Something Greater (SAMPLE)

FIRE, DESTRUCTION AND CHAOS

The truth was lying right there in the soldier's icy cold eyes. For him, I wasn't a defenseless woman. I wasn't a girl who had just lost her mother. I wasn't even a human being. I was simply the enemy—a target he needed to get rid of.

There was neither time nor space to escape his cruel intent because he jumped on me like an animal, forcing air out of my lungs and suffocating me with his weight. Despite myself, I didn't make a sound when he pushed me against the wall, nor did I cry out when he pressed the knife against my throat and began undoing his belt. It was as if I had left my physical body and observed the scene of horror from somewhere above. It was like watching a sad movie that wasn't happening to me, but to someone else.

The greedy touch of his hands spread over my body like vicious cancer, and I shut my eyes as tightly as I could, sinking further and further into the dark oblivion. Not to think and not to feel was all that mattered.

I don't know how long the touch of that monster lingered on my skin. I wasn't aware of anything until the moment when he was about to make his possession complete. Under building realization, his eyes glowed with triumph, and mine widened in an all-consuming panic and terror.

Please...no.

Suddenly, there was a loud piercing noise, but it didn't come from me or the soldier. I remember thinking I must have lost my mind and fabricated the commotion out of approaching madness. But before I could give credit to this thought, the soldier's weight was lifted off me with abrupt violence, and I watched as the broad dark figure kicked my tormentor, crushing him to the ground.

"What do you think you are doing, private?" The voice of my savior grunted at the soldier that now lay crumbled on the floor, twisting and hugging his waist as though he was in a lot of pain.

For a moment, I thought one of our neighbors had come to my aid, but the words private and the sight of the man's black uniform told me I was dealing with another Nyrman soldier, the one who seemed to hold a higher rank. But it didn't make any sense. Why did he stop him?

Taking over control, he observed the space around him. When he spotted my mother's paralyzed body lying sprawled on the bed, he exhaled, shook his head and glanced at me with anger.

"You have exactly two minutes to put some clothes on," he ordered in a cold voice.

Still dumbstruck by the turn of events, I stared at his dark frame, and he yelled, "Move!"

Making sense of the situation suddenly held no importance, and I ran toward the suitcases, wanting to get away from there as soon as possible. In my haste, I stepped over the soldier who was trying to stand up. He cussed at me, but I paid him no heed and hurried into the hallway.

As I reached for the first clothing items I could get my hands on, I contemplated the possibility of escape. I kept glancing toward the stairs, ready to make a move, when the menacing voice coming from the room stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Do you realize what kind of trouble you are in? We were given simple, clear orders and you went against them! If your partner didn't have enough wits to leave this house, both of you would be facing the firing squad!" The soldier who came in last screamed at my attacker. "He will be furious if he hears about this and I am not going to die because of your stupidity. You better destroy all the evidence. Get rid of everything. I don't want a single trace left," he spat out the command.

The next thing I knew, his huge frame hovered above me, ushering me toward the front door.

Briefly, I wondered about this mysterious he figure the soldier had mentioned, but the moment we stepped outside, all thought and reason abandoned my mind.