Chapter 2

The second I hit the ground, I took off running toward town.

The next second, Richard's boot slammed into my lower back.

I flew forward and hit the ground hard, my chin smashing against the rocks.

"Running?"

He grabbed me by the back of my shirt and hauled me up.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

Before I could even turn over, he yanked me upright and punched me across the left side of my face.

My cheek swelled so fast I could barely open my eye.

"God, you're a nasty little bitch. You think running into town is going to save you? It'll only get you killed faster!"

He pulled a nylon rope from the SUV and tied both my hands behind my back.

Then he took a dirty rag from his pocket and stuffed it into my mouth.

Margaret stepped out of the passenger side.

She looked at my swollen face and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"God, she's ugly."

She glanced at Richard.

"Are we sure this girl really has my blood in her?"

A figure slowly appeared in the distance.

An old man was walking toward us with a black metal cane.

I recognized him immediately.

Elias Carter.

The man who had always spoiled me the most when I was little.

Richard grabbed my hair and forced my face up toward him.

"See that bad leg?"

He lowered his voice like he was telling me a ghost story.

"Years ago, three businessmen came out here planning to build a factory."

"That old man didn't say a word. He went to their construction site in the middle of the night and took on all three of them by himself."

"Beat every one of them so badly they never fully recovered."

"He shattered his own lower leg in the fight. That's why he walks like that now."

"Someone called the cops afterward."

"The officers didn't even make it past the entrance to town."

He laughed.

"Know why?"

"Because everyone in Black Hollow swore those three businessmen had fallen and hurt themselves."

He leaned closer to me.

"A place where even the law can't do shit."

"What makes you think a little girl like you can survive here for more than a few days?"

I lie on the ground and listen to Elias's footsteps getting closer.

Richard doesn't know anything.

Elias could have handled those three men without breaking a sweat.

They never even would've gotten close enough to touch him.

He broke that leg ten years ago.

I had a high fever, and he carried me over the mountain to get me to a clinic.

He slipped on the trail and shattered his leg.

And those businessmen?

They were trying to build a chemical plant.

The waste pipe was going to empty straight into the river behind town.

The same river all the kids in Black Hollow swam in.

If Elias hadn't stopped them, every kid in town would've been drinking poisoned water.

But I can't say any of that.

The dirty rag in my mouth pins my tongue down.

Margaret walks toward Elias with a polite smile.

"Sir, our youngest has been nothing but trouble since she was little."

"She steals, hits people, lies about everything. We just can't control her anymore."

"As long as you don't kill her, you can teach her a lesson however you want."

She pulls a thick stack of cash from her purse and holds it out.

Elias doesn't take it.

He stands three steps away, leaning on his cane.

His cloudy eyes move over me once.

It's too dark.

My face is swollen beyond recognition, covered in dirt and blood.

He doesn't recognize me.

He just says coldly,

"That's it?"

Margaret freezes.

Elias looks at me again.

"Girl doesn't look useful for much."

"Might be easier to knock her out and dump her in the river behind the mountain."

Margaret's face changes instantly.

She steps in front of him.

"No!"

"She can't die!"

"She has a rare blood type. Our older daughter isn't healthy and needs transfusions all the time."

"She's basically a walking blood bank."

"If she dies, where the hell are we supposed to find another one?"

Elias raises an eyebrow and looks at me again.

"A walking blood bank?"

"Then she's going to cost you more."

Margaret grits her teeth and pulls another stack of cash from her purse.

That's it.

That's the opening I need.

Her hand leaves my shoulder.

I use the last bit of strength I have and throw myself forward.

I slam my head into the stack of cash in her hand.

Not because I care about the money.

I just need Elias to see my face.

Bills explode into the air.

Elias's eyes land on me.

Richard reacts faster.

His boot slams into my chest.

I fly backward and hit the ground.

The back of my head cracks against a rock.

My vision flashes white.

"Can you fucking stop for one second?"

Richard rushes over and straddles me.

He grabs my index finger.

Then bends it backward.

Crack.

The joint slips out of place.

My whole body jerks.

The groan in my throat gets trapped behind the rag.

He doesn't stop.

Middle finger.

Ring finger.

Pinky.

One after another.

Then the other hand.

By the time all ten fingers are dislocated, he throws my hands aside and stands up.

He wipes the sweat from his palms.

"These hands are always causing trouble."

"Break them first, and maybe you'll finally behave."

I curl up on the ground.

My whole body won't stop shaking.

The veins in my forehead stand out from the pain.

But I don't beg.

I turn my head.

With the one eye I can still open, I stare straight at Elias.

He's standing two steps away.

Then he speaks.

"Fine."

"I'll take her."