her therapist before giving in to the need to protect herself. Detaching further, she cleared her mind to focus on getting to Drake and getting them both out of there alive.
As she neared the clearing, she slowed and squinted in the distant firelight to survey the campsite. It was odd having the dim glow when their own firepit was extinguished. The humidity mixed with the heat blowing from the flames, but her face felt cold as she looked around.
Across the clearing, their camping equipment and belongings were piled up underneath a small shrub, left for them to retrieve after the mission. She could clearly see the outline of the tent on the ground and the log Drake had rolled for them to have a place to sit.
Drawn by something outside herself, she tripped to the spot and kneeled to the ground. She tugged her bag off to one side and laid the box down on the other before brushing her hands against the dirt.
This was where Drake told her he loved her. And she’d… fought herself from saying it, nearly choking on the words as she’d forced them back down her throat into her empty chest. Tears burned in her eyes, but she let them fall freely.
“I can’t love you if you don’t give me everything, too.”