you're mine

Chapter 17

It only took Luca an hour to fall asleep. Though I waited another hour after that before moving. His head rested on my chest with his arms wrapped around my torso until five minutes ago when he turned around, facing the opposite direction and no longer touching me.

I was once again remined of how peaceful he looks whilst sleeping.

Not wanting to give him anytime to turn back around and wrap his arms around me, trapping me again, I rush to the bottom of the air mattress. Every slight movement, the mattress squeaks. Slowly, I make it to the end of the mattress and slip my sneakers onto my feet.

My head turns to look where Luca lays, checking he is still asleep. Once I had made sure, I lift my hands up and unzip the tent. It  takes me around thirty seconds to unzip the loud zip, making a hole big enough to fit through.

I carefully step out onto the moist grass and my body turns to zip up the tent. I get a strong smell of wet grass, barbeque food and polyester when I walk away from the tent. At first, I walk slow, careful not to step on a tent peg or a mouse. But once I get further from the tent, I start to run, The further i get the faster I move. I finally reach the small wooden hut and knock on the door. After around ten seconds, I knock again.  Then after another ten seconds, again. After the sixth time of knocking, I start to bang on the door. When i still don't receive a reply, i try the handle. To my luck, it opens.

Without thinking about the consequences that may come from entering someone's house without an invitation, I walk through. The hut is only one room. I scan it over once and realise that Gary isn't there. I run over to the small portable toilet by the car park but before I even get there, I realise Gary isn't.

Where the fuck is he?

The panic starts to set in. I look over to Lucas cars and wonder if I should go back for the keys but that seems too risky.

I contemplate searching Garry's hut for his keys and stealing his car but before I have time to think about it, I see the tent where Luca sleeps, start to move. The zip starts to lift up and before it is fully undone, I dart across the field into the forest surrounding the camp site.

"Emily?" I hear him shout out. His voice is laced with panic, not trying to hide it.

I don't stop running when I reach the forest, in fact I run faster. I run faster than my legs would ever have thought was possible. When I am running, I feel an aching in my heart, but I ignore it.

My body sprints through the forest, making everything around me look blurry. Even spinning on ice i am not this fast. My legs feel as though they are going to snap and the cold air my lungs take in cause them to burn.

I ignore it. I ignore everything that tells me to take a break from running and hide.

"Emelia?" I hear Luca yell in the distance behind me.

I run faster.

Luca's point of view

Smoke appears in front of me when I shout from the warm heat of my mouth entering the cold air.

But the cold air isn't on my mind, if it wasn't for the smoke in front of me from every heavy breath, i wouldn't even notice it was cold at all.

All I notice is she is gone. I have checked Garry's lodge, the portable toilet, surrounding tents but i don't find her. I check the parking lot and then I run into the forest. It is dark, but not dark enough to need a flashlight. Even if I did, I wouldn't bother getting one.

I Don't- can't waste time. I am taller than her and a lot faster, so it shouldn't take me long to catch up if she did run into the forest.

"Emily? Please just come back! It isn't safe out there! I wont hurt you! I promise just please, come back." I beg.

It was true, i wasn't going to hurt her. I might handcuff her to myself and lie on top of her until she loves me back, but my plan wasn't to hurt her. I want her to feel safe with me. I know it is my fault she doesn't. But if this is the results of me threatening her and scaring her, I wont ever do it again.

Unsure of which direction Emelia ran, I decide to go straight ahead, hoping they all lead to the same place.

I will chase her for days, weeks even, if I have to. I don't care, as long as I get her back. I need to, it isn't an option.

My body continues running, trusting she isn't excessively somewhere down in the forest. I feel an ache in my chest, though it isn't from the running since it only makes me run faster. I automatically jump over logs on the ground. I am not aware of them until i am already jumping. My mind can't concentrate on anything other than her.

I don't care if i have to tear this forest apart, tree by tree, I will find her. I need her, I need her to be safe and be with me. If she isn't safe, I wont be able to forgive myself for not protecting her. If she thinks for a second I am ever letting her out of my sight again, she is wrong. Deeply wrong. She will pay for this. Not by being cut or burned or tortured, but by having all of her freedom ripped away from her until she trusts me. I am unsure if that day will ever come, but for her sake I hope it does.

Coming into this, one of my main goals was for Emily to feel more freedom. I want to show her how I can make her life better than the one I took her from. But if this is how me giving her freedom will go, I will have to find other ways to show her to appreciate me.

My head becomes heavy and my legs ache from the constant running, but I don't stop. I have to find her.