Page 39 of Breathe Like Hell

CHAPTER ELEVEN

DAKOTA

As I heard the sound of Micah’s garage door shutting, I hopped off the bed and grabbed my bag, then scrambled into the bathroom. The heated tiles were warm under my feet as I tugged on my socks and jeans, then pulled my sweater over my head, covering up Micah’s t-shirt.

He’d just left to go pick up food for us, and I needed out of this house. All day, he’d been distant and irritated, keeping me at arm’s length. Never letting me any closer—never letting me any farther, either. I wasn’t going to miss my opportunity to escape.

Plus, I’d promised Mila I would sleep over tonight, and I really, really wanted to keep that promise. I needed some time for myself.

I wiped off some of the smudged mascara under my eyes, then packed up the rest of my things and tiptoed downstairs. Both Mason and Micah were gone—I was alone in the house. Maybe I could’ve used the time to snoop or investigate, to try and put together some of the pieces of Micah’s life, but I wanted to get out of here before it got too dark.

Looking out the windows as I walked through the living room, my heart sank slightly. It was dimming fast outside, shades of muted blue and indigo painting the trees and sky.

I stuffed my feet in my boots, then left through the back door.

Trudging around the side of the house through the long grass, I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket, the chill in the air stealing my breath. My heart rate increased every time I glimpsed the dark edges of the forest surrounding Micah’s house, as if a golden-eyed demon was hiding there, watching me now. Shadows loomed in my periphery, morphing and changing shape when I looked away.

This was stupid.

This was really fucking stupid, and not worth my life.

But I didn’t stop to turn around when I reached the street. My footsteps switched from the soft squish of damp grass to the crunch of gravelly pavement, and I put my hood over my head, my eyes darting around. The street was deserted, and all of Micah’s neighbors were pretty far apart.

There were so many dark places for evil things to conceal themselves within.

I picked up my pace, jogging lightly down the block until I could turn onto a main street with some more houses—and streetlights. Though I didn’t honestly think streetlights would keep Aamon away. It wasn’t about the light, necessarily, but about the other things that came with daytime—humans. Nonetheless, the puddles of yellow light made me feel safer.

The bus stop was about a ten-minute walk from where I was now, but with the rate the sun was setting, clouds rolling in to cover the sky, I didn’t want to risk taking that long.

I kept jogging as best as I could, my bag bumping against my side, my platform boots making the task a bit more difficult. They were heavy and clunky, but since they were essentially the only shoes I’d been wearing for the better part of the last decade, I was relatively used to them.

My lungs strained and my heart pounded, the cold air searing my chest. My cheeks were almost numb by the time I reached the little metal sign denoting the bus stop, my ribs aching and paranoia spotting the edges of all my thoughts. I wished there was a covered bench, so I could at least have my back protected instead of being vulnerable from all angles.

Whatever.

Too late to wish for those things now.

I stared desperately down the street, waiting for the headlights of the bus to appear. The metal of the pole was cold as I leaned against it, but it also grounded me in a way, and made me feel marginally more secure. Tugging my hood further over my head to cover my face, I slipped my phone out of my pocket and shot off a few texts to Mila to let her know I was on my way.

She replied and I felt the vibration in my pocket, but I didn’t check the notification. All my senses were tuned to the outside world surrounding me, my ears straining for footsteps and my eyes skimming the area over and over.

For a second, I almost wanted to cry, to just break down in shaking sobs.

Because, yeah, I was really fucking scared.

Scared of Aamon, scared of what my life was becoming, scared of the person I was allowing myself to be around Mason and Micah. How had everything gotten so fucked up?

I remembered thinking to myself weeks ago that I was digging myself into the deepest hole I’d ever been in, and that I had no clue how far until I reached the bottom, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop myself until I got there. At the time, I’d not fully grasped just how deep a hole like this could get. I’d been worried, but I hadn’t known the half of it.

If nothing else, at least I was smarter now. I knew more.

The bus eventually pulled up.

I climbed on, relief engulfing me as I slumped down in one of the plastic seats and put my earbuds in my ears. The doors whooshed shut and the bus began accelerating as I shuffled through my music.

We rumbled down the road, past telephone wires draped from tall poles, past endless pine trees, past buildings with lit-up signs and dirty windows. I was getting somehow even more paranoid as we drove, though. Every time we passed through a dark area, my brain convinced itself that I was seeing glowing yellow eyes, flashing at me between boughs of pine.

Gripping my phone tighter, I looked away from the window.