Since the game began, Anastasia hadn’t noticed the chill in the night air. But now, it crept over her skin, raising goosebumps as an uneasy awareness settled in, reminding her just how alone—and exposed—she truly was.


    "Where do you think you’re going?" The person questioned her, his voice deep and full of threats that did nothing but only ignite more fear in her. "I’m asking you a question!!"


    Anastasia was still frozen and unable to part her lips to speak.


    Avery had told her earlier that no one would be walking around this part of the forest, so she was beyond shocked to find a man—someone who was working for Samantha and Xander, without a doubt—out here.


    Anastasia’s hands gripped further on the arrow, and without a second thought, she shot the arrow and it punctured the legs of the man, forcing him to fall to the ground.


    Without wasting a single time to attempt to close his mouth so he wouldn’t yell, Anastasia ran for her life while the man screamed, signaling to others that they’d found her which got Anastasia confused.


    It could only mean that they knew she was going to escape, and they were already waiting for her. Her breath hitched at that thought, fear threatening to slow down her speed but she fought through it and ran as fast as she could.


    The leaves rustled, and the men chased after her with their long legs that nearly caught up to her.


    A tear slipped from Anastasia’s eyes at the thought of getting caught in no time and not being able to fight back.


    As she ran, she reached and took another arrow from the quiver and fired it at the one who was getting closer to her, then he fell dead.


    Although she’d killed one of them, they didn’t even stop to check on him. Their main focus was to catch her and her heart thumped hard, fighting to rip out of her chest.


    "You’re not going to get far from here. We’re going to get you, and when we do, you’re going to be severely punished for trying to escape," one of them promised.


    As she ran, unseen branches wed at her skin, sharp edges tearing into her arms and legs. She winced, the sting of each scratch fueling her desperation to escape.


    Blood trickled down her face, hands, and legs, but she ignored it and continued chasing after the freedom she hoped would be granted to her if she was able to escape from those men.


    However, the hope to get that freedom closed when she felt a huge hand grip her and pull her back with so much force, shended on the ground with a yelp when she felt a pointy object sticking deep into her back.


    "We finally caught you."


    "She thought she could run away from us."


    All their words turned faint as Anastasia tried to get the branch that’d just stabbed her back out of her skin. When she seeded, her blood flowed like water.


    The men saw it, but they had no business with that.


    "Let’s get her back to Samantha. She’ll know what to do with her."


    "No please, wait." She pleaded. "Please, I don’t want to go back there. Please! Let me go and I promise I won’t tell anyone about what goes on in here. I promise."


    The men nced at each other before they threw their heads back and mocked her withughter.


    "She thinks she can plead her way out of here."


    "Let’s get going now."


    They lifted Anastasia and dragged her back while she continued to plead they should let her go. She tried to fight them off but their grip on her was too tight.


    She suddenly couldn’t move her legs much and her back had gone stiff, probably because of the branch that stabbed her there. Her blood was spread all around her body while the men dragging her on the muddy ground like she was some bag of potatoes didn’t do much to help her predicament.


    They continued to drag her until they got out of the forest. Samantha was ring down at her, and Michelle had a smirk on her lips.


    Anastasia couldn’t help but wonder where she’de out from because she hadn’t seen her earlier when the game was just starting.


    Samantha walked towards Anastasia, her heels surprisingly not sticking to the mud.


    Then she grabbed Anastasia by the chin tightly. "I’ve always known you were bold, but not bold enough to try to escape. Do you n on humiliating us?" She didn’t give Anastasia a chance to reply as she smacked thetter hard across the face.