Kiss of A Titan

Having promised to help take me to Dallas in his pickup truck where we might see the school bus, night caught up with us on the road and soon after nightfall, we were driving along a highway that leads to several longer routes and he drove ahead one of them knowing well that the vehicle would ran out of gas if we take the longer road bordered by tall evergreen trees which have now become darker under the black dome that was hovering around the region. My worst fears of being harmed in a vulnerable place at an odd hour of the night in the middle of nowhere soon dawned on me when he stopped the car as soon as it indicated that it was out of fuel. He got down first after apologizing for forgetting to refuel the vehicle before leaving Denver and stood for sometime in the middle of the road to check if an oncoming car was coming. He did this for some minutes and returned back when he was satisfied that we were completely all alone in the forest. His intentions to harm me became clear when he came right next to where I was outside the car.

At first, he checked to see if I was frightened at his advances when he came to the car door. He noticed I kept watching his every move and shifted closely to the car waiting for an opportunity to open the door surreptitiously. "You okay?",He asked, making sure that there was no tension between us.

"Yes...I am fine. What do ....we do about the car?",I asked, trying not to feel afraid of his huge body size outside the door of the car.

"That...we'll have to wait until sunrise", "We can ask...for help...if any vehicle passes this way", I stuttered, fighting hard to suppress the eerie feeling I felt inside.

"Sure...we can do that", He said with his other hand stealthily slipping down to open the door. He knew I noticed his arm shifting down and he grinned maliciously even when I horrifically looked at him. In a blink of an eye, he opened the door with frightening speed and grabbed hold of me even before I could escape from the car through the other door. He forcefully pulled me out of the car and hauled me to the ground.

"Stop! Please Don't!", I shrieked and instinctively bit his hand before tussling out of his clutches with every bit of strength to overcome his manly grip but he caught me by the hand before I could run to the other side of the road. "Come here, you!", He grunted and tried to pull me back to himself. I flinched and kicked his legs before he could overpower me. Then I ran to the other side of the road heading towards the forest as fast as my legs could carry me but he quickly chased after me and soon caught up the moment I stepped into the forest.

It was all darkness around me and I felt him dragging me to the ground. I knew at that moment things were about to become ugly but it was out of sheer luck that my hand came across a stone lying on the ground and I was quick to hit his head with it before he could further rip my clothes off with his filthy fingers already touching the sensitive part of my body.

He groaned in bitter pain when the stone smashed against his head and I quickly crept out of danger. Soon, I was up on my feet and scurried into the dark bushes leaving behind the bracelet I had worn to Denver before he could even pick up my trail once again.

***

It didn't take quite long for the whole team to find out that I was missing the following morning after the school bus arrived in the border side of Houston and above all others, Richard was the first to inquire of my absence in the bus when he was done waking up from a long nap with his headphone wrapped around his neck. It suddenly dawn on everyone that I was missing from the list of those that board the bus particularly Coach Robbins who had failed to mark everyone present before embarking on the trip back to Houston and Lori who hadn't spoken to Richard during the whole trip was the first person Richard had to question of my unwarranted disappearance.

The bus driver had intently made a stop at a gas station isolated from civilization and was conversing with the man whose duty was to fuel the vehicle before directly resuming the trip back to Houston High. He had gotten up from his seat when he failed to pick out my presence amongst those that were sitting in front close to the coach whom he saw sitting beside the driver's seat and head to back of the bus through the aisle to see if I with the others still tucked in their seat behind him leaving behind his bags as well as his headphone which he dropped before leaving his seat. Inevitably, his suspicious approach of scouring the bus startled the other athletes who were still relaxing in their seats and it became clear that he was looking for something when it was Lori's turn to be disturbed.

"Where is she?" he asked, looking at her suspiciously. At first, Lori was perplexed and wondered whom he was talking about but it was not until he asked again that she realized whom he meant. Tyler wanted to intervene but he thought it best not involve himself any further than he had already done.

"Where's Rosalie? What have you done to her this time around?", "I...don't get what you mean ... .Isn't she on the bus like everyone else is?", "No, she's not. I can't find her", "Then why bother to ask me? You clearly know we ain't friends", Lori replied, folding her hands and giving him a stern look. For some time, Richard peered at her suspiciously trying to read her thoughts but he got nothing. Then his eyes wandered off to the other athletes who stared back at him curiously and he saw anxiety mixed with that of desperation to know what was the ruckus boldly written in their faces.

They had overheard the conversation and wondered what was wrong. It became clear to everyone that something eerie which they hadn't noticed during the entire trip back to Houston had happened when Richard stormed to the forefront to meet Coach Robbins.

"Coach, we have a problem", "What's wrong? Did someone puke on the bus?", "No, not that...we've got a missing athlete", Richard replied as he squeezed himself on the driver's seat "What! Who got missing?", "It's Rosalie...She isn't in the bus", "For how long?"

"I can't tell but I have a feeling she didn't come with us when the bus arrived in Denver", "Shit!" Coach Robbins cursed and glanced at the other athlete who by now had realized what the cause of the commotion was.

"We have to go find her", "I know that but give me a moment to think this through", Coach Robbins said trying hard to suppress his nervousness.

"We don't much time to think about this", "Yes, we do...we needn't be hasty about going back to Denver", "It's been a day, Coach and for all we know she could be a danger of some sort. We gotta go find her now", "But-", "If you don't want to, I'll go find her myself", Richard said and got up to leave but Coach Robbins caught him by the hand.

"This is no time for you to be foolhardy heroic. It's a couple of miles between us and Denver and you know that", "Of course, I do but someone has to go back for her", "Don't be foolish. She could be anywhere in that city we already left a day ago. Listen to me, this isn't the same Marathon race you did two years ago", "You're right....this may likely be worse than that but for Rosalie...I'll take my chances", Richard replied and wrenched his hands off. Then he got down from the bus before Coach Robbins could stop him from coming out of the bus and started trotting speedily on the road back the way the bus had driven.

The athletes on the bus watched Richard leaving in astonishment even Coach Robbins who was too spellbound to get the thought of leaving someone behind in Denver out of his mind, found it difficult for him to stop Richard from venturing on a wild chase of which there was little chances of him finding me in a large town let alone reaching Denver on foot. All hopes of stopping Richard from going ahead with his risky adventure proved abortive when he had already covered a quarter mile distance away from them by the time the driver returned to take his seat inside the bus till they could see him no more.

Richard could no longer see the bus behind him when he began to feel tired as he passed by several cars on the way.

Passersby driving in their vehicles, who saw him running on foot, thought he was doing something crazy despite dressed in an athlete outfit though he was dressed in his cardigan before he foolhardy embarked on a lonesome rescue mission he himself knew would be extremely impossible to succeed without having to be transported in a car which would seemed more logical and suitable for what he thought was the best way to demonstrate his desire to return back to Denver for my sake.

He started to feel weary as his energy to keep up with the distant began waning and a thought to head back to the bus almost crippled his desire to continue with the irksome journey likely to fail but he undoubtedly kept going in spite of knowing the fact that he too was prone to encounter danger on the way back to Dallas, the first city they had left before reaching the borders of Houston.