Secrets and Scars: A Gripping Psychological Thriller (Fatal Hearts Series Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

snakes. We had been extremely lucky. Come to think of it, we had been lucky in a lot of ways thus far. When would our luck run out?

Chapter Nine
     
    “How are you holding up back there?” Owen turned to glance at me. He had insisted on walking ahead of me again, to make sure we didn’t walk into any kind of harm. Sweat trickled down his temples and the back of his neck, pasting his hair to his skin.
    “Don’t talk.” My breath caught in my throat. “It requires too much energy.” We had been walking for ages, taking small breaks every once in a while, but never staying in one place too long, and definitely not sitting on any kind of grass.
    He laughed, but it came out more like a sigh of exhaustion. He returned his focus ahead. “I agree. You’re doing great.”
    “I beg to differ.” I had found a stick earlier to help me walk. I pushed it into the ground with each step, pressing my weight onto it.
    “We’ve got this. We got this far, we’ll make it to the end.” He pulled off his glasses and wiped them on his dirty shirt. “You know what? When you start doubting that, think about how it will feel to be back home, eating good food, sleeping in a comfortable bed.”
    A comfortable bed! It had been weeks since I’d slept in one. Definitely one of the comforts I looked forward to. And a nice long shower. “Yeah, that sounds great.” I plucked a leaf from a nearby bush and squeezed it. If only I could eat it. I was so hungry, but we didn’t have much food left.
    Owen had warned me against eating any kind of berries we came across. We didn’t have the knowledge to determine which were edible and which were poisonous. On occasion, I had played with the idea of just sneaking a small innocent berry into my mouth without telling him. But I wasn’t interested in dying from stupidity.
    We reached a slope too steep to tackle without any help. Owen didn’t seem deterred. He opened the sack and pulled out a rope.
    “What are you doing?”
    “Remember this?”
    “Yes.” One of the things we had stolen from Alvin. At the time I had wondered why he’d needed a rope. Back then I didn’t expect his yacht to be far away. Now I was grateful not to have questioned him.
    “This will get us up there.” He looked up the slope and then at the rope, coiling it around his hand.
    I raised my eyes to the slope. “How will you get us up there with that?”
    “Watch and learn. I hope it works.” He stepped closer to me, so close I breathed in the remnants of his cologne mixed with sweat. He put his hands around me as though about to hug me, but he only tied the rope around my waist. “I’ll tie the other end to myself. I’ll go first and pull you after me, okay? Make sure to hold on tight.” He took my stick from me. “I might need this.”
    “Are you sure we won’t end up falling to our deaths?”
    “Trust me. I won’t let you fall. I was once a Boy Scout, and watching a couple of survival documentaries helped too.” He paused. “Anyway, this slope can’t be as dangerous as Miles, can it?” He shook his head. “I mean Alvin.”
    “I guess not. I never knew you to be the type of guy who watches documentaries,” I said while he tied the rope around his own waist. “You only watched action movies when you visited… us. That and sports, of course.”
    “There’s a lot you don’t know about me. Most of what I showed you was what I wanted you to see.”
    As we started to climb, with Owen hauling me up behind him, using my stick and the stems of strong plants to pull himself forward, I gripped the rope with both hands tightly, digging my toes into my sandals so they wouldn’t complicate my climb. Thankfully the sandals had grips on the soles. If only my hands wouldn’t sweat so much. The slippage made it hard to hold the rope tight.
    But I would make it to the top no matter what. To hell with pain, to hell with fear.
    By the time we reached the top, my body was drenched with sweat, and my heart threatened