Ravyn

Chapter 7: After

October 3rd: Later that night

I sit with my legs crossed beneath me and my wrists bound behind my back. I glare at Jason sitting across me at the blazing fire. Whooping and hollering fades into the distance as Cody, Conner, and Evan leave to find Ravyn. Jason pokes at the coals with a long stick. His blond hair falls over his piercing blue eyes. Finally, I manage to speak up.

"Jason, what are you guys doing?" He glances up from the flames for a moment before looking back down at his hands. I grit my teeth with anger. Why do they think they have the right to do whatever it is they're doing to people? Jason's low voice startles me out of my disgust.

"Madilyn. You don't understand. At first, Conner and I were just running with Cody, Andrew, and Evan for protection against the rabid animals. That meteor changed everything. The landscape, the animals, the people . . ." his voice trails off and he's silent for a long while before he finally speaks again. "I've always known those three were different than everyone else. It's like, they don't have a consience or something. Conner and I aren't like them, but we needed their help to survive. But, they're changing me, Madi. I don't feel guilt like I used to. We've hurt people. Tortured people. You're the first girl we've found and I'm worried. I don't know what they have planned for you, Madilyn." His head stays lowered, but his eyes lift upward to stare at me with concern through his long blonde lashes. His strong shoulders are hunched forward with defeat.

"Jason. Please. You don't have to be like them. Untie me. You're absolutely right. You're nothing like them. Please, just let me go," I plead. I nearly choke on the words. Jason's different. I have to believe that. Otherwise, I'll never escape with my life. "Jason? PLease" I beg as giant, salty droplets fill my eyes. Gone are the days of worrying about what shirt to wear to school or whether I'm going to Katelyn's birthday rager. Now, I have to worry about surviving the night.

Jason stares at me with indecision as my teal eyes silently plead with his for help. His long, toned legs reluctantly pull his body behind me. He crouches down behind me and his fingers deftly untie the knots of rope around my wrist. His warmth breath hits the back of my bare neck. My fingers twitch with desperate excitement to be released. Ravyn was right. He was the least of my problems . . .

Heavy footsteps approach and my head snaps up to watch. Jason's fingers freeze suddenly as he realizes his mistake. Evan, Conner, and Cody appraoch with disdain clearly marking their handsome faces. Cody tsks with disapproval.

"Jason, Jason, Jason. What the fuck were you thinking? We trusted you, man. We go out to search for Ravyn and we come back to you betraying us? It's bad enough that we couldn't find the guy, but now you're causing problems too. That's just sick, dude. Fucking sick," Cody rants as Evan directs Conner to grab Jason. Conner looks reluctantly at Evan before finally pulling Jason away from me. Conner holds Jason in place as Evan begins to punch him in the stomach. I scream in desperation as I hear the heavy thuds of rough, scabbed knuckles hitting the toned abs of Jason's stomach. As Evan hits him over and over, Jason's legs go weak before giving out. Conner's strength is the only force holding him up now.

I watch with helplessness when Jason coughs up blood onto the ground and his shirt. Tears fills my eyes while animalistic whimpers escape my throat. A rough hand suddenly grabs my chin and pulls my face away from the violence. Cody holds my chin tightly in his grip while his other hand gently caresses my face and brushes flyaways out of my eyes. His brown eyes linger on my lips before drifting my my face into my shirt. He chuckles huskily as he eyes my cleavage like wolf watches a pitiful injured fawn limping along in the woods dripping blood on the pine needle covered forest floor.

"Madi," his voice whispers soothingly. "You should be screaming for things other than pathetic little Jason. You should be screaming for me." Suddenly, his hands are forcing me to the ground and my tied hands are pinned underneath me. He sits with his legs on either side of my abdomen and his crushing weight on top of my stomach. My ragged, strained breathing quickens as his fingers pull the zipper of my jacket down and push it off my shoulders. A scream rips from my throat as he rips my shirt in half to stare at the cleavage popping out of my bra. He licks his lips before ducking his head to kiss his way down my neck and cleavage. I cry out in anger while kicking my legs around. I buck my head and try to escape his heavy weight. Tears stream down my face as goosebumps rise on my arm from the cold, biting wind. Sobs choke me as Cody's hands roam over my body squeezing and kneading roughly. A low moan creeps out of my lips as his long fingers unbotton my jeans. This is it. He'll rape me, then leave me for dead. Maybe he'll keep me as a sex slave. Maybe this is just the beginning . . .

His greedy hands push my jeans and panties down my hips, then push down his own jeans and boxers. Terror fills my body and freezes my body before it goes limp. I watch as he's readies his hips to push his hard length into me. My head slumps to the side to watch Evan and Conner kicking Jason's limp body. Tears pour out of my teal eyes. My eyelids slowly close as I try to will it all away.

Cody's hands pull my face back up and he yells at me to open my eyes. My eyelids pull apart to stare at his hunger hazel eyes.

"Madi, I want you to watch," he says in a strained tone. A pathetic whimper escapes my plump, pink lips.

Suddenly, right before Cody pushes into me, a long blade slides into my view. I watch as everything appears to happen into slow-motion. The steel blades slices along Cody's throat and blood sprays from the wound. Red muscular flesh shows from his neck while he spurts thick red blood onto my face. I flinch as the warm liquid touches my soft, skin. His limps body falls to the ground. His limbs become pinned beneath his heavy, dead body. Heavy footsteps sound in my ears. My head falls to the side to watch as a time speeds back into regular time. My eyes go fuzzy from tears and I watch as a blur of motion stabs Evan in the stomach several times and blood pours from the wound. Evan screams in pain as he falls to the ground with a heavy thud. The shiny blade glints in the firelight as it raises above Conner's chest. I moan as the knife stabs into his chest and his body falls to the ground. The figure sits atop Conner's stomach and raises the lengthy, jagged blade again and it stabs adown into Conner's chest over and over and over again. Droplets of blood fly through the air and pools of blood encircle the three bloodied bodies of Evan, Conner, and Cody. The last memory I have before the darkness falls over my eyes is the blurry figure walking over to me, pulling up my pants, and laying a thick, warm blanket over my heavy, tense body.