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I continued on, the toe of my sneaker catching on a rock, the sound of it skittering over the broken pavement like nails on a chalkboard.
Another snap made me look up toward the trees. I stared for what felt like forever, my heart pounding relentlessly, my breath coming in rapid puffs.
“Probably just an animal,” I said, shoving my hands deeper into my pockets and picking up my pace.
Up ahead, a rock seemed to fall right from the air, dropping just a few feet in front of me. My entire body stiffened, fear making me spin in all directions. “Hello?” I called. “Is anyone there?”
When no one answered, I kept walking despite the pit of dread in my stomach and the way the hairs on my neck stood in alarm. I thought once more of Oskar, of looking up in the crowd tonight and seeing him just standing there. Staring.
“He wasn’t there.” I reminded myself. “He doesn’t even know where I am.”
I thought about the folded clothes in my locker. How panic just wouldn’t let me be today.
A thump in the trees had me spinning again.
“Who the fuck is there?” I demanded. “Come out, you fucking coward!”
A low laugh lifted goose bumps on my skin. A flash of something against the darkness darted out from behind a tree, and a familiar-looking frame stepped out of the dark. Any warmth I had left in my body went subzero.
“Oskar,” I whispered.
Alarm readied me to run, the fight I had in me trained long ago that he was a match I would never win. All I could do was flee.
You ran all the way across the globe, and it still wasn’t far enough.
His feet started to pound, and I knew he was coming for me. I took off, lungs burning as my shaky, cold legs pumped. My toe caught in a worn section of the street, and I went flying, hitting the overgrown brown grass and rolling.
I closed my eyes.
Maybe he’ll kill me. Maybe then I’ll finally be free.
The sound of an engine cut through everything, and I sat up as two bright headlights bounced down the road. I scrambled up, looking over my shoulder as the man stalking me retreated into the cover of trees.
The engine of the black SUV accelerated, spitting gravel as it sped toward me. The driver slammed on his brakes, and the car skidded to a stop right in front of me.
The headlights were glaringly bright. The engine seemed so loud out here in the quiet.
The driver’s door flung open. “Lars!”
Everything under my skin collapsed, just crumpled at the sound of that voice.
“Win,” I rasped, eyes latching onto him as he raced around the hood of the car, his body nothing but a black shadow against the beaming lights.
“Lars! What the fuck are you doing out here? Jesus Christ, you almost gave me a fucking heart attack!”
I just stared, frozen in place.
“I turned away for one second!” he fumed. “One damn second!”
When he was within touching distance, everything about him changed. All the ire he smoldered with blew away with the winter wind, and his face turned soft and worried.
“Angel? What happened? What’s wrong?” His hands slid around my wrists, trying to tug them out of my pockets. He jerked upon touching my skin. “You’re fucking freezing!” he exclaimed, ripping the dark-colored hoodie off his body and jamming it down over mine.
When my head cleared the opening, I was still standing there staring.
“Angel,” he whispered, abandoning the hoodie to take my face in his hands. “What are you doing out here in the dark all by yourself?”
I made a sound. “You were watching me?”
