The Games We Play

3. Two - Tess

Two - Tess

I scream for Roxy, but when the man approaches my open door, I’m left with no other choice. Slamming it closed, I lock the deadbolt. I can’t overpower him. Hell, I couldn’t even run past him. His frame takes up the entirety of my tiny concrete porch, with a single column on each side.

Roxy .

I race to the back of the house, adrenaline burning through the drunken state I was in. I wrench open the door and keep running into the woods behind my house.

“Roxy!” I shout, hoping she’ll follow the sound of my voice and that man will leave her alone. There is a shortcut to Ryan’s house this way…as long as I don’t get lost in the middle of the night.

Roxy barks from behind me.

“Come here, girl!” I shout, hoping she makes her way to me. I’m forced to slow down for the fallen trees and thick vegetation. My bare feet cry out in pain when I crunch across something sharp, but I keep going. My pulse pumps in my ears as crashing sounds come through the forest behind me, and I whirl, hands up, prepared to fight off the man the best I can. Roxy’s front paws jump up and push me onto the ground. She licks my face like this was the best game of hide-and-seek she’s ever played.

Can someone say defective guard dog ?

“Shh, calm down. Where did he go?” I whisper as I push her off of me.

“Behind you,” the deep male voice paralyzes me. I crane my head back from the ground where I sit. He’s towering over me in an image of power and domination.

I grab Roxy’s collar and spin, so I’m facing him and shoving myself back as far as I can go. The man crouches and tilts his head to the side. He isn’t holding any knives or weapons like I expected. His knees are spread wide as he balances on the toes of his boots, and he reaches a hand out toward me.

I shy back. “Please, don’t hurt her.”

The man pauses, his fingers an inch from my face. Then he switches his trajectory and reaches for Roxy. My grip on her collar tightens, ready to fight him if that’s what it comes to.

He shifts his weight from his right foot to his left and holds his hand in front of Roxy, letting her sniff it. She immediately gets excited and rips from away from me, her hair sticking to my hands where I tried to hold on.

“Roxy,” I hiss, and the man angles his head back at me. He abandons my dog, and his index finger runs down the side of my cheek. My body hums from the forbidden touch, and I squirm. He grabs my jaw with enough force. My teeth dig into my cheeks .

Keeping me firmly in place, he brings his body closer to mine. His muffled breaths get louder, the darkness of woods hiding the color of his eyes. Roxy whines, but I can’t turn my head to see what she is doing.

“Do you not value your life?” his gravelly voice asks. His r’s roll slightly with an accent I can’t place.

I blink at him, confused by his question. Is he going to kill me? “What?”

“You asked me not to hurt her .” He jerks my chin to the side and shows Roxy lying beside us, watching the exchange. “But said nothing about yourself? Why?”

“Uh,” I struggle to find the right thing to say. Is this the part where I’m expected to beg for my life? Beg to a God I don’t believe in to spare me and promise to do better with my life if I live? He must get tired of waiting for an answer because he pushes to his feet, his grip on my jaw still strong, forcing me to stand with him.

“Go home, Puppet.” He drops his hand and points toward my house. “And don’t open the door for strangers.” There’s a glint of humor in his voice, and I stare in bewilderment.

“I’m sorry, I’m confused. What the fuck is happening?”

Roxy barks with excitement like we’re out here playing a game of fetch.

“Would you rather I fuck your worthless cunt? I mean, if you don’t care if you live or die. Shall we see how much you can handle before you beg for me to stop?”

His words light a fire inside of me. This can’t be real. Is he serious? My heart drums in my chest, and I know my answer should be, fuck no. My natural instinct to survive must be broken. A normal person would take this stroke of luck and run. But I hesitate .

Do you not value your life ?

In truth, I don’t know that I do. I haven’t for a long time. I’ve been chasing a high to feel something, anything, more than the cavernous void in my chest.

He yanks my head back by my hair, and pain sears across my scalp. I cry out, grabbing his wrist to get some relief. “I’m not a patient man,” he growls, and I swear that rumbling sound shoots straight to my clit.

I’m in deep shit, and this is so fucking dangerous. But a deep part of me wants to test these waters. I lean into his grasp, pressing the side of my body against his chest. A breeze picks up, and leaves fall from the surrounding trees.

“I don’t care,” I say. My voice is calm and steady. His hand tightens, and a crazed smile widens across my lips.

“Run home,” he says through a clenched jaw, releasing my hair.

“What? All bark and no bite?” I scoff.

“Run home. Hide. When I find you, our game begins.”

Internally, I’m screaming, ‘ Yes , finally ,’ but I keep my bored expression. My turn to be a tease. “When you find me? Cocky much?” His shoulders shake slightly.

Is he laughing ?

“Run.” His voice sends chill bumps down my arms. My brain signals for my body to run before I realize what I’m doing. Roxy races ahead, beating me inside the house. I slam my back door closed and lock it. Stepping away from it slowly, I stare at the tree line for the masked man. Seconds tick by, my chest rising and falling in shallow succession.

He strides out of the shadowed woods with a slow, deliberate gait, his arms swinging at his sides. I stand, mesmerized by how he moves. The way his jacket clings to his biceps and stretches across his chest .

I rapidly blink away my intruding thoughts.

Where do I hide in my two-bedroom house? He’s halfway across my backyard, and I act on pure instinct. I grab the basement door and reach to the top for the key. I jimmy it in the lock and pause. There’s a reason I keep this door locked, and I’m not sure even the man outside is worth going down there ever.

The back door rattles, and three even pounds thump in rhythm with my beating heart.

“Screw it.” I jerk the basement door open. “Roxy,” I call, and she whines at the top of the stairs. I glance toward the back of my house. “I know. Come on.” She goes willingly with one tug of her collar, and I lock the door behind me before slowly creeping down the stairs. I pause mid-step when boots walk across the floor above me. Once they recede, I quickly reach the concrete floor and cower in the furthest corner of the basement, calling Roxy to follow me.

Drawing my knees to my chest, I count the footsteps above me until I can’t hear them anymore.