Midnight Toxicity

37.

Colton stumbled, landing hard in the dirt. I was able to take a good look at him, and it wasn't a pretty sight. He was shirtless, just in leather pants and black boots. His stringy hair didn't hide his bleeding forehead. I wondered if the drug I administered before he knocked me out had caused a car accident after all.

I smirked down at him, holding my knife up for him to see.

"Bitch! Who are you?" He hollered so loudly that birds fled into the air.

"Never mind that," I scoffed. "Who's the dead guy in the woods?"

His entire body tensed, and blood rushed to his face. Uh-oh, had I signed my death warrant twice tonight? He managed to get to his feet before I could act. 

He declared, "I'm going to fuck you until death, then keep your corpse as my cum doll."

I felt a wave of nausea wash over me, retreating backward on my bare feet. "I don't know what I'm going to do to you, but I can assure you I'll forget you the moment they dump your body in the incinerator. You're nothing but a stain in this world, and I intend to wipe you out, asshole."

He charged me—fists raised, and I sidestepped—aiming low. I swept his legs out from under him with a powerful kick and plunged the knife into the meaty part of his thigh. He landed hard with a wimpy groan.

He punched me in the shoulder, shoving me backward. "Whore," he growled. "Think you're tough? Come here!"

"This is your ending," I promised, the adrenaline pumping through my veins. "I'm not as fragile as I look."

I deflected his arms and jabbed him hard in the throat with my hand. He choked, rolling onto his side. He kicked his feet in a desperate attempt at catching his breath. Standing over him, there was a sense of horrifying joy that I had an advantage. I lunged to slice his neck, but he avoided most of my strikes, although I managed to nick the skin on his left arm.

"You're crazy!" He gasped, struggling for oxygen as I pressed my attack. "Gah!"

I stared in disbelief at the blood coating my fingers, droplets falling to the ground like thick paint. The situation was not harmonizing. I was supposed to be undercover. I had thought my life was chaos before this. The bar on psychotic mania was raised.

"You have no idea who you've messed with," I warned, scanning for an opening to finish this. I was determined to eliminate another rapist and move on. There was a bonfire to start before anyone discovered what had unfolded here.

Colton rallied, rolling onto his feet once more. I struggled to avoid his hands, knowing he was much stronger than me. His reach wasn't too long, and I surprised him with my defensive moves. I struck him several times across the body, making him bend at the waist. I pushed him to the left, kicking him in the balls. His squeak made me laugh, but his hand wrapped around my wrist after I forgot to step aside.

"Who the hell are you, slut?" He roared, pulling me closer. "Think you can beat me? You don't even weigh enough to sink in the pond."

Dolly Pond had a short dock for fishing. It was large enough for swimming and boating, but it was on private property. Was it possible that's where they'd hidden the bodies of the women Golding sent before me? I stared into his dead eyes, knowing he would kill me if I didn't finish him first.

I dug my heels into the dirt, trying to peel his filthy nails from my flesh. "Let go, bastard!"

The stress of the evening made my frame shake. I raised my hand with the knife, determined to be free of his grip. His fingers latched harder. My overexhausted, drug-addled brain slithered into a dark and awful place. The twisted thoughts I used to sink into when Derry began beating me as a child.