Page 15 of Unmoored

This was my only chance.

I sprinted toward the staircase, my heart thundering inmy chest as I tasted the mere essence of freedom.This is it!I told myself, eyes stinging as the stairwell entrance grew closer with each step. I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought of this sooner, in all honesty.

My euphoria was interrupted by a rough hand wrapping around my elbow, twisting my body with a hard yank.

Fuck.

I didn’t even see who grabbed me before a palm landed in the middle of my chest and I was shoved to the ground. The impact of my buttocks on the hard floor knocked the wind out of my lungs, and tears stung behind my eyes as I stared up at the male nurse towering over me.

This man was not a particularly nice nurse, if I recall correctly. Bucky never liked him. He was old and bald, with a puffy, wrinkly face, and red bumps filled with pus all over his nose.

“Where do you think you’re going, Miss Emerson?” he sneered, placing the heel of his foot on my shoulder, holding me in place.

I stuttered for a moment before I was suddenly hauled up again, my head swimming.

“Not as if I care,” he said, dragging me towards my room.

I thrashed against him, and my feet fumbled to find steady ground as he dragged me forward. Three paces later he stopped, glaring at me with cold blue eyes beneath unkempt brown eyebrows.

“Quit fighting me, you stupid girl!” He exclaimed, grabbing my chin.

I don’t know what came over me, but I decided I would not give in so easily. Their punishments and “treatments”were no threat to me in this moment, as the pain of losing Bucky was far worse than anything these doctors had done. So instead of giving in to the demands of the angry man in front of me, I spat in his face.

He jumped in surprise, that split second giving me a chance to wrench out of his grip. I leapt toward the stairwell yet again, but he grabbed me by my hair before I could make it more than two feet away.

I yelped, and he flipped my body around again before slapping me hard across the face, causing me to see stars.

Adrenaline coursed through my veins, and I fought against his hold again, but this time he kept hitting me until he’d backed me against a wall.

He shoved me face-forward into it, my cheeks and shoulders scraping against the dusty, crumbling concrete. His hips pinned me into place, and he pulled my hair even harder as his hot breath dusted over the side of my neck.

“On second thought,” he drawled in my ear. “I like them feisty. Keep squirming, you little rat.”

Disgusting runt of a man,I thought, feeling him grind against my body. I didn’t know how to defend myself, and for a moment I was lost in this nightmare, almost ready to give up and let him have his way with me. But as the rough walls of the asylum dug into my skin, something deep inside me sparked, and I decided I would not go down without a fight.I will not be a victim of this wretched place any longer.

The nurse had both of my arms pinned behind my back, and I wriggled my body against his, hoping he’d think I was giving in. A moment later, he fell for it, grunting as he pushed against my backside again, and I shuddered as I felt the evidence of just how much he was enjoying this.

What a sick bastard,I thought, just as my hands found their target. I grabbed his half-hard dick and bollocks through the front of his trousers and squeezed as hard as I could.

“You fucking bitch!” He shouted, releasing his hold on my body as his hands flew to his groin. Instead of letting go, I twisted my wrist as far as I could before launching myself away, fleeing towards the stairwell.

He wheezed from behind me, and I didn’t spare the time to turn and see if he was following as I sprinted toward the exit.One last chance, I said to myself, pumping my legs with every ounce of energy I had.

Unfortunately, I reached the stairwell with a bit too much momentum, and my feet slipped as I reached the top step. I mostly tumbled down the crumbling, spiral staircase, and my hands scraped raw against the stone as I heard the nurse yelling from above.

I didn’t care. My knees slammed into the first landing, blinding pain shooting through my legs as I quickly found my footing and began to descend again. My vision tunneled as the exit came into view a few stories below, and I tuned out the voices echoing behind me. The hammering in my chest coupled with the crash of the ocean waves took the forefront of my mind, and within moments I was sprinting through the cemetery toward the beach.

I’m free. I’m free. I’m free.I chanted to myself, over and over as the sand whipped around my ankles with each step. Lightning cracked in the distant sky, illuminating the expanse of the sea with a bluish grey aura, the call of the abyss impossible to ignore any longer.

The jetty was only a few strides away, and my lungsseized as I pushed myself even harder. If these were the only moments of true freedom I had in this miserable life, it would be enough. For the first time since I was a child, I felt true joy permeating through my soul.

Never again would I be abused by Dr. Morrison and the staff at this hospital. I’d never be sent away on a rickety, sinking ship by my monster of a father. No longer would I be plagued by dreams of the Talassi warrior I’d hallucinated during my escape from the shipwreck.

Perhaps in the afterlife, if therewasan afterlife, I’d be reunited with my mother. We could float away to the ends of the universe, never to be bothered by men and their horrible thirst for power ever again.

My feet thudded against the smooth rocks as I reached the jetty, so close to my final destination. Wind and mist swirled around me, light raindrops pattering against my exposed skin, and I noticed it was beginning to storm.

How utterly, hauntingly beautiful. It was almost poetic. Of course I’d find my demise during a thunderstorm.