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CHAPTER ONE
Kelly shivered, and not just because of the cold night air. She made her way over the north bridge, her feet echoing in the silence of the dark. It was getting close to midnight, and she was running out of time.
A car drove past, full of frat boys. A couple of them called out to her while music blasted from it. Kelly almost flagged it down, almost called out for help, but she didn't dare. That would have been against the rules.
Instead, Kelly kept walking, slowly closing in on the far side. The moon was up high above her while the lights of the city of Verdice shone all around her. Those lights pointed to the possibility of life and joy, to happiness and other people.
Right then, though, Kelly felt utterly alone. There was no one out there with her. There was no one who could help her, not tonight. Even if she succeeded in this, there was something about this experience that would change her forever. If she didn’t…
A small sound of fear escaped Kelly, but she continued to make her way across the bridge, step by stuttering step. She had to do this. She had to finish this.
As she reached the center of the bridge, a sudden gust of wind whipped through her long, blonde hair and sent a chill down her spine. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stave off the cold. But it wasn't just the wind that made her shiver.
She didn't want to do this. She hadn't wanted to do this from the start, but she didn't have a choice. She had to keep going.
As Kelly neared the end of the bridge, she dared to feel a hint of hope. This was the fifth bridge. Five of seven. Two more and all of this would be over. Two more, and she would be safe and free.
Kelly walked forward a little more confidently now, her dark coat whipping open in the wind to reveal the jeans and sweatshirt beneath. She reached for her phone and stopped herself.
No police, he'd said. He'd told her that he would be watching. No police, no help. Just her. If he'd left her phone alone, not told her to leave it behind or throw it off the first bridge, then it was as a trap, not as an aid. It was a way of tempting Kelly away from the rules of the game.
She took out the paper map instead as she approached the end of the bridge, trying to shield it with her body from the slight drizzle that was falling, lending a misty, unfocused sheen to the lights on the bridge.
Kelly kept down her terror as she did it, telling herself over and over that she was closer to the end of this than the beginning, that she would be done soon. It wouldn’t take much longer.
Thenshe could go to the police, although she wasn't sure what she could tell them, when she'd never seen his face, when she had nothing beyond the message that he'd left with her, safely locked away back in her dorm.
In a way, that was comforting. It meant that once she found a way through all this, he might leave her alone. And shewouldfind a way through all this. Kelly told herself that over and over again. Maybe if she said it enough times, it would even prove to be true.
Kelly reached the end of the bridge. She'd been traveling over to one of Verdice's central islands, which put her in the middle of an entertainment area there now, the sounds of nightclubs and bars there in the background. In spite of the reminder that there were other people out there, Kelly still felt utterly alone.
The university was just visible in the distance. A part of her thought about running right back to her dorm room, but she knew that she couldn't. If she did, it would be an admission of defeat. He would kill her. She checked the time. She still had another hour to go. She could do this. She just had to plot out the last part of her route, and this would be done.
Kelly spread out the map on a nearby bench, her fingers trembling as she traced the route with her eyes. The next two bridges were a little way apart, only a few blocks away from one another. One led to the eastern island of the city, another to the south bank. If she could just cross them, then she would be done.
There was only one problem with that thought. As soon as she saw it, Kelly's breath came shorter, her heart thundering in her chest as she realized the mistake that she’d made, how badly things had gone wrong.
She couldn't cross the last two bridges without going back over one of the others. She couldn't do it. She'd gone wrong somewhere, taken a wrong turn, done this in the wrong order, and that meant...
"No!" Kelly said to herself, to the world. "No."
She turned, starting to run back over the bridge, hoping that she could . As Kelly ran, her heart beating like a drum in her chest, she knew that she had to figure out a way to get help. She took out her phone, calling the police, hoping that they would be able to come to her aid in time.
"How can I help you?" an operator's voice asked on the other end of the line.
"Help me," Kelly said. "Please... someone's trying to kill me!"
"Can you tell me where you are?"
"I'm on the north bridge, heading for 14th Street," Kelly said. She didn't slow down now. Her only hope was to keep moving. The wind whipped past her, tugging at her long hair and her coat, but she barely felt it. Every part of her was focused on figuring out a way to get out of there, to get to safety.
There was a faint sound of footsteps somewhere behind her, and Kelly's heart leaped into her throat. She didn't know who it could be, but she didn't want to stand there and find out. Kelly kept hurrying along the bridge, determined to get away from there, determined to get back...
Where? She was going the wrong way for her dorm room, so where was she running to? Kelly didn't know, but right then, it wasn't as important as simply getting away. She ran across the bridge, her feet pounding the walkway there as she tried to reach the other side. Some instinct told her that if she could only reach the other side, she would be safe.
As she ran, Kelly felt something slip around her throat. She realized with a start that it was hemp rope, but by then, it was already drawing tight. Kelly tried to turn, to fight, her hands going up to try to tear the noose from around her neck.
It just continued to tighten, lifting Kelly from her feet while her legs kicked in the air. The last thing she thought before the darkness claimed her was that none of this had been fair. None of it had been…
