Untamable Resolve: The Witheridge Witches

Ch. 24 - Watership Down

TW: Rape and PTSD are referenced in this chapter. As a survivor myself, there were points in my life where I needed a TW. Also, hence the name of the chapter if you are familiar with the book that I'm referencing, little bunnies are not safe in the slightest, and nature is cruel to them. This may be graphic for some readers. I just want y'all to have full disclosure.

I had been running for just under a minute, but my chest was already tight, and the cold that was seeping into my lungs made breathing more difficult.

God. I was out of shape.

My eyes quickly darted in every direction over the landscape of the forest floor, and I decided to take a sharp left because I remembered that I had read years ago that it's most people's first instinct to go right.

He was going to catch me; it was just a matter of when. My objective was not to win but to see how long I could hold him off. Not even a second later, I heard deafening heavy footsteps catching up behind me.

I eyed a tree that was a good one hundred feet away from me, and I ran straight for it determined. I had to time this right.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1

Abruptly, I stopped dead in my tracks before moving to my right, dodging the tree as he ran straight into it. I took advantage of the few seconds of confusion I had bought myself and jumped on his back putting his neck in the crook of my arm and pushing down hard, effectively choking him. Smirking, I held the chokehold tight as he tried to shake me off.

Suddenly, instead of trying to pry my arms off of his neck, he started holding them tighter. My heart dropped as I realized what he was about to do. Desperately, I tried to wiggle out of his grasp and get off of him, but he was already falling back on top of me. Before I could even blink, my back was colliding with the forest floor with a loud smack.

That's what I get for being cocky.

Lucas turned around on his stomach, pushing himself below my legs as he looked up at me, eyeing me with a concerned look on his face. I scrunched myself up, taking advantage of the fact he had just hurt me before kicking him as hard as I could in the nose.

That was kind of cathartic.

He wiped the blood from his nose and smiled at me as I tried to get up and run away, but I was immediately pulled back to the ground with a rough tug on my heel. I knew what was coming next. He was going to use his weight to pin me down. Still, I did not give up. I was going to treat this like it was real.

I kneed him as hard as I could on both sides of his ribs before he was able to completely pin me down, rendering any movement almost impossible and useless. Somewhat pathetically, I kept trying.

"Enough. I get it. We've got something to work with. You've proved your point."

I wasn't comfortable with our closeness and feeling his hot breath on my face. I tried to push him off, but he held me still as he looked me directly in the eyes. I looked back at him menacingly. He wanted me to submit, and that wasn't going to happen. He started to push his body into mine, and alarm bells went off in my head, but I tried not to let it show. I'd been raped before back in the first semester of college, and the way that he had his body on top of mine brought back flashes of horrific memories to mind.

Immediately, as if he had been shocked, Lucas rolled off of me, creating space between the two of us, and I could tell he was concerned.

"What's wrong? You're not okay. I can feel it."