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But I wanted him to look.

I wanted him to find me.

My leg dragged harder, as though it wanted the same. I stopped in the middle of the dining room. Glanced under the table. No. Too hard to get down… and away.

I kept on moving.

I stopped at the library. Behind a bookshelf? No.

I pushed on.

“Ten.”

Jesus.

I spun around and hurried across the foyer.

The south wing.

That’s where I’d go.

Sheets hiding furniture.

Rooms that haven’t felt fresh air for years.

Hallways that felt colder than the rest of the house.

The kind of emptiness that was haunting.

He’d not find me there.

I hurried. Pushing against doorframes and raced for the entrance.

“Six.” He called louder.

I reached the hallway two second later.

It’d be four.

Three.

Two.

I twisted the doorhandle of the second room and pushed in. The door gave way. Dust billowed out suffocating me. I slammed my hand across my mouth as a sneeze pinched my nose.

Too late.

Achew!

I closed the door and turned around, staring at it in the gloom.

He’d hear that.

He hears everything.

Too late now to keep running.

I was cornered.