Hacking The Heart [Immortal Hearts #1] (#Wattys2016)

[8] - Finch | Levy

(Minor Graphic Content)

Unknown Location - Forest; 11:03 PM:

Kaylee and Jeffery had been running for over an hour, seemingly unable to lose the man chasing them. The man chasing them continued to speak loudly as he followed them in the pitch-black darkness. Confidence beamed from his voice, a confidence that screamed that he was easily going to be able to catch them. Just who was following them?

"Kaylee, I'm a friend of your boyfriend, Landon! He asked me to track you down and bring you back!" he said. "My name is Finch Halbrook. You can trust me."

Finch's words would have sounded believable to most, and most would have stopped running. However, he made one grave mistake in the words he spoke, and Kaylee noticed the mistake immediately, just as he said them. All of their friends knew they were married, and as such, wouldn't call Landon her boyfriend, but rather her husband.

Kaylee stopped running as she noticed that Jeffrey had stopped himself. "He doesn't know Landon! I'll explain later, but we need to run!"

"Jesus, who is this guy?" Jeffery looked back.

Their running continued as they blindly made their way through the forest. In the darkness, they had no way of telling which way to go or which way they were going. For all they knew, they could have very well been going in circles. It was all they could do, run - run until they lost him. However, Kaylee didn't make that far.

As she ran, her foot got caught in a tree root. Kaylee headed for the ground, and as if by instinct, she twisted. This caused her to fall on her back, however, in the process it snapped her ankle. Now, she couldn't run, nor could she hide. With a broken hand and ankle, Kaylee was not only slowing herself down but Jeffery as well.

"Shit!" Kaylee grunted as her hand touched her own ankle. "Shit...it's broken."

Jeffrey knelt over and held his arms out. "Get on, I'll carry you!"

Kaylee looked back and then forward again. "Run...and please find Landon. Please, just run, just find him! Your the only one I can depend on. So, please...please run..."

Jeffery nodded and began to run like his life depended on it. He had two options, die at the hands of this man. Or run and run until he found Landon to let him know what happened. Obviously, Jeffrey chose the latter. He didn't want to die, nor did he want to leave his child alone in this harsh, animalistic world. This was what he had to do. There wasn't any other choice.

Meanwhile, as Jeffery continued into the darkness, Kaylee heard the snapping sounds of twigs being stepped on and broken. She could only wonder if this was the end for her, if she was going to be killed and buried on the spot by this mysterious man. What Kaylee didn't know was that something, at least in her eyes, much, much worse was going to come from him. Something worse than death.

"Finally, you stopped." Finch's smooth twang echoed in the silent forest. "Jeez, Mr. S didn't tell me just how gosh darn sexy you were, sweetie."

"What do you want?" Kaylee asked as the pain in her ankle slowly became worse. "Who's Mr. S?"

"Well, I don't get out often, you see. Meaning, I don't get much tail eitha', ya' know? I guess what I'm sayin' is, for right now, all I want is...you."

"Landon is going to kill you! You aren't going to get away from him!" Kaylee spoke with a trembling voice and wide eyes.

"Careful how you speak to me, Kaylee." Finch pulled her by her hair, leaving his mouth next to her ear. "Otherwise...that little bundle of joy growing inside of ya' is gonna dissappear, and quick. So, just sit still and everything will be okay. I promise I'll be gentle, ya' hear?"