Page 70 of Primal

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Chapter Fifteen

The trees blur into a tunnel of shadows as I run. My lungs burn. My legs scream. But nothing— nothing—hurts like the images seared into my brain.

Ghostface slamming Lana against the tree.

Her fingers scrabbling at his ankle.

The knife plunging in—

Again.

And again.

I ran. Like a coward.

Lana. Jessica. Both dead.

A sob claws up my throat. I choke it back. The tears come anyway. My knees buckle. Every time I blink, the knife’s there. Glinting behind my eyelids.

Keep moving. Don’t stop. Don’t think.

Left. Right. Straight.

Kristy. Find Kristy.

Branches whip my cheeks. Good.

I fucking deserve it. Every sting.

I pick a direction. Doesn’t matter where. Just forward.

Because if I stop, I’ll remember how Lana fought.

How I let her die.

No.

Keep going.

I follow the glow sticks, the only thing that makes sense. Left. Right. Deeper into the trees. Every shadow looks like him—every snapped twig is the knife plunging into Lana again.

“Kristy … Kristy, where are you … Kristy …”

Footsteps. I dive behind a tree.

“Payton?”

Neon shorts.

I step out. “Kristy!”

“Hey, girl,” she breathes. “I just—”

I crash into her. “Lana ... Lana’s—”

Vomit splatters the leaves between us. Acid and fruit punch and the last of the stupid fucking candy I ate in the car.