Sold For Eternity

Chapter 15

He squeezed my knee tightly and my immediate reaction was to jerk away, which I did. Practically jumping into the passenger side door. I hadn’t done it intentionally, but I had done it. I felt the pain before I knew what had happened. He had slapped me so hard my ears were ringing. There was blood dripping from my cheek. His ring, his wedding ring had cut me. I refused to react. I steeled myself to not give him what he wanted. I was terrified but I couldn’t show it.

That was the wrong decision. That only meant worse for me. He slammed on the brakes, and I flew into the dashboard. The breath left my body, and I coughed, trying to refill my lungs with air. He had gotten out. Where was he? I looked around but all I could see was black. I slid over to the driver’s side to slowly step out. My ears were still ringing. I stumbled and hit the ground hard.

Suddenly, he was there pulling me to my feet by my hair. The hair that was matting quickly with blood. Once on my feet, he picked me up by my neck and slammed me onto the hood. I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I had made a valiant effort.

“Please,” I rasped.

Jackson still had me by the neck and jerked me back across the hood to him. “That’s a good girl.”

He caressed my cheek. I didn’t pull away this time. He leaned down close to me and whispered “Apologize.” His grip on my neck got tighter and tighter with every second he waited. “I’m sorry.”

He let go. I gasped and gulped for air, still lying on the hood of the truck. I wasn’t sure I could move. I opened my eyes. Above me were the brightest stars. I stared at them, still trying to assess the damage done. He would kill me. I have no doubts now. I still didn’t move. Was I really hurt or was I paralyzed by fear?

For a minute, I felt like I was flying. Floating up to the bright stars burning above me. But it wasn’t heaven taking me, it was hell. Jackson had picked me up and was putting me back in the truck. I could barely hold myself upright. He pulled me close to him as he climbed in.

“You can rest on me. We’ve been on the road a long time. You must be exhausted. We are almost home, and you can rest tonight.”

He was insane. He had to be. I couldn’t take any more tonight so I just muttered OK. I tried my best to not rest against him, but the pain was making it impossible. I could tell he was enjoying every minute of this. Once again, he put his hand on my knee as he drove and I remained still.