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A trail of red seeps from under the flower, like a wound in the paper itself. My eyes are slow to adjust, so I reach down and lift the rose.
Locked doors won’t protect you, pretty poet.
You’re mine.
A chill runs down my spine. The words are written in dripping Halloween red.
I drop the rose like it’s hot, stepping back and knocking down the lamp from the chest of drawers behind me.
That’s blood. He’s written those words in blood.
My most ancient instincts fire up, and all of my thoughts, the entire being I’ve become over the years, all narrow down to one single sliver of reason–I need to get out of here, and fast.
CHAPTER III
Justine
The good news is thatI’m not insane.
The bad news is that I have a stalker on my tracks.
The masked man is real, and he can do things that would give a ghost a run for its money. Like breaking through closed doors and dissolving into thin fucking air.
I run breathlessly down the stairs, only the moonlight guiding me. I should scream, draw the guards’ attention, but what if that psycho kills whoever happens in his path? I can’t be sure whose face hides behind the mask, but I’m positive he’s one of the Kings or the wannabes they initiate and train as their acolytes. They have the sickest skills, and they’re pretty freaking low on morals.
Dogg Wilson alone, whose unwavering gaze from the car the other night still haunts me, can do some serious shit. If I hadn’t been so obsessed with working Sade out of my system, I would have spent my last few nights tossing and turning about Dogg’s intentions.
My chest burns with every inhale I take by the time I reach the bottom of the stairs. The double doors leading out onto the front patio are just across the hall, at the end of a dark hallway. A shadow crosses in front of the glass panes, framed by the outline of combat gear–one of the guards. I can hear muffled laughs, him talking into his phone, oblivious to the fact that there’s an intruder inside the house.
I throw myself in the direction of the light. I’ll tell him about the masked man, and beg him not to look for him but just go, get us all out of here. I may not survive the dark forest surrounding this house alone, and the guards surely wouldn’t survive the masked man, but together we stand a chance. I can almost reach out and grab the door knob, a whimper trembling on my lips, when a shadow whips through my field of vision.
“Jesus Christ,” I shriek. It was so close, the movement ruffled my hair.
Sweat breaks out all over me, the empty house chilling me to the bone.
No, I can’t stop now, not when I’m so close to salvation.
