“He was kissing another girl, Rach. There is no excuse for that.”
“He loves you.”
I flinch.
No. He doesn’t.
How could he love me? How could anyone love me? No. This is exactly what happens to people like me.
“I’ve changed my number. If he calls you, do not answer.”
I drag my things down the hall, voice devoid of emotion.
“Lara…”
I get into my room and slam the door.
This is what I get.
The rumble of a bike has my head snapping up and the memory rushing from my mind. I swipe the tears that have leaked down my face. No. There’s no way he could have found me already, not that quickly. How the hell is he that good? Where’s Noah? Did something happen to him? Panic seizes my chest and I leap to my feet. I don’t know where to go or what to do. I look around, frantically trying to come up with a plan as the bike comes closer and closer, torturing me with its sound.
I fumble around, trying to find our makeshift weapons. I can’t get hurt again. I don’t want to. I just … I just can’t. I don’t think I can live through any more pain. I don’t think I’m strong enough to fight. I need to escape. That’s what I need. The bike speeds through the trees far too effortlessly and I realize the track he created very likely runs the entire length of the stream. Of course it does.
Is that how he’s finding us so easily?
“Lara!”
The bellowing sound of Noah’s voice has my head jerking to the left.
“Noah?” I scream.
“Run!”
Run? Oh God.
I leap into the water and start moving as fast as I can in the opposite direction of the bike. Logs and rocks tear into the flesh on my legs, but I don’t stop. The bike is nearing with every passing second and I know I have no choice but to fight, even though I’m exhausted. Tears run down my cheeks and fear catches hold of my heart for the millionth time in the last few days—but I swallow it down. I suck it back in. I have to fight right now.
“You running is utterly adorable.”
The sound of the maniac’s voice has my skin prickling. I swim harder, but he appears on the bank before I have the chance to move more than a hundred feet. He’s got a gun slung over his shoulder and he’s laughing at me, like the idea of me trying to get away is so completely hilarious. I have to fight. Goddammit, I have to fight. I don’t know how I’m going to do that. I don’t even know where to start. Find your strength, Lara, or you’ll die. I pull the spear from my pants and clutch it in my hands.
Then I dive under.
I swim downstream as fast as I can, coming up and climbing out of the water. There is a small space beside a few trees, and I tuck myself behind one and just wait. I can hear his boots sloshing through the water as he moves closer. Sweat trickles down my face and my body trembles. I press myself against a tree and just listen.
It feels as if a thousand tiny ants are crawling all over my body as pure, raw terror takes hold.
Fight.
Fight, Lara.
“You have to pay for what you did to my bike, Lara,” he calls, seeming to move closer and closer without even knowing where I am.
How is he doing that?
I stop breathing as he pauses behind the tree I’m hustled behind. I clench my eyes closed, take a deep breath, and then pop them open before leaping around the tree. I pick the right side, see that he has his back to me. I don’t hesitate, I propel the spear forward, its point aimed directly at his neck. But before it hits home, he ducks out of the way.
He swings around and then throws his head back and laughs as he turns to face me. He’s still wearing the black ski mask, but the evil in his eyes is evident.
“You could have done so much damage with that spear, but I heard you coming and you lost your only chance. You’ve let me down, Lara.”
My entire body shakes as he takes a step forward. He’s got a hunting knife as well as the gun, and it’s big. I think I’d prefer the bow and arrow.
“Now, I think you need to suffer for what you’ve done. Don’t you?”
I shove the spear out in front of me. “Don’t come near me,” I yell, voice betraying me by coming out weak and shaky.
He laughs again. “Really, Lara?”
I take a step back. He grins and moves closer. “I think I should remove something from your body, something essential. Say, a finger? What do you think?”
I say nothing. I just lunge. Up close, I see how big he is, and his body is solid muscle. I’m tiny, haven’t worked out in ages, but I have fear and a fierce desire to live on my side. I stab the spear at his heart, but before it makes contact he has my wrist. He bends it back and the spear tumbles from my hand. I’m left with nothing.
Goddamn it.
*
Laughter fills my ears as he takes hold of my hand, jerking me closer.
“No,” I scream. “No!”
With a feral laugh, he brings the knife closer. I squirm, thrash, and kick, but he’s strong and he’s not letting go. I scream and pull as hard as I can, and as if a prayer has been answered, he lets me go. I fall backward, slamming into a tree, my head thrown back to collide with the trunk. Dazed, it takes me a few seconds to gather myself. When I do, I see Noah. He’s on the ground, Psycho on top of him, fighting.
God, is that blood?
“Run, Lara,” Noah bellows as the knife is raised above his head.
No.
No.
No, Noah.
I don’t think, I just charge, bringing the spear under Psycho’s neck. Gripping each end and pulling back hard, I choke him while he struggles to escape. For a moment, I think I have him. But he swings around and throws me to the ground, and once again my spear falls from my hand.
I scramble to my feet.
“Run, run, run!” Noah roars, swinging out suddenly and hitting the man in the face so hard he topples back. Then he’s charging at me and hauling me over his shoulder.
Noah runs harder and faster than I could have ever imagined a person could, especially with someone over their shoulder, but he moves through the trees on a small cleared track that I realize is yet another creation. He must have followed the psycho in here. He’s got blood on him, he’s panting, but he doesn’t stop. We reach the motorbike, and Noah puts me down.
“Get on,” he orders.
I don’t hesitate. I just climb on, and in a matter of seconds we’re speeding off into the forest, faster than I can handle. I close my eyes, pressing my face to Noah’s back. I pray that we didn’t escape a killer only to die on a motorcycle. Noah rides for what feels like hours. Eventually, he comes to a stop and looks behind him, eyes scanning the thick shrubbery.
“Without this, he can’t catch us. I don’t think we’ll see him again tonight.”
“Are you sure about that?” I whisper, frantically scanning the trees with my eyes. “What if he has another bike?”
“Even if he does, he’ll have to go and get it and we’ve had a head start. It’ll take him some time to catch up.”