I sobbed as I moved my legs as fast as I could. My limbs were burning from running so much, and my pounding head and heart was screaming at me to stop.
But I didn't care. I didn't care if I felt like my feet were about to catch fire. All I cared was getting away from HIM.
Just as I was about to reach the gates, however, I felt something grab the back of my shirt. In the blink of an eye, I was yanked towards the ground, my hands soon pinned above my head. I cried out as my head hit the hard surface painfully, not even needing to open my teary eyes to see his figure looming over me. Tears rolling down my face from my squeezed eyes, I yelled out desperately as I struggled to break free.
"P-please!! J-just Let me g-go! I don't wa-want this!"
I felt my wrists getting squeezed against the ground stronger, making me wince and let out a whimper. I shook on the ground in fear as I slowly opened my eyes. My tearful vision made his face blurry, but that didn't stop me from seeing how he was staring right into my teary eyes with his own, gleaming ones.
"I'm sorry, Dayeon. But I can't let you go."
His voice husky, deep. Rough as always, but still had that mysterious softness in it. He rubbed my wrists with his thumb, still holding them against the ground above my head. I saw him leaning his face down closer to mine, making me squeeze my eyes back again. I let out a scared shudder when I felt his breath feather against my nose, his voice sending chills down my spine.
"You've found a place in my mind. Now you must stay in it."
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]