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Chapter 10
NIKLAS
I’m going back, back into the woods in search of that son of a bitch. I waited all day for this moment, for darkness to fall, because during the night, no one can out-hunt me.
Suki and I spent the rest of the day in an unfamiliar, comfortable silence. It felt like a truce between us, a calm before an all-consuming storm.
We ate, we moved about the house, each of us doing random things without doing anything at all. She was in the guest bedroom when I left and I didn’t tell her I was going. I didn’t hide it either. I’m not worried about her trying to run away, not after today, not tonight.
But when she will, because I know she will run eventually, I will chase her, chase her to the end of the fucking earth, because the siren’s song is addictive and I’m fucking hooked.
— ‡ —
I stop and look around the darkness of the woods. I’m in the same place where we heard something earlier today. I stand here for a few minutes, in the shadow of an old pine with the rifle hanging heavily on my shoulder, a hunting knife in my boot, and my Colt in my holster.
I’m not anticipating killing Adrien tonight, I’m just doing my homework.
I grab my rifle and look around through the night vision scope.Nothing.I focus in on the same direction where I’m sure I saw something earlier today.Nothing.
I keep walking. I looked at satellite images today, and I saw something that could potentially be the house the asshole is using. I’m not sure though, because even though it’s at the edge of the woods, it was still covered by pine trees, so I couldn’t exactly tell if it was an old hunting cabin or what. Either way, it’s at the edge of my mountain, on my property. If that motherfucker lives there… I have grounds to kill him. If I do it publicly that is. Too bad the edge of my property is so fucking far away. I could have saved time with the snowmobile, but that fucking thing is broken, and I would have made too much noise anyway. The sound travels far too well in these woods.
I walk for a long time, just over two hours, once in a while stopping to look through the night vision scope since it’s not just Adrien I’m weary of, but animal predators as well. There are plenty of them on this mountain.
I finally see it, the cabin. I’m probably around a hundred yards away, yet I can see it’s quite small, very old, built on a stone foundation.
This must be the place, with that foundation it’s bound to have a stone cellar as well… the dungeon. I get closer, more careful, constantly looking through the scope. Rather than going straight for it, I go to the left until I reach the end of the woods, then I circle back and head right, so I can see from the other angle. There’s no light on, no smoke coming from the chimney… maybe this is not the place after all.
A fraction of a second later, I almost stumble. I’ve been walking through thick snow, making a path, but now, I’ve stumbled onto a different path. Freshly made. Not mine. I follow it and see that it leads to the cabin. If I had any doubts about this being inhabited, I don’t anymore. I go for it. I hide through the shadows until I reach the small building, ducking under the windows, making sure no one can see me.
The thing is, he’ll know I was here when he sees my footprints around the cabin, but as long as I won’t be seen right now, I don’t give a fuck. I walk all around the building, looking through every window, until I reach stone steps that go down beneath it. Against my better judgment, I decide to walk down, only to be greeted by a padlocked, thick metal door. Clearly this is not the original.
This is the type of door you use to keep people in, not out.
This is it…
I’m sure there’s no one in the cabin, but I still can’t make noise by trying to break the padlock. Noise travels too well and fast in the quiet of the night. I have to leave it.
But then it hits me…
“If there’s no one in… why is there a fresh path through the snow?”
I look back from where I came from, tracing with the scope the path that I did not make. I start walking, following it just as the snow starts to fall. Maybe my footprints will be covered after all.
I follow the path with steady, careful steps, looking through the night vision scope more often. As much as I want to hurry, I have to have the element of surprise. I can’t risk him seeing or hearing me before I do him.
At least two hours must have passed when I reach this frozen pond in the middle of the woods, and the realization of where I am hits me like a fucking punch in the gut.
Fuck... Fuck! Fuck!!! The motherfucker is going towards my house!
And I run. I run so fucking hard, I feel my knees burning from the sudden strain, and I swear my goddamn legs are going to give out!
But I have to get to her…
Suki…
SUKI
I wake up in the middle of the night, all sweaty and breathing heavily. I was dreaming again... Sitting up in bed, my mind still hazy, I look around, adjusting my eyes to the darkness.
