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Chapter Three
Charlee
I knew something felt off when I walked in here. A different kind of energy was in the house and I had moved carefully back to the room where I had left my sleeping bag. All of my other belongings are in my backpack which I carry with me everywhere. If I have to run, I want to be prepared.
I walk into the room and see my sleeping bag is still there, just like I left it before I went on my job. Abandoned houses or houses that are still being built are easy and cheap places to stay and I’ve been staying in this house for the last couple of days. Usually I can get a week or two out of each house before I have to find someplace new.
I make my way over to my sleeping bag when suddenly, I hear a noise behind me. My body tenses, getting ready to run, as I slowly spin around to see what it was. My eyes scan the dark room and that’s when I see him. He’s standing in the closet and I can just make him out with the moonlight streaming in through the window.
I can’t see much with him hiding in the closet but I’ve lived on the streets long enough to know that he’s bad news. No one good hides in closets. I debate trying to grab my sleeping bag. It’s cold outside and I don’t really want to spend the money buying a new one, not when I’m so close to reaching my goal. I look back to the guy. He’s tall but with more muscles. I bet that I could outrun him, even if I did take the few steps back to grab my sleeping bag.
I decide to risk it and bolt for my bag, snagging it with one hand and pivoting to sprint out the door. I hear the closet door bang open and I run faster towards the front door. I jerk it open and am about to rush outside when I feel strong arms wrap around my waist and lift me off the ground.
I kick backwards, dropping my sleeping bag to claw at his arms, trying to get him to let me go. I fight against him but it’s no use. The guy has to have close to a foot on me and at least eighty pounds. I still, going limp in his arms and his arms wrap tighter around my waist as he holds me against his firm body. My feet dangle off the ground and I can hear his breathing where his head is pressed against the side of mine.
“You going to be nice?” He asks.
His voice is deep and low and sends tingles racing down my spine. I scowl at my reaction but when he doesn’t set me down, I reluctantly nod against him. He pauses, holding my body flush against his for another minute before he slowly lowers me down. As soon as my feet touch the ground, I rip myself out of his hold and spin around to face him.
My sleeping bag is behind my left foot and I know that I could get away from him. I just need a little bit of a head start. My fingers stroke over his wallet that I snatched while he was putting me down and I slip it into the side pocket of my backpack. The guy looks wealthy and I’m hoping he’s got some cash that I can pocket before I dump it.
My hands hang down by my sides as I glare up at him. I’m standing in the shadows from the front door and I’m hoping that he doesn’t get a good look at my face. The last thing I need is the cops on my trail.
He smiles down at me and I can see more of his features out here where there’s more light. He’s big with muscles but not as big as Tommy. The guy is tall and I crane my neck up to stare into his face. His brown hair is pin straight and cut short. His face is all angles with a straight nose and a jawline that looks like you could cut yourself on it. His lips are lush and I notice that his top lip is just slightly fuller than his bottom. His eyes are blue and smiling down at me.
I realize that I’ve just been staring at him and clear my throat. I should be focused on getting away but instead I’ve just been standing here like a sap. My eyes dart around, trying to find something to distract him with but there’s nothing near here, the closest neighbor is about half a mile away and the only thing in the house is the walls.
“What’s your name, baby?”
“Baby?” I sneer back at him.
“Yeah, baby.” He says with a smirk. “Or, you could tell me what your name is.”
I glare at him but finally answer. “It’s Sarah.”
“Hmm, you don’t seem like a Sarah.”
I shrug. When you’re lying, it’s always better to say less.
“What’s your real name, baby?”
Back to this baby crap. I weigh my options. What will giving him my first name hurt? Nothing and it will get him to stop calling me baby.
“Charlee.”
He smiles wide at that. “Yeah, that suits you much better.”
I stare at him warily as I shift further into the darkness. I kick my sleeping bag over further with me. His eyes drop down at the movement and I pause.
“What’s your name?” I ask before he can say anything about my movements.
His eyes snap back to mine and he smiles, seeming to like my interest in him.
“Grayson. Grayson Thorne.”
He offers me his hand to shake and I eye it like it’s a snake. He wiggles his fingers at me and I look up into his eyes. He’s seems harmless now but I’m not stupid enough to let me guard down around some strange guy I just met. I look back down to his hand but for some reason, I don’t want to touch him again. You don’t want to feel the way you react to him again, my subconscious says and I try to push that thought away.
He lets his hand drop after a minute and I expect him to look angry but when I look back up at him, he’s grinning down at me. This has been going on too long. I need to get out of here. Now. Since there’s nothing around to use to help me with that, I’ll have to improvise.
I shift my eyes looking over his shoulder and widen them, like I’m scared of what I see. My body tenses as I ready to run and I gasp to really sell it. Grayson spins around, looking for whatever I was staring at and I’m gone.
I scoop my sleeping bag up and dart around the back of the house, running through the woods there and out onto the road running parallel to this one. I hear him behind me but I know the area better than him and I’m faster. I run around one house and climb over the fence. I drop down into the yard right as he comes out of the trees. I see him looking left and right, trying to find any sight of me and I crouch down lower. He walks around for twenty minutes, far longer than I thought he would before he heads back to the house.
Can’t go back there. With that house burned, I’ll have to spend the next couple of hours looking for my next place to crash. I sigh as I think about the long night ahead of me. I scale the fence again, landing lightly on the sidewalk before I head off down the road in the opposite direction of Mr. Grayson Thorne.
