13. Chapter Thirteen

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.

My body was numb as I tore across town, pumping my limbs as hard as I could. My mind was a warzone. Even though I'd watched the entire thing play out before me, I hadn"t fully processed what happened. All I knew for certain was that Marcus was dead and I needed to put as much space as possible between me and the being that killed him.

Shadow? Demon? Devil? I didn"t know what the fuck he was anymore, but he was evil. Pure, undeniable evil.

I didn"t have a destination in mind, my feet moving of their own volition as I ran until my lungs burned with every inhale. I refused to go back to our apartment; he'd expect that. Besides, he'd just slaughtered a man and laughed about it. There was no way I was leading him straight to Lennon. He could kill me if he wanted to, but I wouldn't let him hurt her.

My gut told me to call the police, but what good would it have done? I"d be committed for trying to convince the local precinct that a giant shadow demon killed Marcus, and there weren"t cameras in the tattoo shop to prove it. I was no match for a grown man, but with no proof of my innocence, I'd be handed a life sentence for murder.

No, the police weren't the answer. I just had to keep running.

Like the protagonist of a novel, I prayed all the invisible dots I'd missed would connect somehow, giving me answers. There had to be something I was overlooking, something that would make all of this make sense, but it was hard to keep my thoughts straight as I ran for my life.

My mind was a mess. Logic warred with conviction, rationale fighting with lunacy. Somewhere, in the midst of my chaos, an undeniable truth stared me in the face, but I didn't have time to stop and analyze it. While the shadow figure had murdered Marcus, he'd also saved me from sexual assault.

What a fucking bizarre turn of events.

My never-ending list of questions grew longer with every minute that passed, the shadow figure consuming my senses. What would he do when he finally caught up to me? He said I belonged to him, he'd called me his, but did he intend to kill me too? Would he let me live?

I dove between two buildings, taking an alley to the next block over, and kept running, ignoring the burning in my legs that begged me to stop and rest. A deep-seated feeling in my gut told me that fleeing was a waste of time anyway. If the shadow had managed to follow me around for the last three years, I was fairly certain he"d have no trouble tracking me down. He only let me go as part of whatever sick, twisted game he was playing.

He wanted to give me false hope that I could escape him. He wanted to toy with his prey before he caught it, and I was a very helpless target.

My body ached—I hadn"t run this far or this hard since P.E. in middle school—and I was dying to stop and catch my breath, but the adrenaline in my veins wouldn"t let me. Slim as my chances of survival were, I had to try. I couldn't give up, not now.

Still, I was slowly losing hope that I would make it out alive.

If I was destined to die, perhaps the shadow—or whatever he was—would at least satisfy my curiosity first. Maybe he would answer the questions burning through me. There were so many answers I wanted, needed before I died. Why had he saved me? Why had he followed me for so long? What did he want with me?

I hung a left, speeding down the sidewalk, still entirely unsure where I should go. Nowhere was safe. I knew it. The shadow knew it. That must have been why he gave me a head start, to keep it interesting.

That sick fuck.

I wanted to say I hated him for it. I wasn't a toy he could play with, not an animal in a maze he could sit back and watch. However, the thought of him chasing me through the streets, hunting me down and claiming me the way he threatened to, twisted my insides and had heat pooling between my thighs.

I swallowed hard, shaking my head to get rid of the absurd thought. There was no way I was into this.

No, not a chance in hell.

Only someone fucked in the head would find being stalked and hunted by a monster attractive. Right?

I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer.

The farther I got from the city center, the more run-down the buildings became. I rarely ventured to this side of Davenport because there were tons of condemned structures with boarded up windows and doors. Abandoned cars littered the streets, along with trash and crap no one wanted and the city refused to pick up. It wasn't the safest place, but nowhere else in the city was either.

My feet hurt, blisters forming on my heels and toes from sweating in my leather boots, but I pressed on stubbornly. I could run until my legs gave out, but deep down I knew it wouldn"t be enough. It would never be enough. He"d find me crawling my way through the outskirts of the city, laughing as he watched me struggle.

Eyes burning with the sting of tears, I kept running. How had this even happened? What had I done, in this life or otherwise, to deserve being hunted down by an evil madman who"d diced up my assailant? He"d saved me from one monster just to subject me to another: himself.

I slowed down, unable to keep up my pace. Gasping for air, I came to a stop and leaned against the closest brick wall, my chest heaving. Fuck. Maybe I should have taken Lennon"s advice and hit the gym. I was terribly out of shape.

Lennon.The thought stung. If I died tonight, I would never get a chance to say goodbye. Our last conversation had ended badly, and I didn't want our fight to be her last memory of me. I couldn"t allow that, couldn't let her go the rest of her life thinking I was mad at her. What kind of sister would I be if I didn"t text her now and apologize for everything?

Did I have time to stop and text? No, definitely not, but this was something I had to do. It was more important than wasting my time outrunning something that would ultimately catch me, regardless of how far I got ahead.

I looked both ways down the darkened street, relieved to find I was alone, and fumbled my phone out of my crossbody with trembling fingers. To my surprise, I had a single missed text from an hour ago. It was from my twin.

Lennon: Take out is in the fridge. Love you.

A sob wracked my chest and my eyes welled with tears.

Fuck, what I wouldn"t give to hug her right now, to throw my arms around her neck and never let go. Lennon had been my rock since we were kids, my strength, my support, my guiding light. I'd always looked to her for answers, following her lead because I trusted her more than I trusted myself. If she were here, she"d know what to do.

But she wasn't here, and I was running out of time.

Shakily, I tapped out a reply, erasing it and then trying again.

Me:You"re the best. I"m sorry about everything. I love you.

I stared at the words, knowing it wasn"t enough. If it was meant to be my last message, there needed to be more. There were a million things I wanted to say, but I didn"t have time. I couldn"t let the monster catch me in the middle of the street sobbing over a text message.

Something slammed a few streets over, and I jumped, covering my mouth to stifle a scream. I raked my eyes down the street, squinting to see through the dim light cast by the streetlights. There was still no sign of movement, which was good, but it didn"t do much to settle my nerves. I needed to move.

My eyes lifted to the building behind me. It looked just like many others on this street, the windows boarded up and a metal grate covering the door to keep out intruders. It wasn"t the most ideal place to hide, but if I could figure out a way in, maybe it would buy me a little time.

A little time to what? I wasn't sure. Dwell more on the possibility of dying? Figure out a way to escape him for good?

Ridiculous. I chastised myself as I walked around the corner of the building, looking for a way inside. There was a chance I'd be sealing myself in my own tomb by breaking in, but what other choice did I have? Keep running until my heart gave out? Call the police and beg them to protect me from a deity bent on death?

There was a broken window near the back of the building. It had been boarded up like all the others once upon a time, but some of the planks had been ripped off, most of the glass shattered out of the pane. Clearly someone else had had the same idea, but I doubted they were being chased by a blood-thirty shadow demon.

Checking over my shoulder to make sure he hadn"t caught up, I picked up a brick and broke out the rest of the glass from the pane. Climbing in without getting injured would be a miracle, but I did my best to get all the shards out. Why the fuck had I chosen today of all days to skip out on sweatpants? Why hadn"t I just worn some dirty clothes from the hamper instead of opting for a fucking skirt and crop top?

I cursed silently, annoyed as I hoisted myself through the opening. I moved slowly, carefully, watching my hand placements to avoid getting stabbed. When I was nearly through, hot pain stabbed the side of my leg and I squeaked, losing my balance and falling inside the building.

Hitting the floor knocked the wind out of me, and I laid there for a long minute to catch my breath. It was dark inside the building, very little light making its way inside, but I could make out the drop ceiling overhead. A few panels were missing, but the light fixtures were still intact. Not that it made a difference; I was sure none of them worked. The electricity had probably been cut months ago, but I had my cell phone flashlight.

Hauling myself to my feet, I looked around to gauge my surroundings.

I was in an old office, abandoned desks and chairs scattered haphazardly around the space. A few had been pulled together in the corner, a makeshift fire pit created in the center. Someone had definitely been in here before, and they clearly weren't concerned with burning the whole building to the ground.

Papers littered the floor, along with pens, manilla folders, and other random office supplies. In the corner opposite the fire pit, a large cabinet sat with the doors ajar. Whatever had been stored there was long gone, and it was missing most of its shelves, but it was large enough for a person to hide inside. It was also a painfully obvious hiding place.

If I was smart, I would have ventured deeper into the building, hidden myself better, but I was tired. Exhausted from running, mentally drained from watching someone be chopped up and have their throat ripped out. The initial shock was starting to wear off, my body shutting down as the adrenaline faded.

My feet moved on autopilot across the floor to the cabinet, and before I knew it, I was pulling out the rest of the shelves and tossing them on the floor. The bangs echoed through the abandoned building, each one making me flinch and my hairs stand on end, but there was finally enough room for me to fit.

Here, I would wait and hide. I would rest and decide my next move, if I had a next move.

I had to come up with some sort of plan, or the cabinet would be the blandest coffin I"d ever seen when the shadow finally caught up to me.