Kara dragged her body on the dry leaves that were a little drenched from the dew. She was weak, injured on her feet and the only means of moving was to crawl like a reptile.
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“Please, help,” she cried with tears rolling down her cheeks and washing the blood on her face along with it. “Help, please,”
The night was cold, the birds were chirping and the breeze was blowing the trees in side-to-side motion. The twig sound from the distance made her realize she was not alone in the woods.
“If anyone is out there, please save me. I’m dying,”
“Hello,” she suddenly heard. She held her breath and froze for a swift second to make sure she had heard well.
“Is anyone there?” she said back and then, she saw a figure approaching her. As the figure got closer, so did her sight get blurrier.
“Please, don’t hurt me. I need saving,” she cried. The figure got closer and bent before her.
“And you shall be saved,” was the last thing she heard before she passed out and it all became quiet.
Her body could feel the comfort which was unusual even in her sleep.
Kara slowly opened her eyes, only to be greeted by the glistening sun illuminating through the windows. Without moving her body, she rolled her eyes to the side to take in the environment she was in before staring blankly at the ceiling. Then, the door opened.
“Hello,” she heard a masculine voice which caused her to immediately jerk up from the bed with fear filling her guts and evident on her face.
“I’m sorry, Dad. I had no idea I was lying here!” she pleaded with her face buried in between her knees.
“Hey, hey. It’s alright,” he said as he moved closer to her, resting his hand on her shoulder to calm her.
Kara slowly raised her head to meet his gaze. Her heartbeat was slowly calming as she realized the comfort in his tone.
“Then, who…who are you?” she asked, swallowing hard.
“Here, have this first,” he handed her a cup of water and she downed it within seconds. “Slow down,” he said, patting her back.
“Who are you?” she asked again, more assertively than before.
“I am Jonathan and I saved you that night. Two weeks ago,”
“What?? Two weeks?” She was shocked, confused, and lost but Jonathan was willing to brush her memory.
“I was out in the woods to hunt and maybe set some traps but I heard a wailing sound which at first I almost mistook for my prey. There, I found you almost dying, begging to be saved,”
“I remember that night but I didn't remember it has been two weeks,”
“Oh, you have been unconscious for two weeks and if you weren't breathing, I would have thought you were dead,”
“What happened? How did you end up in the woods?” Jonathan asked cautiously, trying not to force things. “It’s fine if you are not ready to speak,” he quickly added as he waited for her to choose whether to speak or not.
They both sat still for a few seconds without any words rolling out of their lips and now, Jonathan takes it as the latter. He stood from the bed and walked toward the door.
As he was about to turn the doorknob, Kara spoke.
“My name is Kara but I guess my last name doesn't matter. That night…” she paused, swallowing hard with her eyes firmly shut.
“You don’t have to push things, Kara. Take your time,” Jonathan encouraged but Kara shook her head.
“I wanna talk about this. Talking about it to a stranger might help,” Kara replied as she sat well on the bed and Jonathan walked back to sit next to her.
“I was maltreated by my dad for fifteen years since I was five. At first, it was a withdrawal process from the hurt he felt after my mum died but soon, he started blaming me for her death because I was in the car when a car came crashing into our car and killed her and not me.
He became an alcoholic and would hit me at every chance he got. When I turned twenty, things took a whole different maltreating turn when he would lock me up in our basement for days, weeks, and this last time before I escaped, months. He would starve me and only feed me an apple.
He would cuss me out and hit me like I was an animal. So, that night, I was determined to escape from him when he caught me. My feet were sore so I could not run well, causing him to catch up and hit me countless times.
As his anger rose, he grabbed a knife and was going to stab me when the table turned and I stabbed him to his death!!” I ended my word with a sob.
Jonathan pulled me into his arms to comfort me and I sobbed effortlessly into his arms.
“I’m glad I came to my cabin for the holiday. I’m glad I stepped out that night to hunt and I’m glad I was there in time to save you. You are safe now, Kara. No one would ever have to hurt you anymore,”
“But I’m a murderer. I killed my own father,” Kara sobbed harder.
“You did what you had to do to survive. I would have done the same,” Jonathan comforted, stroking her hair and kissing her head.
Jonathan meant every word he said. Since he couldn’t save his mum from his dad, resulting in her death, he knew he would do anything to save Kara even though they had just met.
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