E
than Winchester is a madman, a raving lunatic. And he proves this further by covering my mouth with his hand and then biting into it, his own flesh. Like some kind of rabid wolf, he rips into his right hook.
Dark, dank blood pools from his skin, dripping into my mouth. Against my will, I swallow, almost gagging. Growling and practically frothing at the mouth, he flips me over onto my stomach like a rag doll, my head spinning from the intensity.
A thought occurs to me in the back of my mind, that his strength is more than normal, almost superhuman.
“Think only of me,” he orders, yanking my hair and head viciously until my backside hits the warmth of his chest. “You’ll only have me, you understand, Hannah?”
My scalp tingles with pain. I can’t nod with how tight he holds my hair in his crazed grip, so I say nothing. Instead, I look up at a sky that seems to welcome and damn me all at the same time. I should be saying a prayer, but all I can think about is how the clouds resemble screaming ghosts and the air smells like rain.
“You understand, I know you do,” he says with a self-assured, deranged tone. “You’re going to do everything I say.” He shimmies and rips my pants down until they’re around my knees. “That’s it; take what I’m going to give you…eternal life.” I almost choke with fear.
His pants whoosh from behind me, the chilled air causing goosebumps up and down my arms and legs.
Oh my God, this is it. I’m going to lose my virginity to a complete psychopath.
But then, there’s a voice that saves me. A voice coming from not too far away and they’re saying something. Breathing, heavy breathing and biting.
Wait, maybe there isn’t a voice, and I’m just imagining things.
“Hannah!” the voice calls, sounding distant and stretched. “Hannah!”
“Fuck,” Ethan curses, quickly pulling me upright and adjusting our clothes with deliberate yet gentle hands.
He even wipes my lips with his shirt-sleeve, slowly, almost as if I’m a small child.
A complete paradox to his earlier, violent administrations.
“It’s that little prick again.” Once we’re both standing and fully clothed, he grips my chin. “Say nothing, or I’ll kill him, got it?” He avows.
“Got it,” I nod numbly, wondering who he’s referring to.
As I turn, a shadowy silhouette approaches, but it doesn’t take long to figure out that it’s Jesse walking towards us like a knight in shining armor.
What’s he doing here?
“I thought I saw you come this way,” Jesse says slowly, taking in the scene. “What’s going on? Why are you guys behind the old abandoned grocery store?” The accusation isn’t missed.
“Taking a walk, what does it look like?” Ethan snaps, still standing directly behind me.
“A walk?” Jesse echoes, disbelief coloring his tone. “Back here?”
“That’s right,” Ethan says silkily, inching closer until his erection brushes up against my back. “We were hoping for a bit of privacy.”
Jesse flinches at the innuendo, but I can’t bring myself to put him in danger by verbally disagreeing. “I need to get going,” I say suddenly, swallowing back my nerves. “See you guys tomorrow.”
Ethan lets me walk away, but I know, I just know, this is far from over.
“Hannah, wait!” Jesse calls. “I’ll walk you back.” His boots shuffle, crunching against dirt and gravel.
Glancing back, I see Ethan backing away, a murderous gleam in his eye. I want to warn Jesse, but it seems he’s letting us go, for now.
A
fter a few minutes of awkward silence, Jesse finally asks, “So, what happened back there?”
I tense, almost tripping over a random pebble. “Nothing, why?” I ask, feeling lost and on edge.
“I mean, it’s pretty obvious Mr. Winchester has the hots for you,” Jesse accuses, but the twinkle in his hazel gaze is more playful than hateful.
His observation makes me sick to my stomach but also sends a wicked thrill through me.
Maybe I’m losing my mind, right along with the rest of this town because what I should be doing is running to the nearest police station. Ethan Winchester is a maniac with serious problems, a devil who nearly forced himself on me only moments ago.
I laugh nervously. “Nah, he was just being friendly,” I say, shocking myself.
It’s odd, but I don’t feel the need to wash myself
.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Hannah?” Jesse asks as we stop right before the movie theatre. “You seem stressed, even more so than when I saw you earlier.” The wind picks up, and he lightly pushes a piece of my hair back in place.
“I really wish you would stop asking me that,” I say irritably, watching a few cars go by out of the corner of my eye. “I’m fine.”
He puts his hands up in surrender. “My bad, I’ll stop asking you that. It’s just with everything going on,” he sighs, pausing. “Do you ever think maybe Mr. Winchester; just maybe he’s got something to do with the murders?”
Yes, and I still do. Now more than ever, but I don’t say that. It’s like there’s something silencing me, something taking root in the darkest recesses of my brain.
An inky, slithering poison travels in my bloodstream now, but it doesn’t want to kill me.
It wants to control me.
“Seriously?” I ask, meeting Jesse’s tense stare. “No, of course not, I mean, that’s just crazy. After all, he’s a trusted member of the Elko community, right?”
Jesse scoffs. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean he’s not capable of doing…the unthinkable. Seemingly normal people commit murder all the time.” He takes a step closer, whispering, “Plus, there’s something kind of cagey about him, the way he’s all scarred under that mask but pretends to be above society.”
“True,” I agree with a nod. “Anything is possible.”
“Bingo!” he shouts with a grin. “Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!”
I smile despite myself, the sun finally peeking through clouds. “I think you’ve been taking your psychology notes a little too seriously,” I laugh with him.
“You’re beautiful like this,” Jesse praises, his face now only inches from mine. “I like to be the reason you smile.”
Jesse is a sweet boy and quickly becoming my only real friend in Elko, Nevada. “You’re too nice to me,” I tell him softly, still smiling. “Thank you for making me smile, I needed that.”
“Anything for you, Hannah, anything at all.”
I don’t respond, only watch instead as yet another raven flies over.
Caw, caw!