Chapter 286

Nathaniel's elegant fingers froze mid-air.

"Drive faster. We must locate Rosalind immediately."

His gaze flickered to Harrison through the rearview mirror. She sat rigid in the backseat, phone clutched in trembling hands. The usual ethereal glow of her porcelain skin had dulled to a sickly pallor.

Her entire being radiated desperate focus - every thought consumed by Rosalind's disappearance. She hadn't glanced at him once.

The space between them, once charged with intimacy, now felt like an uncrossable void.

Nathaniel tightened his grip on the steering wheel and accelerated. "Understood."

Tears streamed down Rosalind's cheeks in an unbroken current. Yet beneath the heartbreak, something felt... wrong.

The scenery outside her window didn't match the route home. Instead, the taxi plunged deeper into desolate backroads with each passing minute.

She turned to the driver. "This isn't the way to Rosewood District. Where are you taking me?"

The man removed his cap, revealing a face marred by jagged scars. His lips twisted into a grotesque smile. "Somewhere special, little lady."

A chilling realization struck.

This was the Rainmaker - the serial predator terrorizing Willowbrook for months. Two female students had already been found mutilated after rainy night abductions.

Ice flooded Rosalind's veins. She'd stepped right into the monster's lair.

"Let me out!"

She clawed at the door handle. Locked.

With a desperate lunge, she grabbed the steering wheel.

The taxi swerved violently. Caught off guard by her strength, the Rainmaker slammed the brakes, his expression darkening.

The car screeched to a halt. He dragged Rosalind out by her hair.

CRACK!

The slap echoed through the empty road. Rosalind's head snapped sideways, copper flooding her tongue.

The Rainmaker pinned her against the car, breathing heavily. "Planned to take you home first... but you're clearly eager." His fingers dug into her shoulders. "I'll enjoy you right here. Then carve you up like the others."

Terror pounded through Rosalind's veins, but she refused to cower. "Release me! The police will hunt you down!"

He laughed, tracing the birthmark on her cheek. "Ugly little thing. No man would touch you. Consider this a mercy."

The cruel words struck deeper than any blow. Fresh tears spilled as his grimy hands tore at her blouse.

Cool air kissed her exposed skin - flawless ivory marred only by rising bruises. The contrast seemed to excite him further.

"Face like a sewer rat... body like a goddess," he murmured, leaning in.

Rosalind screamed.

As she squeezed her eyes shut, one thought crystallized: Was this her fate? To die unwanted and unloved because of her face?

Then - a blur of movement.

A strong hand yanked the Rainmaker backward by his collar. Rosalind gasped as the weight crushing her vanished.

Rain lashed her battered body. Shaking, she looked up through soaked lashes at her rescuer.

(Word count maintained with enriched vocabulary and tightened pacing while preserving all key plot points and character dynamics)