The Hunt (Forgotten #1)

Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

T he sting of warm water hitting her face and body slowly roused her back to consciousness. She opened her eyes to find herself slumped in the corner of a walk-in shower. Kaliah squinted against the brightness of the light.

Brown water pooled around her from the mud that drizzled off her body. What was happening? She attempted to sit up but winced. Her hand flew to her shoulder where she noticed a huge bite mark. Not only that, she was completely naked.

It all suddenly came back to her at once. The vacation. The car breaking down. The Bed and Breakfast. Nicole getting ripped to shreds. Running for her life and being captured by a man beast. According to Amy, Sasha and Brianna had met the same fate as Nicole.

Poor Amy. Was she still in that hole or had someone scooped her up as well?

Kaliah wondered why she was kept alive and not the others? Were they saving her to torture for later? Whatever the reason, she didn’t want to stick around to find out what was in store for her.

When she attempted to stand however, she remembered her injured ankle and she cried out. She slapped her hands over her mouth in case someone could hear her. Maybe they were listening.

“There’s no need to hide your screams. You’ll be doing plenty of that soon enough anyway.” A deep voice spoke from beyond the shower curtain. For the first time she noticed the silhouette of a tall shadowy figure.

She opened her mouth to scream but the sound was stuck in her throat. Kaliah had never been more scared in her life because this time, she had nowhere to run. The terror did a number on her bladder and to her shame, urine slid down her thighs.

The figure outside the shower, pulled the curtain back. She was too scared to look up not wanting to see the hairy beast in the light of this brightly illuminated bathroom.

“There’s no need to be frightened. You’re home now.”

Home? The voice almost sounded comforting. It wasn’t the same as the gravely monster from the forest. Was this another part of her nightmare? Did the monster decide to keep her like she’d been warned?

She shook her head. “Please let me go.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. It won’t ever happen.”

“Do…do you plan to kill me? You can be honest. If that’s your intent, could you please make it as painless as possible.”

“Oh, there are lots of things I’d like to do to you but kill you isn’t one of them. You should get cleaned up. Leland and Zeke are chomping at the bit for you to get out of the shower.”

Leland and Zeke. Usually, the killers didn’t give their first names to their victims to prevent being identified later on.

“Who are they?”

“My brothers. My name is Colten by the way, but I go by Colt. And you’re Kaliah.”

“How did you know my name?”

“I asked Trudy. She spoke very highly of you.”

Trudy. That traitor.

“She seemed so nice,” Kaliah said more to herself than to this mystery man.

“She is nice. I can understand why you’d be upset with her but she has a job to do. It’s nothing personal.

Kaliah snorted. “Her job is drugging people and sending them to their impending dooms? That must look great on her resume.”

“It’s not her fault. And I’m not going to make apologies for bringing you here. Or what’s about to happen to you. But I promise, after tonight, we’ll make life for you at Serenity Falls as comfortable as possible. Now wash up. Or do you need my help?”

She shook her head and waved him off. “You seem reasonable. Please let me go. I promise I won’t say a word about what’s happened in this town.”

“You can tell anyone you want, darling. You’re never leaving this town anyway.”

“What does that even mean?” Kaliah forced herself to raise her head and look up at her captor. Her mouth fell open at the sight of a tall, blond man with startling green eyes staring down at her.

She expected a hairy beast but instead she saw a ruggedly handsome man with chiseled, rough-hewn features. There was a quarter inch scar that slashed into one of his dark brown eyebrows. And his nose seemed slightly off center as if it had been broken more than once.

Tufts of thick hair poked from the top of his plaid shirt and his arms were a bit hairy but he looked like an ordinary human being.

“You’re not a monster,” Kaliah noted in wonder.

Colt chuckled. “My brothers would argue otherwise when anyone gets on my bad side. His gaze roamed over her, and he licked his lips.

How could this stranger be so unfazed. And how was he so calm about living in a town full of monsters?

Kaliah remembered she was nude. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t…” she turned her head in shame.

“Don’t look at you? Why not? You’re gorgeous. Beautiful dark skin, big brown eyes and luscious lips. And your body is incredible.”

No one had ever called her beautiful before and the intensity of his green gaze made her tremble. The crazy thing was, Kaliah couldn’t figure if it was from fear or excitement.

“I need some privacy.”

“Let me help you to your feet first. Your ankle is swollen pretty badly but I don’t think it’s broken. Just place all your weight on your good foot in the meantime.”

Kaliah had no chance to protest before he lifted her up as if she weighed no more than a baby.

Their eyes locked and he brushed his thumb across her bottom lip.

He leaned down and just as their lips were about to meet, she turned her head away. Colt’s lips brushed her cheek. He suddenly captured her chin between his forefinger and thumb and turned her head to face him. This time when he brought his head down their lips collided.

He nipped her bottom lip, drawing blood.

“Ouch.” Kaliah tried to pull away but his grip on her chin was strong. He swiped his tongue across her bottom lip.

“Delicious.” He finally pulled back with a wolfish grin.

She shrank away from him.

“Wash up, I left some flowery soap, shampoo and a loofa to get the rest of that mud off of you.” I’ll wait on the other side of the curtain to help you to the other room.”

Colt closed the shower curtain, leaving her leaning against the wall. Kaliah absently touched her lips. It was her first kiss. In all her 28 years. Well, she’d been kissed on the cheek by her ex-boyfriend but nothing beyond that. She’d read so many romance books and seen so many romcoms and hoped for a love like the ones she’d seen in media. But as she got closer to 30, she wondered if it would ever happen.

Yes, Colt was very attractive but he was a stranger.

In a town full of monsters.

Kaliah could pretend, what happened last night was a terrifying nightmare but what about this new ordeal she’s found herself in. Colt was one thing but what about his brothers?

And that monster from last night who’d taunted her? What if he came back?

“Hurry up and wash yourself, Kaliah. Or I could scrub your back if you want me to.” Colt called from the other side.

She had no doubt he’d do exactly that if she didn’t get moving. For now, she’d have to do what he told her to do because he might seem calm now, but there was no telling what would happen if she disobeyed.

Hanging on the shower head, was a tray with all the hygiene accessories she needed to clean herself. Keeping all of her weight on her good foot, she moved directly under the shower spray, allowing all the caked on mud to wash away.

Even in this dire circumstance, getting clean made her feel a little better. She scrubbed her skin as hard as she could, making sure to wipe away the blood, mud, urine and grime from her body.

She washed her hair with the soap that smelled of fresh fruit and perfume. It wasn’t ideal to wash her hair in this manner with braids, but she had no choice. By the time she finally cleaned them to her satisfaction they felt heavy on her head.

She stayed in under the warmth of the spray for as long as she dared.

“It sounds like you’re finished in there.”

Her heart pounded so hard, she was certain anyone listening could hear it. “Could you please give me a few more minutes?”

“You smell pretty clean to me. And like I said, my brothers are waiting. It’s time to get out of the shower.

He pulled back the shower curtain, turned off the water and held out a towel to her. “Here. If you’re worried about your modesty, use this.”

“Thank you.” She gratefully accepted the towel and wrapped herself up in it. Once the towel was secured, Colt scooped her into his arms.

He carried her out of the bathroom where they were met with two men that practically took up the entire hallway. She thought Colt was huge but these two were larger than life.

The larger of the two had long black hair and the other, had wavy russet colored hair. They both had the same startling green eyes that Colt had.

The one with the russet hair approached with a wide grin. “I told you, I’d find you little rabbit.”

Kaliah screamed.