Live Another Day by Baileigh Higgins (reading in the dark .txt) 📗

at the ready, she headed in the direction the gang leader had run. Fleeting glimpses of his dark hair and slender body teased her as they weaved through the buildings, and she strived to close the gap.

Then...he just disappeared.

Lisa stumbled to a halt, and her chest heaved as her lungs sought oxygen. Her breathing sounded loud in the still air, and the light was rapidly fading as the sun bid the day farewell.

Lisa turned in a circle, ears pricked for the slightest sound. There it was. A whisper of pebbles shifting on the sand. She turned but saw nothing. Again the merest hint of noise. A faint crackle. She whirled. Still nothing.

Suddenly, an arm closed around her throat from behind, and a knife’s cold edge pricked her tender skin. “Are you looking for me?”

Lisa gasped, and icy terror flooded her veins. Her muscles froze in place as the blade pressed deeper into her neck, cutting the soft flesh with its razor sharpness. A lean body as hard as iron pressed against hers, and a musty scent washed over her nostrils. The stink of sweat, tobacco, and old blood.

“Who...who are you?” she managed to ask.

A low chuckle was followed by a sharp pain as he flicked the knife against her earlobe. “I think you know.”

“I don’t know you.”

Another low laugh followed by a second cut to her cheek, this one much deeper. “Don’t lie to me. I hate liars. Tell me who I am.”

“Ke Tau,” she answered with a wince of pain.

“That’s better. Tell me what’s your name?”

“Lisa.”

“Now Lisa, we’re going to play a game. If you play along, I’ll spare your life. I might even let you keep your pretty face. How’s that?”

Lisa swallowed at the menace in his voice and cast her eyes around for anyone who could help her. There was no one, however. They were all too busy defending the walls. She decided to play for time. “Go on.”

“If you don’t play along, I’ll take you to a quiet corner, cut your tongue out so you can’t scream, and then I’ll take you apart like a ragdoll at the seams. First your fingers, then your toes, then your lips and ears.”

Lisa squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a breath. The sun winked in a final flash of brilliant light before vanishing altogether. Now the darkness held sway. This can’t be happening. No, no, no.

“Your eyes will go last, but only so you can watch every single thing I do to you. And there are lots more I can do.” As if to emphasize his words, he licked the side of her face. “Mmm, you taste good. Maybe, I'll keep you. Would you like that?”

She shuddered.

He chuckled at her reaction. “Do you understand now what happens if you refuse to play?”

“I understand.”

“Good. Here’s what we do. I’m going to pretend you didn’t kill two of my men the other day and steal away with Michael and my playthings. Then you’re going to pretend I’m a good guy and take me to where your women and children are hiding.”

“What? No!”

He sighed. “You disappoint me, Lisa. Trust me when I say you don’t want to disappoint me.”

“I won’t show you, no matter what you do to me.”

“Why not?” he asked. “I won’t hurt them, I swear. I just want some leverage.”

“Leverage?”

“Don’t you understand, you stupid woman? Your people have won. I lost. If I want to get out of here, I’ll need something to bargain with.”

“Hostages.”

“Precisely.” He pressed the knife against her neck, right where the artery throbbed in time to the beat of her heart. “So tell me where the women and children are before I cut your pretty throat wide open and let you bleed out like a stuck pig.”

Lisa thought of doing as he said and imagined him getting his hands on little Megan and Anne. Mark and Jenny. The babies. Then she thought of him killing her, even torturing her. She looked up at the stars, a thick carpet of silver lights that twinkled beside their proud mama, the moon. Death wouldn't be so bad. Maybe I could become a star, who knows. “No.”

“What?”

“I said no.”

“You’re willing to die for them?”

“I am.”

He made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. “Fine. I’ve wasted enough time on you already.”

His arms tightened as he prepared to drag the blade across her neck, and Lisa closed her eyes. This is it.

Suddenly, Ke Tau stiffened. A garbled cry escaped his lips, and he leaned on her with all his weight as his knees buckled. Acting on instinct, Lisa folded her legs while simultaneously shoving his arms up. She slipped out of his hold and staggered away before turning to watch him.

Ke Tau stared at her while his mouth worked soundlessly. He dropped his knife onto the ground and reached up as if to swat a fly on his back. Then he collapsed face first onto the dust.

Behind him stood a figure, short and slender, with wide eyes and ghostly white skin. Lisa blinked and wondered for a moment if she was facing a ghost. Am I dead? Did Ke Tau kill me?

The figure stepped forward, and a glimmer of moonlight fell across her face. It was a familiar face, one now wide-eyed with shock and horror.

“Ruby?” Lisa said. “Is that you?”

“It’s me.”

Lisa looked from Ke Tau’s body to the girl and noticed the hatchet buried in his back. The handle stuck up into the air with the head lodged between his shoulder blades. “You killed him.”

Ruby nodded, and a tremor tore through her body. “I did it for Lonny.”

“Oh, sweetie. Come here.” Lisa opened her arms as Ruby began to cry. “It’s okay. You did the right thing.”

Ruby pressed her face to Lisa’s shoulder. “He was going to kill you.”

“Yes, he was.” Lisa smoothed a hand over Ruby’s soft hair.

“He would’ve killed us too if he found us,” she mumbled.

“He would’ve, yes.”

“He was a bad man.”

“An evil man,” Lisa agreed, though her heart ached for Ruby. It