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They seemed like the type of bastards that would have a soft spot for some good ol’ Tay Tay.
Leaving the music blaring behind me, I grabbed my car keys out of my backpack and scuttled down the hallway, refusing to meet the eyes of any of the creepy as fuck paintings and scampering down the stairs. When I got to the front door, that wasn’t locked either.
I mean, the house was in the middle of nowhere hidden deep on campus grounds. If it was mine, I probably wouldn’t lock it either, but I didn’t have a hostage hidden inside it like they did.
I moved across the front porch and down the stairs. I had just moved past the first of several magnolia trees when I heard the gentle rumble of an approaching engine.
Shit.
I sprinted towards the woods lining the perimeter of the property and dove in between the trees, hiding myself behind a curtain of moss hanging off a low branch of an ancient oak. Another black Escalade drove up the driveway and parked in front of the estate. I crouched low, expecting Ryker to climb out of the car. Maybe he remembered that he hadn’t locked the door and had come back to rectify the issue.
It wasn’t him though. It was Dr. Hawthorne. He sat against the hood of the car, seeming to get lost in a phone call. He drew his foot up slightly and I saw—were those sockspink? They were. Hot pink. Like Barbie pink. And the pink cloth had blue wolves on it.
That made him slightly less scary.
Or more scary? Maybe he wore socks like that because he was really insane. Of course he was insane! He’d tried to blackmail me for no reason!
I curled my arms around my chest, making myself appear as small as possible. I glanced at him and back down the road. I wouldn’t be able to walk down it for fear of being discovered. Instead, I’d need to cut through the woods back to the dorms and then hike the extra mile to the parking lot where I’d last parked my car.
As he was waving his hands and talking into his cellphone, looking like he was in a defensive conversation on the other line, I turned and left amid his distracted state. For a few minutes I ran hard, wanting to put as much distance between us as I possibly could before I felt like I was hacking up a lung as I was trying to catch my breath around mile two. I’d run hurdles in high school, but I’d let myself get way out of practice since then. I tried my best to stay on solid ground, weaving this way and that to avoid the murky swamp waters that were typical of the area. I pushed myself a bit further until my side cramped hard, and my calves were burning before I finally slowed down to a walk.
A crawl would be a better word for it.
I knew the general direction of the main campus, but the winding road to the mansion had been a little confusing. I thought I was going the right way, but I couldn’t be certain. I stopped for a moment, listening to the quiet sounds of nature around me. For a few long seconds, the loud pounding of my heart echoed in my eardrums, and I pressed my hand over my chest almost as if I could slow it down by sheer force of will. I took a deep breath, followed by another, and eventually I could hear the gentle swaying of the trees and the buzzing of mosquitoes somewhere in the distance.
Ah, pure Louisiana swamplands at their best.
I glanced up to see that it had gotten pretty late in the day. The sky blazed with vivid hues of orange and pink. The water surrounding me reflected the light of the fading sun like a shimmering mirror of gold and coral. There were parts of the sky that were deepening in color to a shade of lavender and indigo as the day surrendered to the encroaching inevitability of night.
In the distance, bullfrogs croaked their deep, resonant serenades, their voices echoing across the murky waters. The occasional splash hinted at unseen creatures slipping beneath the surface, leaving ripples in their wake. Cicadas in the trees above sang their shrill, relentless songs. Fireflies danced in the humid air, their tiny lights flickering like distant stars. Somewhere nearby, a barn owl hooted, an ominously haunting call that sent a bad feeling coursing through me, and I swallowed hard.
For a moment, I leaned against a tree, pressing my head back as I let my body calm. My ragged breathing soon returned to normal, and then a quiet rustle sounded off far in the distance. I stilled, realizing it had come from the direction of the house. It was faint, but unmistakable.
My heart leaped into my throat as I turned, scanning the dimly lit forest behind me. The sound drew closer, footsteps echoing through the swampy terrain, growing more urgent with each passing moment. Panic welled within me.
It had to be Caelum, right? He’d realized I was gone, and now he was coming for me.
Fuckity fuckballs. I had no time to waste.
My heart raced, and I lurched in the direction that I thought campus was. Without a second thought, I plunged deeper into the wilderness, my footsteps quickening as I threw everything that I had left within me into running as swiftly as I could. With every step, my feet splashed through the murky terrain.
Panic gnawed at my heels, urging me to flee faster, but with each desperate stride, the bayou seemed to conspire against me. Twisted roots and gnarled branches reached out like skeletalfingers, threatening to trip me at any given moment, and I sailed over each one of them with what I thought was a graceful leap.
The rustling pursuit grew louder, an eerie echo of my own hurried breaths. I stole a glance over my shoulder, but the darkness masked any sign of my pursuer. Still, an undeniable sensation of being watched sent shivers down my spine.
Fear coursed through me like a tidal wave, and my strides stretched longer, my breathing erratic. Despite my desperate sprint, a creeping dread settled in—the feeling that Caelum was slowly, inevitably closing the gap.
Tree branches whipped at my arms and legs like phantom claws, drawing stinging welts as I weaved through the forest of twisted trunks. My breath came in ragged gasps, and the weight of the pursuit bored down on me like a relentless storm. I tried to ignore the persistent painful bounce of my breasts, but it hurt. I kept my arms close against my chest, but that only did so much.
My frantic flight through the swamp grew increasingly chaotic, my vision clouded by panic. I glanced over my shoulder again, realizing that Caelum was closing in on me at seemingly otherworldly speed. I pushed harder, and then I didn’t lift my foot high enough and the edge of my sneaker caught on a gnarled tree root. I tumbled forward, crashing to the ground with a cry of pain and terror. My breath escaped me in a painful whoosh as I sprawled out on the unforgiving earth.
Fuck my life.I was exactly like one of those girls in the movieScream, running for their lives only to trip over their own two feet.
I pushed myself up from the muddy ground, my limbs trembling with exhaustion. My body screamed for rest, but I staggered tomy feet, the pain in my scraped and battered limbs urging me on.
I resumed my run, my breath coming in ragged bursts, but Caelum seemed to be getting closer. The sounds of his pursuit seemed to echo in my ears, and the weight of fear pressed down on me like a crushing elephant. He sounded like he was right behind me, and a strangled cry broke free from my lips.
As soon as I got back to my car, I was going to get the heck out of dodge, and then I was going to get high as a kite.
