Free Red: Into the Dark by Sophie Stern

me. Red can’t see me from where I am, but it doesn’t matter. She’ll know soon enough and they’ll all wish they hadn’t messed with her.
    They’ll wish they’d never been born.
    I’m coming for you, baby.
    I’m going to save my girl.
    “Nash?” Drew asks. He’s a shifter who also happens to be Jeffrey’s right hand man. His chest is covered in jagged scars. Drew never backs down from a fight. His eyes narrow as I approach and he glances behind me to see Johnson on the ground. “This doesn’t concern you.”
    “That’s where you wrong,” I say simply. “You have two choices: you can leave now and I won’t slit your throats the way you deserve,” laughter erupts, but I continue. “Or we can do this the messy way.”
    Drew stays put, but the other men quickly shift and leap at me.
    The messy way it is.

9.
     
    Red
     
    I try to slide away from the bare foot digging into my back between my shoulder blades. I wiggle, but the foot presses harder and I finally give up. I can hear the fight, but I can’t see anything from where I’m lying.
    Who is my rescuer?
    A million thoughts race through my head, but they all settle back on one thing: I should have known better.
    Did I really think I’d be able to escape? Did I really think I’d be able to hide away until I reached a reasonable conclusion?
    Sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way we want it to. I’ve struggled for years to be the good girl, the sweet girl, the kind girl. I’ve tried to be a good student, a good granddaughter, a good person.
    And for what?
    It certainly didn’t save my grandmother’s life and it’s certainly not saving me now. Maybe if I had been smarter, wiser. Maybe if I’d been more of a badass, things would be different. I shouldn’t have wandered into the deep, dark woods on my own.
    Not without protection.
    I think of Wolfy and squeeze my eyes shut. My ears are filled with the sounds of growling, fighting, howls. I can smell the fight: blood and fear. I don’t have to be a wolf to smell those things. Even my human nose can tell that this battle isn’t pretty.
    And it’s all because of me.
    I think of Wolfy back at the cabin and I wonder why I kept on pretending not to know what he was. Maybe it was just nice to have someone understand me for a little while.
    Maybe it was just nice not to feel so alone.
    I didn’t call him out because part of me worried that he would leave me. Then I’d be truly alone instead of just mostly alone. I still don’t know what or who he is. I still don’t know why he chose to protect me, of all the woodland creatures, but I know that right now, I’m filled with regret.
    I wonder if this is the end.
    Any moment now.
    Any moment and I’m going to feel the sharp fangs of death tearing through my body.
    Any moment now.
    I squeeze my eyes shut and focus on my breathing, trying to push out the sounds around me. Screaming. Blood spilling. Death. Fear. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to center myself on the idea that maybe things will be okay.
    Maybe my savior won’t turn out to be some killer creep.
    Maybe he really will just be a normal guy who felt like playing the hero.
    A scream sounds, breaking through my haze. I’m thrust back into reality and I squeeze my eyes shut harder. Soon the pressure on my back is gone and I realize I need to move. This might be my only chance to escape.
    I need to move.
    I hear fighting, but I stay perfectly still. I can’t breathe. Everything is too tight: the world is too close together.
    I need to move.
    I blink open and my head swims with pain.
    I need to move.
    I reach forward and claw at the ground, pulling myself forward. I have to escape. I have to move. I have to get away from here while I still can.
    Everything I’ve ever hoped for is gone. My life has faded away and become a shell of nothingness, but I won’t let this break me. I can’t.
    My mind clears enough to remind me that I have to keep going. I’ll get to the trees and crawl to a hiding