My lungs burned, each breath hurting them with hot air escaping my aching throat. Thorns picked at my camouflaged pants. Grinning smugly, I felt relief. At least these would hide me better in the jungle. But wait, wouldn't her finding me hidden in plain sight fuel her ego even further?

Anita's face, distorted in rage, flashed before my eyes. Her words echoed in my head, each one delivering a stinging whip:

'-poor thing. When I catch you, you're done for!!'

Huffing hard and resting my hands on my thighs, I stared at the ground below me. The moonlight escaping from the cracks of huge trees shone and revealed a colony of ants.

I lost track of time at this point. I might've ran for 10 minutes, but it moreso felt like like an hour. Wait, why did she even start chasing me? Was that even a real knife? Did I just overreact? Was she just trying to have some fun?

Removing my phone out of my pocket, it gave me no signal network. As expected. Anita's smiling wallpaper seemed to almost mock me through the screen. This thing is as good as a brick at this point.

The forest stood as a silent witness to my turmoil, yet offered no answers. Darkness pressed in, the shadows twisting into menacing shapes. My heart beat hard in my chest, with the eery silence disturbed by the cries of nocturnal insects. Stumbling over a gnarled root, I landed hard, scraping my hands. Pain ran through through them, a sharp reminder of harsh reality.

Bringing myself to my feet, I dusted away my fears and observed the darkness. The forest seemed endless.

-

Every creaking branch, every rustling leaf sent shivers down my spine. Walking carefully, I strained to hear anything beyond the pounding of my own blood, my breath coming out in ragged gasps.

Then, it happened.

A twig snapped a few meters to the left of me, sharp and sudden, sending a jolt through my nerves.

I whipped my head around, expecting a lurking Anita from the darkness. But there was nothing – only the dense foliage swaying calmly. My heartbeat hitched, with relief washing over me as quickly as it had risen.

'Must have been the wind' , I convince myself, taking another cautious step forward.

Before I could even exhale, a hand clamped over my mouth from behind me, muffling a scream that ripped apart from my throat. I almost stumble upon myself and struggle against the choke-hold from behind me, before I hear a heavy grunt. A sharp knife pressed against throat, sends another jolt of fear coursing through me. My breath hitched, shallow and panicked. Stopping resistance, I raised my arms up in the air.

"Gooood boy. Don't do anything stupid or I'll slit your throat, you bitch.", a familiar feminine voice whispered right into my ears.

It was Anita. Her voice was laced with satisfaction, like a predator catching it's prey.

I nodded, before her grip on my mouth and the knife relaxed. I wanted to fight, to scream, to do something, anything, to escape her, but fear paralyzed me. It left me a trembling mess at her mercy.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Now,", she resumed,

"I'm gonna keep this knife on you, right where I like it. We're gonna go to our cabin and I'm gonna fuck your brains out, whether you want it or not.", she scowled with a violent tone.

"And don't even think about trying to make a run for it, honeybee.", she interjected.

"I've caught you once. Wouldn't be difficult to catch you again, although you do make a pretty good runner. We're gonna work on that later on."

I nodded, with her giving me no time to accept her conditions.

Anita tightened her grip on me even harder before pushing her body weight onto me, making me jerk forward, with the knife motioning towards the correct pathway. I tiptoed slowly, with careful steps. I was at her mercy, after all.

"I'm gonna have soo much with fun with you tonight.", she took in a brief pause to catch up on her breath.

"God, that chase got me incredibly wet, you know that?", she whispered while nibbling on my ear, making me whimper.

"Make more cute noises like that. You're so precious.", she licked at my ear.

"D-Did I get you riled up, babe? S-Surely you popped a boner or something from the thrill of being hunted, r..right?", she stuttered with a seductive tone now. Almost as if trying to play this off.

I replied with silence, and with a calm and anxious gulp.

"Hm. I'll wring out your shy personality out tonight. Leave nothing in those balls of yours. Come on,", she pushed me even harder while having an iron grip over my mouth.

"The cabin isn't that far away"

-

The forest, once hostile, now felt eerily familiar as Anita guided me through it. Her tender yet hateful grip remained firmly clamped over my mouth, a constant reminder of my situation. Fear still gnawed in my mind, but alongside it, a strange sense of calm began to settle. I remember going back and forth this area when fishing and then going to hunt deers. Maybe because she knew these woods like the back of her hand, Anita was navigating through them with an uncanny ease.

-

Every rustle of leaves, every hoot of an owl, sent a tremor through me. My mind raced, replaying the events that led me here, the fight, my impulsive dash, the terrifying feeling of the sharp blade on my neck. Shame started to creep into my being seeing how I was one mistake away from being a corpse. I followed her lead, more cautiously than ever.

Suddenly, Anita stopped, her grip loosening slightly. She pointed ahead, where a faint glow pierced the trees. Relief washed over me like a wave. It was our cabin. A beacon of warmth and familiarity amidst the cold and dark forest.

Smoke curled from the chimney, promising the comfort of the fireplace. The sight ignited a flicker of hope within me.

"We're here.", she let out as she dragged me out of the darkness and into the light.