Another glance at Jade is what seals it. Whether she's an innocent fellow competitor or bait for a trap or neither, Shuri decides she doesn't care because she has to move. Kayo has to leave, too. A glance at the bandage still wrapped tightly around the hand clutching her stick reminds her of their conversation earlier and she pushes down a sigh, avoiding looking behind her. The girl may be nice, but allies wouldn't help in games like this.
"Jade--" Kayo begins.
"You can have the safe house," Shuri interrupts sharply. She shoves the door open with one hand, the airlock nearly banging back against the house wall. "I'm going."
It takes a moment for her to realize she didn't use "we" this time, like she did earlier, as she shoves past Jade and breaks into a run.
That's when she hears it. Everything inside her seems to lock up at the sound, down to her bones, because it's running.
"Great work, Jade."
She whirls around, but she only sees him a split second before he slams into her and knocks her to the ground. She loses grip, her stick flying out of her hand and everything inside her giving out as she crumples. The entire world seems to turn itself entirely around her, musk filling her senses as a broad-shouldered and naked man pins down her wrists into the sand and her bag digs into her back. Dimly, she hears screaming--Kayo's?--and a noise with it that sounds like a crack.
He grins at her and that's enough for her to snap out of the shock, for reality and fear to actually sink in. She screams and thrashes as violently as she can, struggling under his iron-hard grip. "You son of a bitch! You fucking piece of sh--"
"Now, now, let's not get nasty." He's cheerful and still grinning even as he presses her down further into the sand. He looks down at her, gaze lowering further down her body, and nausea starts to overwhelm her at the sight of the obvious lust in his eyes. From the corner of her eye, she can see flashes of black and red hair from Kayo and Jade moving. Struggling?
At that second, words seemed inadequate to describe just how much Shuri hated herself for even thinking Jade had been anything but bait with that mark, hated the man and Jade, hated Kayo for making her doubt. If only she'd woken up sooner so she and Kayo had left sooner. If only she'd done something else, although Shuri currently can't imagine what.
I never even wanted to be in this. I didn't sign up for this game of my own fucking free will, they offered and if I didn't accept--
"Don't worry." The man's grin is sickening as he reaches down for the waistband of her shorts, and she feels even sicker at the feeling of his hardness against her legs. "I'll be nice."
She spits in his face, the saliva landing near his eye. He wipes it off, not even bothered. "Ooh, feisty, are we?"
Shuri glares, her voice shaking with anger that he's even touching her. "You--"
There's another crack, a scream, and it doesn't sound like Kayo's this time. Shuri blinks, the man looks up, and his expression changes faster than Shuri can blink again. "Holy--"
Shuri follows where he's looking. Kayo's aiming the taser squarely at him with trembling arms, and Jade's in a heap on the ground behind her, completely still.
"Get. Off. Of. Her." Kayo's voice is shaky and quiet.
The man speaks up. "Now--now, you don't want to mishandle th--"
She fires at his face, and the man's voice breaks into a pained scream as he collapses, falling right on top of Shuri and then rolling away towards the water as he clutches at his nose. It takes a few seconds before he grows completely still.
Shuri stares at Kayo in disbelief, numb almost as if she'd been shocked herself. She, slowly, gets to her feet. Kayo's not looking at her, just staring blankly at the naked man now **** on the ground. She's not thinking as she moves, a glance down at the man being all it takes for her to give in to the petty urge and kick the man over as hard as she can. He rolls a little into the water coming in on the tide, but nothing else.
Her body seems to walk on its own as she moves to pick her stick back up. As she passes Jade, she doesn't resist the same urge from with the man and kicks the knocked out girl in the side. She flops over on the sand, curly hair fanned out around her, but is otherwise unresponsive.
She starts walking towards the woods in a zombie-like state, one foot in front of the other, with her stick pushing against the ground as she goes. It's not long until she looks back and realizes Kayo is following, staring at her feet with her taser-gripping hand now hanging limply by her side.
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