Perfection (JL Spelbring) by JL Spelbring Read Free Book Online Page A

couldn’t. She had to keep moving.
    Slowly, she pulled her hands under her chest and pushed. Her body screamed in protest. Her sore muscles felt tight, like her tendons were tied into knots. Especially her leg, which was heavy and unresponsive. Gritting her teeth, she stood and stumbled forward before crumpling next to the bottle. The three or four swallows left in the bottle sloshed tantalizingly and reflected the morning sun like glittering diamonds.
    Ellyssa flicked her gaze toward the stream. Cool, thirst-quenching water ran over river rocks, shimmering with browns and greys. So was the possibility of bacteria. She turned away from the rushing stream and unscrewed the cap, then took one last small, unsatisfying sip.
    Standing with care, Ellyssa slowly distributed her weight. Sharp teeth of pain clamped onto her wound. She yelped as her right leg buckled, sending her back to the ground. The already tender leg banged against jagged rocks and more skin scraped off. A slow burn mingled with the rest of the aches and pains.
    Thoughts of the beatings she’d endured while training were diminished to trivial nuisances. Nothing compared to the way she felt now.
    Eyes watering, Ellyssa held her leg, refusing to let the agony get the best of her. She is superior. Weakness is intolerable. Absolute control over all situations . Her father’s words repeated in her head, over and over, until she managed to push the pain aside and gain control.
    Calmly, she regarded her right thigh. An angry redness spread from under the makeshift bandage. She gingerly poked it with her finger. An unhealthy yellow depression bloomed before the red reestablished its presence. After untying the bandage, she carefully pulled it away. Stringy pus, tinged green with red dots, stretched from the fabric to the wound.
    Disgusting.
    Ellyssa glanced at what little liquid was left in the bottle, her only source of clean water, and then the stream. Given little choice, she rose and limped to the babbling water, grabbing her bag along the way.
    After retrieving the scissors and the antiseptic cream, she took off the coveralls. Blood stiffened the material of her tan skirt. She took it off, too. She cut off the remaining leg of her coveralls, then cut the clean part of the skirt into strips.
    Using part of the skirt, Ellyssa scrubbed the wound while biting the inside of her cheek to hold back the screams. The pain was beyond belief, clouding her vision and rolling waves of nausea through her stomach. When she was done, she let the blood flow to clean the wound before re-bandaging her leg and shrugging back into the coveralls.
    She gathered her items and stepped into the stream. Water lapped at her calves. She cautiously measured every step to ensure she wouldn’t fall. She couldn’t afford any more injuries. Her pace was already considerably slower than yesterday.
    Ellyssa hoped the police were going upstream and the dogs, as they had undoubtedly been brought in by now, hadn’t found her scent. Wishing she could walk on the bank, but knowing such carelessness would prove to be a fatal mistake, she picked up speed, pushing her already overly-taxed body. She kept her eyes downcast as she navigated the rocks. Her arms swinging in stiff arcs, she pressed on, forcing her legs to move faster. She’d regret it tomorrow, she knew, but nevertheless, she didn’t slow.
    Under the heat of the afternoon sun, perspiration gathered on Ellyssa’s forehead and dripped down her face, stinging the sores on her lips. She took another sip of her dwindling water supply. Soon she’d be forced to drink the water she was sloshing through. She shoved the thought out of her mind to worry about later.
    Right now another pressing sensation gnawed in the pit of her stomach, protesting the emptiness. Hunger echoed in the hollow depths of her gut. With the expenditure of her energy, water couldn’t be her only source of sustenance. She’d have to find food. The forest in late summer