AllFreeNovel
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1
There are four vampires in my living room.
The space is blanketed in darkness save for the dim light cast against the aged hardwood floor from the one window in the room. It’s closed—painted shut by the previous tenant—but the chirp of a car horn in the distance still rings through the silence.
None of them move. One leans against the exposed brick wall near my flat-screen, while the others occupy the light gray L-shaped couch I saved up for months to afford.
Do they think I can’t see them?Surely they can hear the thundering heartbeats in my chest.
I stand frozen in the entryway, my key still in the lock. My eyes shift to the clock on the stove in my kitchen. It’s almost one in the morning. Tonight has already been long, full of studying at the campus library, but the pit in my stomach tells me it’s about to get a lot fucking worse.
My right leg shifts back.
“Don’t run.”
That smooth, deep, siren-like voice tries to trick my brain into keeping my feet anchored in place, but I know better. I whirl around, dropping my book bag in the doorway as I bolt for the bank of elevators at the end of the hall.
My heart slams against my chest in time with my white Doc Martens hitting the polished floor with each stride.
“Calla.”
I swallow a yelp, turning to look over my shoulder as I keep running, only to find the hallway empty.
I slide to a halt and slam my fist against the elevator button, throwing myself inside the second it slides open. It’s only once the door has shut that I let out a shaky breath. I inhale slowly, fighting the urge to scream until my throat is raw.
This can’t be happening. Not yet.
Pressing the button for the lobby, I fall back against the wall, my eyes burning with exhaustion. Panic floods in when I realize what a terribly stupid move that was. They’ll head straight for the lobby. I chew my lip for a second and press the button to the sixth floor. The elevator descends as the numbers count down10, 9, 8, 7, 6and it slows to a stop.The softdingmakes me push off the wall and step out into the quiet hallway.
I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. All I know is that I can’t go back to the fifteenth floor and I can’t go to the lobby. I’m trapped.
Unless…
They likely took the stairs down to the lobby and are waiting for the elevator—and my dumb ass.
I walk toward the door to the stairwell. I can take that down to the parking garage and slip out onto the street from there.
The door slams shut behind me, echoing off the concrete walls and stairs. I grip the cold metal railing as I race down the flights, noting the floor number painted in bright yellow on the wall at each landing.
My deep brown hair clings to the back of my neck. I suck in a shallow breath as my feet hit the landing on the second floor and the door to the hallway flies open.
I don’t have time to scream. In the time it takes me to blink, I’m against the wall. Hands grip my shoulders, pressing my back into the concrete. My dull brown gaze flies up and collides with swirling silver irises.
I immediately turn feral. I fight against his grip, kicking and scratching at his chest with my chipped emerald fingernails. It doesn’t faze him. And when I open my mouth to scream, he quickly clamps his hand over it before I can make a sound.
He exhales slowly. “Atlas told you not to run.” His voice is low, tinged with amusement. He’s enjoying this.
It takes every ounce of strength I have to rip his hand away from my mouth. He returns that hand to my shoulder, tightening his hold on me.
“I don’t give a shit. Let go of me,” I say through my teeth, trying to escape his grip as my heavy breathing makes the world spin around me.
He cocks his head, and his dark brown hair falls into his face. “If I do that, you’ll run again.” The twitch of his lips has me thinking that’s exactly what he wants.They love the chase.
“I’ll scream,” I warn, shoving against him again. I’m no match for his strength, though knowing that doesn’t convince me to stop. If anything, it makes me fight harder. It’s what has kept me motivated every single morning to wake at the crack of dawn and spend at least an hour at the gym. Training regularly to build my strength for this exact moment. I’ve managed a bit of muscle on my sadly curve-free figure but compared to these guys, I’m tiny. I was kidding myself that I’d stand a chance against a vampire—let alone four. Years of training, and it was all for nothing. My stomach plummets at the thought; I’m not ready to admit it.
“You will,” he agrees, “though it’ll be my name before it’s anything else.” The vampire in front of me pushes me back, lowering his face to mine. “But by all means, give it a shot.” He knows as well as I do it won’t get me anywhere.
“Who the fuck are you?” I growl instead, ignoring the way his words made my heart race. It’s a dumb question, but if I can keep him talking maybe I can buy myself some time to figure a way out of this mess.
