Six months had passed since I had moved in with AxeI and my mother was still undergoing treatment. She had to stay for a year. I had adjusted well to this new life. I woke up like any other morning and got dressed to go for a jog. It was around 5 am because, I knew by 6 the sun would be out and blazing and I it would be too hot to workout. On my way downstairs I bumped into Christoph.
He was in just pyjama bottoms with his abs that were still loading on display. I rolled my eyes at him. Even though he looked like he was still partially still asleep he chuckled at my eye roll.
"Want some company on your jog sis?", he asked me wriggling his eyebrows playfully.
I would have agreed but he knows it irritates the shit out of me when he calls me "sis". I did not ever want to be a part of Wolfgang's bullshit perfect family. Even though I lowkey knew that in reality we were siblings. Accepting them sort of felt like I would be rejecting my mother in the process which was something I could not do.
"Fuck you very much but no thanks I'm alright." I smiled at him and he guffawed.
Chris and I had gone on these jogs regularly. I think he had learned that I like my space and that if he intrudes, I would go H.A.M on him.
When we jogged together, we would just start our Nike Running Club apps instantaneously and then jog side by side with our respective music blaring loud in our ears it was chill. Of cause we would also do the energy drink bit.
I decided to walk down the stairs and switched it up today by grabbing a bottle of water in the kitchen before heading into the forest. I did some stretches and once I felt my body loosen up, I pressed play on my R.U.N playlist available on Apple Music.
I always started out slow and as I gained momentum I would speed up. I love running and the feeling freedom that always surfaces when everything disappears and all that I can feel is my heart pumping and the wind in my face.
Today I wanted my body to hurt, I wanted to go so hard that it would feel like my limbs would fall off. I was running at about 5 minutes per km and it felt so good. My chest was hurting but in a good way. After 15 km I decided to stop for a breather and to plan a shorter return because I was exhausted.
I saw a clearing and sat down taking some gulps of my water.
My focus was on my device as I changed the song that had come on not really feeling it. When I looked up a gorgeous boy had appeared. He looked to be about in his early 20's. I was taken aback. Even though the woods were connected to Wolfgang's estate, it was strange to find someone here because there was some boundary that separated the estate and the public forest and i had never seen anyone wander this far out.
The boy had dirty blonde hair with luminous sea eyes, his skin was sun kissed and seemed to glow. He was built, he had real abs (unlike Chris), and thick muscular arms and legs but his features did not resemble those of a body builder.
He was leaning comfortably against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest. He was like a skyscraper probably over 6 inches tall. His height was even more exaggerated in comparison to mine since I was seated on the ground.
From head to toe he was decked out in all black. His gorgeous face was studying mine as I took all his features in. The glint in his eyes told me that I was not a stranger to him. He was looking at me like he knew me from somewhere.
I was dead certain I had never seen his gorgeous face before in all my 17 years. I would have remembered seeing him if I had. I might have been imagining things, but I felt on edge, my body screamed run, but I had a feeling that if he wanted to chase me, he could and pin me down before I could make it far.
Even after admitting this to myself, I felt my body coil in preparation of escape if he gave me a reason to. After about what felt like an eternity, he made the first move and stretched out his hand "Jax", he breathed coolly.
I was not sure whether I should shake his outstretched hand or not, but he smirked at me with a challenging expression on his face. I gulped in a breath and set my water on the ground and shook his hand. Remaining in my sitting position on the ground.
As I took in his hand,I could not help but notice that it covered mine entirely and engulfed it in warmth that made me widen my eyes. The heat emanating from his hands was not intense to the extent of being uncomfortable, it just took me by surprise.
"Alexandrite Madison Wolfgang", I stammered.
I had no clue know why I had given him my full name. He nodded in acknowledgement. His eyes drilled into mine, this entire interaction did not seem innocent at all. In that moment something within me snapped and screamed at me to run! Forget everything and run.
My I-pod was on the ground from when I had set it down to shake his rough calloused hand. I wanted to pick it up and run but his gaze was trained on me. I could not make a move without him noticing.
"I should umm get going ... my dad will be worried if I don't return now. But it was nice meeting you Jax," I rushed out internally preparing myself to bolt.
His smirk just seemed to grow wider and that was what set me off.
I jumped to my feet and ran forgetting the I-pod and the bottled water. I dared to look back and saw that he was still leaning against the tree nonchalantly.
Fucking psycho was either treating this like some sort of game or maybe he had no intent to pursue me. Deep down I knew that there was something off and I had not imagined the hunter vibe from him.
Regardless, I pumped my arms and legs as fast as I could trying to escape but I knew that there was a slim chance of escape if he was indeed chasing me.
I glanced back and saw that he was gone. Maybe he had left. Out of nowhere he appeared in front of me and I did not have a chance to react. I found myself colliding into him, it was as if I had hit a slab of wall; I went reeling backwards but he had not moved at all.
He was not even shaken by the force I had hit him with. During my fall I had hit a tree and heard it moan. My back was in so much pain and my head had violently hit the ground that was covered in twigs and rocks.
My entire body was throbbing did not know what to do. All the pain fused and buzzed together. Trying to regain focus and keep my eyes open were my main objectives as blood dripped from my face. He walked towards me and I scurried backwards until my back connected with the tree again.
This time I yelped in pain and he smiled at me menacingly.
"Human girl oh human girl. Have you never read any fairy tales?". He chuckled as I whimpered. He was unaffected and continued in the same jovial tone.
"How many times have they instructed not to go into the woods alone? But alas you could not help yourself, could you?" he asked rhetorically, chuckling darkly.
"The adrenalin had you hooked; you weren't scared because you have been running in these woods for months. Nothing ever changed you know where every pebble lies and so do I."
My eyes went wide as I wiped some blood off my face. He had been watching me for a while and that made me shiver in fear.
"Oops," he retorted in mock surprise.
"Cats out the bag I know you Xander". He paused stroking his non-existent facial hair in pretend thoughtfulness then he continued, "Well I know your face and how you run. Oh, sometimes you sing along out loud to your Run playlist your favourite song is work Bitch by Britney Spears. You always end with it for that extra push."
He now crouched before me. I was shaking scared out of my fucking mind.
"In this story you are little red riding hood and I'm the big bad wolf except I don't want to eat you. That part of the story is bullshit if you ask me, but I want you ... little dark girl."
I wanted to cry, scream, or do anything to express my suffering but my body was frozen in that moment. As he came closer all I could do was just cry silently. He turned my head gently to the side and placed a lingering kiss on my neck.
I was so petrified I thought I was going to pass out. Although the kiss had been pleasant especially considering the circumstances and the situation. He then opened his mouth and bit the spot he had kissed.
I finally screamed. At this point it was all I could do to release it all. The pain was too great to handle. It was in that moment that I came to the realization that this psycho was going to kill me.
When he had bitten me, it didn't feel like normal teeth were slicing into my skin it felt like sharp incisors had gorged into my flesh.
I screamed for what felt like 10 minutes. At that point I had exhausted all my energy. I could not handle it anymore and I felt as my body shut down and everything went black.
Strong warm arms encircled my body and the scent of pine and Calvin Klein wafted into my nose it was a pleasant mix which was the last thing I remembered as darkness overcame me.