Innocence Taken (29 page)

The man brought his arm forward and slammed the elbow into Miranda's ribs. The woman let out a cry of pain. Her grip loosened. The man felt the change. He grabbed her wrist and gave it a wicked twist. Even through the numbing haze, Nature heard the pop. That pop seemed to energize her. It enabled her to get to her feet and run. She stumbled and fell many times because of the reduced vision caused by the swollen eye. The screams, which followed her down the path, ended abruptly. Nature knew Miranda had not cheated death this time. She picked up as much speed as her battered body would give.

The man released his grip on Miranda's head. He had managed to work his way behind her and, with a quick twist, broke her neck. This time, he made sure a pulse was absent. Nothing beat under his finger. Rising to his feet, he saw the other woman was gone. He wasn't concerned, he would find her quickly. Her trail was easy to see. He walked in a calm determined fashion after her.

Nature stumbled past the cabin. She turned her head in all directions, trying to locate the way out. Before she could find it, she heard a male voice echo through the trees.

"I'm coming for you. It's only a matter of time before I find you. You can't delay me from finding The One. Why not give in and embrace what you truly want."

The silence that followed was unnerving. She gave up on the path and ran into the trees. She could hide in their cover.

The man stood at the edge of the clearing and watched as the False One disappeared from view. He casually made his way across the open area and followed her. He smiled. The hunt and the final ride would be glorious.

Sandy and Web had been on the path for more than four hours. Others had branched from it but they remained on the main one, certain it would lead them to their destination. As the fifth hour was coming to a close, the trees parted to reveal a cabin. It was quaint. Both halted in their tracks. They dropped to the ground and waited. Nothing moved. No sound came from it. Web pulled his gun from its holster and advanced toward it, indicating for Sandy to wait until he checked it out.

He placed his back against the wall and listened. He still heard nothing. Moving toward the door, he slammed it open and darted inside, crouching low just in case. The place was unoccupied. Web saw the straps hanging by the bed, empty.. His heart fell. Where were they? They had to be here somewhere. They had to be. Stepping back outside, he indicated for Sandy to come over. She was making her way to the cabin when a shout reached her. It was a male voice. It came from the left.

She faced the forest and listened. The voice sounded again. Web walked toward her. She darted toward the left edge of the small clearing. He ran after her. She pulled up short of the forest, trying to listen for which way to go before entering. Web met her, giving her a quizzical look. He hadn't heard the voice.

"What the he..."

Sandy cut him off with a frantic wave of her hand. He shut up. Off in the distance, he heard, “I'll find you ... the others want to you to stay with them; they're lonely.."

The hairs on the back of his neck stood. It was the voice of the killer, he was sure of it. He tried to hear more, but the voice never sounded again. Sandy started into the trees. He held her up, letting her know he was going to parallel her a few yards off to her right. She nodded her head. Separating, each stepped into the trees, heading toward where they thought the sound came from.

Nature ran as fast as she could. Her bare feet and body were grabbed by every tree branch. They cut into her, leaving blood trails all over her. She stopped for a breather; the voice followed her. It sounded like it was right behind her. She bolted away from the tree and fell over a root sticking out of the ground.. Her ankle twisted and pain shot up her leg. Rising to her feet, she limped deeper into the forest. She was hopelessly lost.

The man saw Nature go down. He saw her rise and start to limp. He knew she was his, and that she would be with the others soon. Then he could get back to finding The One. He was about to move from the protection of the overgrowth when a snap sounded close on his left side. He lowered himself and waited. A slender woman with blonde hair appeared. She hesitated, glancing around before heading in the same direction as the False One. The man waited. He wanted her. She might be The One and he wasn't going to lose the opportunity to find out.

Again, he almost moved when another noise sounded, this time on his right. A man appeared. He was carrying a gun. The man froze. He seethed at the intrusion. He had to find the False One and the other woman before they disappeared. He watched the intruder move in the same direction taken by the women. Gliding with the quiet of someone long accustomed to secrecy, he followed.

Web saw Sandy off to his left. She moved carefully, trying not to make too much noise. Occasionally a snap sounded, indicating she had stepped on something. He cringed ever time he heard it. If he heard it, then the killer probably did also. He moved deeper into the thick growth, gun held ready.

Sandy kept her vision focused ahead. She thought she heard someone moving several times. Each time she looked, no one was there. As if reading her mind, a crashing noise sounded. Sandy caught a glimpse of movement through the trees. It looked like a person. She picked up speed. It might be Nature.

Web saw Sandy pick up speed, ignoring the fact that she was making a lot of noise. He heard the crashing that drew her attention, He moved faster. He didn't care about the noise either. If it was Nature, she would need them in a hurry and that wasn't going to happen if they remained silent.

The man watched the others picked up their speed. He heard the False One as she crashed through the forest. He knew what they were following. He trailed them, silent as a snowflake falling from the sky. He kept a discreet distance between them. When the opportunity arose, he would know it. He would use it to end the interfering man's life, thus freeing himself to bring the False One to the others and to sample the other woman; the woman he hoped was The One.

Nature heard the man running after her. It sounded weird, like it was coming from two different directions. She tried to increase the speed her body gave. The wounded ankle reminded her of its displeasure at such an idea. It finally rebelled by buckling out from under her. She sprawled face first onto some leaves. They made her landing less painful. She rolled over, ready to fend off her attacker, knowing she would loose in the end. She braced for the inevitable struggle just as Sandy flew into sight. She practically sobbed with relief.

"Nature! My god, Nature!” The secretary ran up to her friend and folded her arms around the scratched and bruised body. Her skin was so cold, and her face ... her face was a battered mess. “Thank god we found you."

Nature hugged Sandy tight, unable to believe the younger woman was really here. It felt too much like a dream, a dream filled with many nightmares. She was afraid that if she let go, her friend would disappear. That was something she couldn't handle under the current circumstances. She bawled like a baby who thought her mother abandoned her. Suddenly, she looked up, frantic. She remembered where they were and who was after her. The man was here, somewhere. He might get Sandy. That was not an option. She would not see her friend used in such a horrible way.

"Sandy, we have to get out of here ...
now
. He's still here. He might get you."

"That won't happen. Web won't let it.” Sandy pulled Nature's head against her body, trying to sooth the distraught woman.

"Web? He's here?” Nature pulled away again. She looked around, trying to see every direction at once.

At the mention of his name, Web appeared, out of breath from the run. His eyes focused on the woman in Sandy's arms, His heart soared. “Nature."

Nature peered at Web. His concerns, fear, and love for her was evident, even with her diminished eyesight. A look of wonder creased her swollen face, the hope inside her rose to new levels. Maybe he still wanted her, even after what happened. Maybe he saw her as the woman he loved and not as a soiled thing. The happiness inside showed on her face. One of horror replaced it when she saw the man appear behind him. She struggled to get free of Sandy. She tried to shout out a warning, but her throat constricted with fear.

Web saw the change in Nature and started to turn. He was partway around when a man, presumably the killer, jumped at him, knocking the gun out of his hand. With the quickness of a snake, the man threw a fist. It landed on the left side of Web's face. He spun around, but did not fall. He tried to throw himself at the killer, to land a few hits of his own; the man wasn't there. He was too quick. Web felt another blow land on the same spot as the previous one. A foot kicked him in his stomach. It was followed by a foot in his face He landed hard on his back. Dark circles danced in front of him. He struggled to get up, trying to get to his feet before the killer attacked again. He made it up to his elbows before the shot rang out.

A searing pain hit his shoulder area. Another shot echoed almost immediately afterwards. More pain started close to the original spot. It became hard to breath. He rationalized that he had a collapsed lung. But, rationalization was beyond him at the moment. He main thought was on helping Nature. He tried to see where the man holding the gun stood. He fell back, unable to hold himself upright.

Sandy couldn't believe Web was shot. She watched the spread of blood slowly change the color of his shirt. Anger filled her every fiber. This was the first time that Nature allowed herself to love, since Brad, and she was not about to let that end ... not at the hands of this shithead. She bolted across the space and tackled the man before he could fire another round. They landed in a tumble of arms and legs, the gun still gripped in his hand. Even though he was taken by surprise, he recovered quickly, too quickly for Sandy to take advantage of it. He kicked her off and jumped to his feet before she could get to hers. He trained the gun at her head.

Before he pulled the trigger, a shot rang out from another direction. Sandy saw the man spin around. He somehow stayed on his feet. Another shot sounded. He finally fell. Blood poured from two holes, one in the upper abdomen and the other just to the left of his breastbone, close to where the heart was located. She was shocked to see the man trying to lift the gun. In answer, a third shot rang out. The man's head slammed onto the ground. This time, there was no getting up. This time, a gaping hole opened up his forehead.

Nature watched the man go down. She didn't care; her attention was on Web. Blood covered the left side of his shirt. It spread to the other side before she managed to get to her feet. Her ankle screamed at her for using it. Its swelling matched her face. She ignored it, she had to get to Web; she had to see if he was still alive. She managed to make it to his side before her ankle quit supporting her all together.

She pressed down on the wounds, trying to reduce the flow coming from them. Tears mingled with the red. He moaned with pain. He opened his eyes and gave her a weak smile. She smiled back. He was alive. She hoped he was stubborn enough to stay that way. He had to. She needed him.

Web tried to speak when he saw Nature next to him: her bruised and battered body, her swollen face, and her tears. He wanted to console her, to let her know it was all right. But the effort needed to speak was too hard, there didn't seem to be enough air. And, he felt so weak. All he could give her was a smile. He couldn't even raise his arm to touch her beautiful face.

The smile faded as intense pain wracked through him. She became harder to see through the fog surrounding everything. He heard her whisper in his ear. It caused his to smile again. The words that echoed through his mind as he slipped from the world of consciousness were ... “I love you,” and “You better not leave me; I need you so much."

When she awoke, Nature lay on her side, under soft sheets in a warm room. At first, she didn't remember how she had gotten there. Slowly the memories returned. She remembered being kidnapped from her home by the man who had killed so many. She remembered the tortuous ride to his cabin and the events that unfolded there. She remembered him killing Miranda and her getting away. Then she remembered Sandy and Web, and seeing him collapse, shot by the man. After that, the events were a blur. She rolled onto her back and sat up. The room was empty. She noticed a chair next to her bed.

The door opened and Sandy entered, burdened with a tray overloaded with food. “Hey, good to see you finally awake sleepyhead. I brought lunch. The food here is great, but it's not like the stuff at home. It's passable though.” She plopped the tray onto the stand tucked in the corner. Moving the overbed table in front of Nature, she put a cup of tea and a bowl of chicken noodle soup in front of her. “Eat up. It's been a couple of days since you ate and you need to get your strength back."

The smell coming from the soup was nauseating. The tea smelled wonderful. She picked it up with shaky hands and brought it to her mouth. She sipped at the dark contents. A stinging inside her mouth caused her to grimace. She reached up and felt the split lip, butterfly strips held it together. She moved her hand to her eye. The swelling was gone, but it was tender to the touch. She dropped her hand back to the table. Tears welled in the corners. They ran down to fall onto her hospital gown.

Sandy was about to take a bite of her hamburger when she saw the tears. She lowered it and asked, “Are you in pain? Do you want me to get the nurse?"

Nature shook her head back and forth.. Wiping the tears off, she looked up at her secretary. “He's dead, isn't he?"

"Who? The man who took you? You bet your ass he's dead."

"No...” Nature maintained eye contact. “Web."

Sandy returned the burger to the plate and sat on the bed next to Nature, “Aww, honey, he's alive. He's in the ICU.” She comforted her, brushing her hair off her face. “He was airvaced to this hospital and given emergency surgery. They managed to patch him up, and, several pints of the red stuff later, he's still with us. He's unconscious though."