When Darkness Comes: Book 1 Dark Trilogy

Chapter 3 No One Wants a Parasite

Sang

They stride quickly and quietly. Ever watchful and alert.

My short legs have to put forth extra effort to keep up with their long ones, but I don't complain. I'm grateful to not be walking back alone. I'm in their debt for helping me. I can't think about what would have happened if they didn't come to my rescue. Tears threaten and I swallow them back.

My first kiss...

It was from someone who was going to rape and murder me.

He grabbed and held me by the base of my ponytail then smashed his lips on mine, grinding them until I thought they would bleed. My fingers shake as I rub at them again, desperate to get the feel of his off. North notices the motion and glances at me, his eyes narrowing. I tuck my hair behind my ear, looking ahead. My hair tie is lost somewhere back there. North doesn't say anything, but I can feel his dark brown eyes on me. Finally, he looks away, back on guard.

Sweat trickles between my breasts, the heat not subsiding although the sun's almost set. The cut stings with every step I take as the gauze rubs against it. I'll have to disinfect it once I get home. I wonder if it will leave a scar. Am I forever marked by that man?

What does it matter? I won't last long if things continue like this. I'll starve or someone else will attack me, and next time I might not be so lucky. So many thoughts flit through my mind. Is anyone going to fix what's happened? What did happen? I wonder how my family is. Do they even wonder about me? I doubt it. They never cared about me before. They're not caring about me now.

I'm on my own once again.

A part of me is desperate to latch myself to these three, but I can't do that. They've already helped me, and have themselves to care for. They don't need a parasite. That's what my stepmother called me. She said I was useless and just leeched off the family. I was a parasite.

We round the bend and I see my house. I clear my throat and point, “That's my house.”

They follow with their eyes to where I direct. “You live across from Kota,” Luke says. “He's in the brick ranch.”