Chapter 352: Should Be Afraid

Alone on the dark road, Mina could hear a car roll up behind her. She did not bother to turn around, she bolted into the darkness hoping to dart into the overgrown grass as soon as she made it past the metal guardrails that were blocking her way.

As Mina ran, she could hear the footsteps of someone behind her and adrenaline pushed her to run faster. The headlights from a car approaching from the opposite direction became visible, and Mina's mind told her that it would be better to be hit by a car, than to be accosted by a stranger. She tried to dash into the vehicle's path, hoping to be struck and hopefully killed, but the person behind her tackled her to the ground.

It was not a hard tackle, but enough force was used to cause Mina to be moved and knocked over. Even if she had not been tackled, the person driving had reacted in time to come to a complete stop before even coming close to her, so Mina's plans would not have succeeded either way.

Mina fought hard against the person who had knocked her over. Based on scent alone, she now knew it was President Lee. She tried to target his weak spots, but it was if the man had none. He ignored all of her slaps, kicks, and even bites, as he pulled her back to her feet.

"Let go of me!" Mina shouted, but President Lee ignored her.

At the same time, the person who had been driving the oncoming car got out to ask if everything was okay, but President Lee shot the woman a look so sinister, that she literally backed into the hood of her own car before getting back in and driving away.

The loss of the glow coming from the woman's headlights, plunged Mina back into semi darkness with a tyrant. She was not sure if it were her adrenaline that heightened her senses, but she was sure she could see much better than she had been able to previously.

"What were you just trying to do?" President Lee asked.

"I was trying to get away from the person chasing me."

"By running into a car? You couldn't have thought you could make it." Mina continued to struggle against President Lee's grip, choosing to ignore his question. If she answered him truthfully, she might have ended up back behind the bookshelf until she was needed.

Mina did not need further experience to tell her that she would go mad within days if that happened. She was already battling with so many forms of anxiety because of her stay in that dark and dingy room, even now she had nightmares about it. So much so, that she had developed several coping mechanisms.

Mina was still pushing and pulling against the grip of President Lee, who was pulling her by her arm toward where she assumed he had left his car. After a few minutes, the man lifted her over his shoulders the way Mina imagined a person would carry a sack of potatoes.

The indignity of it upset Mina in a way that she had not experienced. She felt helpless and all she could think to do was kick and pinch, but either President Lee had no nerve endings, or he was really good and ignoring his pain. The thought distracted Mina enough to make her curious; she stopped struggling to ask.

"How do you not feel me pinching and biting you?" Ian heard Mina's question, but he chose to ignore it, lest the girl add more force into what she was doing. Mina was not weak, but she was not very strong, and the simple truth was that he was used to worse.

Mina continuously asked, hoping to ignore the man into answering. She knew it could not have been because she was not strong enough to hurt people, because she had done it before. She had even hurt him in the past, but perhaps he only had sensation in that area of his body. Mina sighed heavily and let her own body fall slack, choosing to just go along for the ride she could not get out of. It was a better option than wondering the streets all night, and already she could feel the temperature dropping from bearable to not.

Once they were back in front of President Lee's car, which was probably a couple of hundred feet away from where they had started, the man put her down in such a way that her back was against the driver's side door. He used his body to block her path, making it unable for her to run again, but Mina had no plans on running. She just wanted to get back to Mr. Zane's house.

Mina watched President Lee tug on the car door, only to see nothing happen. He fumbled around his body and she reminded him that she threw his keys and mocked him about his 'magic car calling phone'.

"I'm not looking for my keys. I'm looking for my phone," President Lee grumbled. Mina could not help but to laugh. "I don't see what is so funny. Now both of us will have to walk. I'm sure you can already tell that cars don't often pass by this area." Mina smirked and pushed the man away.

"Yeah, and you made me lose covered ground." Ian found Mina's words taunting. Instead of her reacting with dread the way he was, she was acting as if walking a highway in the middle of the night, miles away from safety, was no big deal.

Mina walked ahead of the man, keeping her stride even and muttering to herself. Ian could not quite hear what she was saying, but he was sure she was cursing him. He disliked that she was blaming him for their situation, but he was the one responsible. If he had not kicked her out of his car, she would not have thrown his keys. There was no need to delve further into all that had occurred, because the problem started from there.

Ian watched as Mina kept close to the overgrown grass and he warned her about the potential for animals in the area, but Mina scoffed at his words. She told him that she was more afraid of people than animals. Ian was aware that in Mina's life, other humans had hurt her more than anything else, and it was completely reasonable for her to fear what she already knew.

"You know, there is a man with you," President Lee said. "No one is going to bother you as long as I am here." Mina literally laughed at him. She even turned to face him as if he had spoken the most absurd thing she had ever heard.

"You should be afraid to. It is not just me who has to worry about shady men. In this world, there are people who will take whatever is available." Ian felt his own face contort with Mina's words, but she did not bother to explain, she simply continued to walk close to the grass, leaving Ian with unanswered questions. He understood what she was implying, but he was not sure if it were true or not.