Running From Hell

Chapter 7 No Time

I did my best to act as calm as I could during the rest of the party. I didn't want to ruin the one day my son finally got to have something normal. Especially since now, I'm not sure if there will ever be another day like this. I called the kids over so we could sing happy birthday and cut the cake. I took a video of everyone singing to Jax and his smiling face glowing so happily. I wanted to capture this memory for him if this was the only one. After the cake, the parents started to leave one by one and, before I knew, it was just us and one child left. That's when I realized this was my chance. I still had to drop this child off with their parent. Nathan would never show his true self in front of a random kid. I started throwing things away and gathering what was left of the food. I told the kids to help me carry the things to the car. As we got closer, sure enough, Nathan had parked his car right next to mine. He was just sitting there scrolling on his phone. I told the kids to get in my car and buckle in while I put the things in the trunk. While I was doing that, I felt hands on my waist. The grip was tight, making sure I couldn't move away, and leaned in near the side of my face. "What are you doing? I told you we would be going home," he said lowly. I tried my best to keep my voice steady so Jax wouldn't be alerted. "I know, but I need to take the child back to his mom," He looked over at the kid then turned me around to face him. He stared down at me, his eyes looking over my face to see if I was lying. Once he realized I wasn't, his eyes moved down to my lips, making him lick his own. He let go of my wait and gripped my face in both hands. I tried moving, but he shook his head before bringing his face closer and smashing his lips on mine. I shut my eyes tightly while my hands turned to fists. He stopped kissing me and hissed, "Be a good girl and open your mouth." When he saw I wouldn't, he bit down hard on my lip, making me gasp. He took that chance and shoved his tongue in. I could taste my blood while feeling his tongue swirling the inside of my mouth. Finally, he let go and moved back. "Fine, drop that brat off and then meet me at your house in 20 minutes," he stated. I nodded my head and hurriedly closed the trunk, wanting to get away before he tried to kiss me again. It took everything in me not to throw up right that second. As we pulled out of the parking spot, he leaned back on his car watching us leave. A cold shiver ran down my spine when he waved us off. Jax asked who that man was. I just told him a friend of Delilah's. On the way to drive the kid home, I began to wonder was it Delilah who told him? Did she know him? Had she been keeping tabs on me this whole time? I mean it was her idea to throw the party at the park. I couldn't believe she betrayed me. After dropping off the kids, I began to make our way back home. How was I getting away now? He was here. He knew where we lived. Who could I even trust now? That's when my phone chimed, and I looked down at the text message. It was from Ann asking if Jax liked his present. I was about to text back when I realized she was never able to show up so how could she have given a present? That's when I saw them in my driveway. Nathan and Ann were talking by his car in front of my house. She was smiling and rubbing his arm. That's when I realized it was her. She was the one who betrayed me. I gripped the steering wheel so tight and just kept driving praying they wouldn't notice. I looked up at the rear mirror to see if they were following. They weren't, it seems they were too busy flirting to notice we had just past. Like that, I kept my foot on the pedal and kept going until I made it to the highway. Jax asked, "Where are we going, mommy? We passed the house so long ago." I looked into the mirror, and he was rubbing his eyes tired from the day. I said, "We are going on a birthday trip. Just you and me." He got excited, wondering where we were going. I told him it was a secret in reality even though I wasn't sure where we were going, but I knew I wasn't stopping anytime soon. Like that, we kept on driving on the highway. Midway, I had tossed my phone when the messages wouldn't stop. Some were from Ann wondering when I would be home so she could stop by. Most were from an unknown number saying I couldn't run and that it would be better for me to go home before I really made him mad. It was now 11 at night and I pulled into some gas station in who knows where. Luckily, they sold prepaid phones. I grabbed one and opened it while filling my tank up. Thank goodness I had cash on hand to pay the park ranger for the party earlier. I turned on the phone and immediately dialed the number of the only person I could count on. The phone rang 4 times before I got an answer. As I heard hello, I said quickly, "Sonia, please, I need your help! He found me..."