The Withered Series (Book 1): Wither by Amy Miles Read Free Book Online Page B

my mouth and I rear back.  “Don’t
make a sound.”
    I
buck against the stranger’s grasp but he holds me tight,
pressed against the length of his body.  He is taller than me
and much broader. His hand across my mouth muffles my screams.
    He
pulls me backward down the street, forcing me to stumble to keep up.
 After dragging me a full city block, he pauses at an
intersection.  I can feel his torso shifting to look behind.
 “We’re almost there.”  
    I
fight against him, digging in my heels to slow us down but he doesn't
relent.  His  grip on my mouth shifts so that I’m
incapable of biting him.  His arms tighten across my shoulders,
leaving me with little option to fight back.
    In
the distance, the Withered Ones continue to struggle against each
other in the street.  They don’t stand up.  They
don’t roll off each other.  Instead they lay, one on top
of the other and flail, like a fallen infant.
    “In
here.”
    The
grip on my mouth falls away and the hand across my chest releases me.
 In the split second that I consider screaming for help, I am
thrust into a darkened doorway and fall into darkness.  

FOUR
     
     
    Pain
ripples through my palms and knees when I hit the floor.  Dust
rises up around me, choking out the clean air.  I pound on my
chest and roll onto my side.
    “You’ll
get used to it,” a masculine voice says from behind me.  The
metallic ring of the lock sliding into place feels foreboding as he
steps around me.  “Follow me.”
    “I’m
not going anywhere with you,” I wheeze, gripped with a
dizziness that leaves me temporarily immobile.  My arms quiver
as I try to push off the ground but they give out on me.
    “That’s
not the right answer, missy.”  An arm wraps around my
waist and hauls me to my feet.  I beat against his grip but my
escape into the streets has left me weakened.  The man chuckles
and hoists me easily into his arms, ignoring my pathetic rebuff.  
    I
feel suffocated in his embrace, though I’m not sure if the
blinding heat is coming from him or me.  I stare blurry-eyed at
a row of tall grimy windows as we pass. The light is a stark contrast
to the darkness surrounding us. I stop counting after we pass the
tenth window and realize somehow I have made my way down toward the
river where the old warehouses stand.
    The
sound of my captor’s footsteps echo around me as we burrow deep
into the building.  It feels hollow, enormous in size.  Hulking
shadows fill the room.  The man weaves effortlessly around them,
as if he has the eyes of a nocturnal feline or a really great memory.
 I’d bank on the later.
    My
head bounces against his chest as he ascends a set of stairs.  My
eyes droop with heaviness.  “You are safe,” are the
final words that I hear as my body betrays me and my eyes fall
closed.
    From
time to time I think I hear whispers in the dark.  Voices hushed
and muffled, but I can’t place them.  My forehead feels
damp, cooler than the rest of my body.  I try to turn my head
but am held still.
    “Don’t
move.  Not yet.”
    “Who
are you?”  I taste blood as I swallow.  My lower lip
splits down the middle and I almost welcome the blood over the
cottonmouth taste lingering.
    “A
friend.”
    “Yeah?
 I had a guy tell me that earlier today.  Didn’t
believe him either.” My lungs feel on fire as I turn toward a
light glowing bright a few feet away.  As my nostrils flare I
detect the scent of gas.
    A
delicate hand presses against my cheek.  “You’ve
been ill for several days.  It’s lucky that Alex found you
when he did.”
    “He
didn’t find me,” I grunt, shoving the girl’s hand
away from my face.  I try to peer through the light to match a
face with her voice but it is too brilliant and my eyes are
sensitive. “He kidnapped me.”
    I
spy a pursing of her lips just beneath the glow of lamplight.  Water
splashes nearby as she wrings the cloth out that was on my forehead.
 “He wouldn’t do that. Alex is a