Betraying Innocence Read Online Free

that she was safe.
    Pushing around boxes, she made a path to the back door. She flicked on the porch lights, unsnapped the locks and yanked open the door. Muggy, August air caressed her face, taunting her with the scent of night, wildflowers and dead, rotted things. She drew her robe more tightly around her as she stepped onto the porch and opened her mouth to call out. But no one was there. The spot by the pond where she’d seen the boy was empty.
    “Hello?” she called, daring a step down the porch stairs. “Is anyone there?”
    Bullfrogs croaked from somewhere near the pond. Crickets chirped excitedly. Somewhere, wind chimes tinkled. Still there was no sign of the trespasser. She edged another step, then another until she was at the bottom, on a curving stone path that sliced through the jungle. Most of it was buried beneath grass, but she could make out some of it leading to the pond.
    Cautious but curious , she started along the trail, ears strained for even the slightest unusual sound. Her gaze searched the night. In her chest, her heart rampaged with fear. A nagging voice in her head warned her to turn back, and she started to when something stopped her. It was a sound, a giggle of all things. Ana wondered if maybe there was more than one person out there hiding, or if maybe this had been some kind of joke on the new girl. The idea turned her blood icy. She turned to run back to the house when a movement caught the corner of her eye. Another giggle had her frowning. The bushes just a few feet away rustled. Ana speared her hips with her hands and stiffened her spine. This was her home. No one had the right to make her feel scared.
    Armed with sheer grit and stupidity, she marched towards it.
    “Hey! You, behind those bushes!” she called, silently patting herself on the back for keeping her voice firm. “Get out before I start shooting!” It was probably a bad idea to announce she had a weapon when she didn’t. Plus, it could have been a possum she was yelling at, or some other animal that lived only in small places like Chipawaha Creek. “You have five seconds! One. Two. Three…!”
    The bushes rustled loudly, splitting the night with the crack of branches breaking and very rude, very human cuss words . Then, like some stripper in a birthday cake, a boy lunged out, naked from the waist up. Something long and silver was clutched in his hand. It caught the light from the porch and sparked like fire.
    Panic slammed like a fist in Ana’s chest as she scrambled back. The scream left her throat about the same time as something caught her ankles and sent her colliding with the hard ground. Pain sliced through her hip and up her entire left side. The air careened out of her lungs, paralyzing her from crying out again. Then, the maniac was on her and the touch of cold steel kissed her skin.
    “ Quiet!” a gruff, male voice hissed into her ear.

C hapter Two
     
    Ana
     
    Ana tried to scream through the large hand squishing her nose and mouth. Her efforts only managed to earn her a series of incoherent squeaks that dampened the flesh holding her down. Long fingers curled around her cheek, oddly gentle considering his other hand was gripping the back of her skull.
    “I’m going to let you go, okay? But you have to promise you won’t scream. Promise?”
    Breathing hard, lungs aching for air, Ana squeaked as she thrashed against the hold, clawing at the knuckles holding her face, cutting off her oxygen. Her eyes rolled wildly inside her skull, searching the darkness for her capture’s face. His cheek brushed hers in her flailing. The minty scent of his breath and the fragrance of pine, sweat and spices wafted over her. Something feather-soft touched her face. It was his hair. Oh, God … he was too close!
    “Hey ,” he said, his voice unnaturally soothing for someone who was about to kill her. “Relax! I’m not going to hurt you!”
    Says the guy holding my face! she wanted to say, but resorted to even more