Broken and Powerful

Chapter 19

JEDA POV

I could hear them getting closer but I refused to stop.

My lungs were screaming for air and burned with every breath.

My legs were burning and hurt from sticks cutting into them.

It became darker the farther I got and it was harder to see around me. I didn't know how long I had been running but it had to be for over thirty minutes.

How were they still following me? How did they know where I was when it was so dark?

Footsteps were getting closer and I ran faster but was running out of steam from lack of food.

I should have grabbed the gun and shot my way out of here. But there were too many of them and not enough bullets. There is no way I could get out by force.

The footsteps sounded like they were behind me now. I wanted to look over my shoulder but focused on running.

Arms wrapped around me and tackled me to the ground. My arms thrashed out and shoved into whoever was on top of me.

"Get off me!" I screamed and tried to knee them but they didn't get off.

"Jeda, calm down!" Stefano yelled into my face, his warm breath hitting me. I thrashed harder.

"Get off me Stefano!" I yell while slapping his face hard. He grunts but grabs my hands and pins them down beside my head.

"Calm the fuck down!" He screams again and pushes my arms harder into the mossy ground. His tone made me stop and look up at him. He was nearly a shadow and all I could see were his green eyes.

"You fucking lied," I nearly whisper before anger builds again and I start thrashing. "You fucking lied to me, Stefano! So get the fuck off me right now!"

"I didn't lie!" He said calmly but I kept thrashing. "Why does it matter when he died? He's dead, that's what matters!"

"No! What matters is trust. I believed you but you are just like everyone else. You lied straight to my face."

"I never lied, Jeda. You were hurting and I didn't want to add more pain," His voice was calming but I was too angry to give up. I stopped struggling and looked into his eyes as footsteps got closer.

Without thinking, I lifted my leg and wrapped it around him before flipping him onto the ground. He grunted not expecting it and tried to tighten his grip on my wrist but I brought it out and punched him in the chest.

The air left his lungs in a loud grunt before he started gasping for air. I quickly stood up as people came closer to us with flashlights shining on me. Stefano slowly got to his knees in pain, clutching his stomach. I lift my hands in front of me, ready to fight my way out of here.

"Come at me!" I screamed at the shadows behind the light.

"Don't let her run but don't hurt a hair on her head," Stefano growled from the ground as he tried to get to his feet.

"I should have known I would never be free," I mutter under my breath as my eyes scanned the bodies. I could see guns pointed at me but nobody fired.

Someone stepped closer to me on my right and tried to tackle me to the ground. I quickly brought my knee to his stomach and he fell to the ground hard.

As I was backing away, arms went around my chest, lifting me off the ground. My legs thrashed out before I brought them to my chest and quickly distributed my weight down. The person lost their balance and I threw them over me before kicking them in the gut.