Flight to Freedom: A Short Jaunt Behind the Veil Read online

started to pour out of me. I didn’t really know what to do. I had never been in this kind of situation before.

  “You noticed?” He still looked shocked. His eyes had widened with shock and even though it was dark I could see him clearly. I’m pretty sure that it was just adrenaline streaming through my body and improving my night vision, but I’ll never really know the answer to that. Maybe I got a little bit of the infection, or whatever he had, but I don’t think that I’m even capable of understand the answers to those questions, so we’ll ignore them for now.

  I put my hand up on my neck. I felt the stickiness of my own blood as I turned to open the door. I was fast enough to get it open. He was still a little in shock as I started to climb out of the car. I suddenly felt like I was in danger, but not by wild animals. I felt the danger stem from the man that I had been sitting in a car with. I was frustrated and scared, but when he grabbed my arm I felt the panic rise up inside of me. I frantically tried to pull away, but his grip was like iron. He yanked me back into the car and I swung with my fist. I couldn’t put much power behind it in the tight quarters, but I still managed to surprise me. I’m pretty sure that I only had the upper hand at that moment because he hadn’t been expecting me to fight back and he was pretty new at this.

  I struggled against him, willing to fight until my last breath against the kind of damage that he was going to do with me. I swung again, this time I connected with his face and he snarled at me. I was making him angry and it was getting a lot more dangerous for me. “Just stop fighting.” He growled the words at me.

  I didn’t respond. I was more worried about fighting than communicating. I grunted as he yanked on my arm, but I was lucky that the center console stopped by body from being ripped over to his side. I reached for the glove compartment, eager to find something to defend myself. I popped it open as he yanked on me again and a small tool kit popped out. It was easy to see that the small container had been overstuffed and things were jammed in there at the same time that the door had been slammed shut. I couldn’t help but think of my closet when I was growing up. It was the type of place that seemed to hold more than the space should have allowed, but it was in there. My eyes lighted on the tool kit. I knew what type it was. I had one in my own car. I hoped that the small ratchet screwdriver was still in the kit as I reached for the black box.

  He yanked on my arm again and my fingers scraped the textured surface. I cursed. I would tell you the word that I used, but I’m afraid that it might offend some sensibilities. It hurt, a lot. I could feel my arm starting to wrench out of its socket, but the small car was actually working to my advantage. There wasn’t enough space to pull me over to him.

  “Give me a chance to explain.” He was pleading with me. “I have a good reason.” It sounded lame and I wasn’t about to buy his excuses. I was upset, that much must have been very evident and he was trying to save face.

  “I’m bleeding.” I panted and felt relieved that he had lightly loosened his grip. “You bit me and now I’m bleeding. What the hell is wrong with you?” I looked at him, noticing that he was licking his lips. I felt the shudder form at the base of my spine. I was beyond terrified and it made me ready to fight.

  “I know, I’m sorry. Just give me a chance to explain.” He held his hands up, but a strange glint was starting to form in his eye.

  “What are you going to explain?” I couldn’t believe that he was going to try to smooth this out. “I think that I should go.”

  He actually smiled. “Where are you going to go? We’re out in the middle of the desert.” His smirk widened as he continued to taunt me with the facts of my situation. “I’m your only way out of here.”

  I snorted. The smug look on his face was starting to piss me off. “I’ll walk if I have to.”

  “It’s thirty miles to the next town.” He reminded me as if those thoughts weren’t already prancing around in my mind. I was scared, alone, and out in the middle of nowhere. I knew that I had to get away from him before he hurt me. I could see his eyes starting to change.

  I reached into the center console for my purse. He reached out and grabbed it before I could get it. “Let me have my purse.” I demanded the return of my belongings.

  His smile was born out of desperation and it didn’t make a damn bit of difference to me. I was offended and angry. I just wanted to get out of there. “Not until you hear me out.”

  “I’m not interested in hearing you out. I want to go.” I was frustrated and angry.

  “Just listen to me and I’ll let you leave.”

  “I don’t want to listen to you.” I felt like I was being held prisoner, and I didn’t like that at all. Unfortunately this guy was going to be sadly mistaken if he thought that I was going to some shrinking violet that wasn’t going to fight.

  “I didn’t mean to bite you.” He looked down at his lap. The bulge that had been there before was fading. I can’t say that I was particularly upset by that fact.

  “I’m leaving.” There was anger in my voice.

  His face grew arrogant. “Where exactly are you going to go?” He cocked his head. “Let’s face it Sophie, you aren’t exactly in position to be making demands.” It was easy to see that he was wavering between being nervous and overconfident. He was acting, and I wasn’t going to put up with it anymore.

  “Then give me my damn phone, I’ll call a cab when I get to the highway.” I thrust my hand his direction. I was pretty angry, and looking back I’m not sure that I would have reacted that way had I known the truth about what he was.

  “You already know that I’m not going to do that.” He frowned a bit. It was like he suddenly realized what he was going to do. I could see the determination start to form on his face. It felt like it was slowly moving across his countenance, as if the video was being slowed down to capture tiny little details. I didn’t have much time, and I knew it. Time was falling around me and I had to do something.

  It didn’t take me long to prepare for the pain I was about to cause myself. It wasn’t exactly the first time that I had been caught in what seemed to be an impossible situation. I had to do something and if I remained afraid of the pain I wouldn’t be able to do what I needed to do. I glanced over at my captor. His eyes had turned red and he was turning toward my arm. I could sense his hesitation, his frustration. He was scared, and frankly I didn’t care. He was trying to hurt me and I had to stop him. I was willing to do anything that I needed to do to get away from him. I had to get the tool box. It was the only weapon at hand, and it was just barely out of my reach.

  I took a deep breath, preparing myself for what I had to do. I yanked myself in the direction of the tiny black case. I knew that my assailant had a grip like iron and I was expecting the wrenching pain that came with me ripping my own shoulder out of its socket. “Let go of me!” I shouted at the same time and it was easy to hear the sound echo through the cabin. He winced. I didn’t know why it bothered him, but apparently it did. I fought with the container, but it didn’t take him long to recover. He reached for my useless arm once again, reaching to bite me once again.

  I hefted the tiny case and slammed it against the side of his face. I was fighting off handed, but the adrenaline was coursing through my veins and my strike held a great deal of force. It didn’t make a difference. He wasn’t fazed and bit down on my vein. I was glad for the throbbing pain. It made it so I could barely feel the agony of his teeth ripping through my flesh like giant burning needles. I started to struggle with the latch, but it was one of those plastic closures that were almost impossible to open with one hand. I didn’t have much choice. I had to stop him. I had to defend myself. I was trapped in the circle, alternating between panic and rage as I tried to calm myself enough to open the container.

  I was starting to feel a little dizzy as I finally popped it open. I gripped the screwdriver in my hand and prepared to stab at the man that was suckling the blood out of my wrist. I knew that it wasn’t going to be long until I fell unconsciou
s and was glad that he hadn’t pierced the artery. I stabbed him, hard and in the chest. I continued to stab him as he fell to unconsciousness.

  When he fell I pulled my purse out of his lap and exited the vehicle. I debated on pulling him out of the car and leaving him on the desert floor, but decided against it. I had seen to many horror stories to risk getting within arm’s reach of him again. I pulled out my phone and cursed. Somehow, during the fight my phone had gotten broken. I didn’t know if he did or if I had done it, but it really didn’t matter. I glanced back into the car window, squinting as I suddenly realized how dark it had been. I didn’t see his phone, but it looked like he was starting to stir so I ran. I pulled off my heels and ran barefoot through the desert, scared and alone, hoping that I was going the right direction. I could see moving lights in the distance and was grateful for the highway. I just hoped that I could get someone to stop. In this day and age, that can be quite a challenge. Nobody wants to stop for a girl on the side of the road. Everyone has heard the stories and had something happen to a friend of a friend. I knew that I probably wouldn’t have stopped, but I had to hope that there was someone who was willing to help me. That night couldn’t have gotten any