Eye Candy

That’s what I’d do. It was what I did best.

I’d run, and I’d force the killer to run too. I could best him or her at that. I bested almost everyone I knew, but I needed a gun. As Mason and Logan were moving around me, a tentative plan began to formulate in my mind.

I need a reason to leave.

I looked around the room, but there was nothing I ‘needed’ to get badly enough that they wouldn’t think twice before letting me leave the room. I didn’t smoke. Wait—I felt my pockets and looked around. My phone was gone.

Where’d my phone go? I couldn’t remember where I’d put it last. “I gotta find my phone.”

“What?” But Mason ducked into the bathroom.

NOW!

Logan was in his room too, and Nate’s door was still closed. It was now or never. Hurrying to the door—my phone was on the counter. I snagged it and slipped out of the room. Once that door was closed, I picked up my pace, speed-walking away from it, and when I didn’t think they’d be alarmed by the sounds of my footsteps, I took off.

Sprinting to the end of the hallway, I crashed through the door and fled down the stairs.

The killer was around. He was watching. He would know.

I pushed through the exit door, and after that, nothing held me back.

The hotel was in front of the woods, and I knew those woods well. A few running paths wound through them, connecting to two parks. I headed for those paths, tearing past the first trees. I didn’t let up, going the fastest I’d ever gone. This asshole could try and catch me.

No car.

No bus.

Nothing. Not even a Segway could work on these paths. Dirtbikes, maybe, but even those would be hit-or-miss. This fucker had to go on his feet. It’d be the only way he could follow me, and I didn’t let up until I came to the first park.

I needed that weapon. I couldn’t sit and wait for him without one. If I did, I would lose. It was my only chance to fight back.

I looked around, my breathing shallow, my heart pounding. Cold sweat trailed down my back.

Gun, gun, gun. Where would one be?

I needed one.

A car—nope.

A little Toyota like mine. No.

I looked at the people in the park.

A pair of mothers pushing strollers—no.

No.

No.

NO! I wasn’t seeing anyone who might have a gun.

The pressure was building. I needed to find something. A house? Could I break into a place? A gun store? I almost started laughing. I’d get arrested. The killer could kill me off when we were cellmates.

I was going to die.

I wouldn’t be able to defend myself—wait. A truck pulled into a parking spot and a guy and girl got out. Yes. He had Texas license plates. I began heading for the truck. They walked farther down the hill. The guy turned back once, and I flattened myself against a tree. If his suspicions were raised, yes, yes yes. As I watched, he turned back. His girlfriend was going to a farther section of the park. If he followed her, he wouldn’t be able to see his truck.

Maybe there’d be an alarm.

If I broke his window, I’d have to grab the gun and get out before he could follow me too, or send the cops to where I was hiding.

Shit. This was getting complicated.

Okay. I relaxed a little bit. The guy kept going forward, following behind his girlfriend.

I moved closer to his truck. A gun rack hung off the back of his truck. Chances were good he’d have some type of weapon in there.

I stood on my tiptoes, cupped my hands around my eyes, and tried to see inside his truck. Nothing. Some beef jerky, a scented decoration hanging from the rearview mirror . . . but wait! I began to look in the back, but a black bulge between the two seats caught my eye. I zoomed back, and yes. I thought it was a gun. I was pretty sure.

Hold up. Was I really sure? I had to be sure.

My phone was buzzing. Mason and Logan were probably calling.

Yes. I had to go. Even now, the killer could be on me.

I drew a deep breath, grabbed a rock and lifted it. I was ready to throw it against the window, but I glanced at the driver’s side door. It was unlocked. No way. I couldn’t be that lucky.

The passenger side door was locked. His wasn’t.

This guy—I sent up a prayer and ran to his side, opened the door, and reached forward. My hand wrapped around the black shape and I pulled out a handgun.

God.

My hand was shaking.

Bullets? Was it even loaded?

I pushed on the chamber, pulling it out, and yes. Three bullets were in there. I put the chamber back and breathed out slowly to steady my nerves. Logan had insisted on going to the gun range a few times. I’d thought he was nuts, but I went later with Mason a few more times. He’d helped me learn how to shoot. I just needed to remember his words.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. It was time.

It really was just me now.

Making sure the safety was on, I held the gun in a tight grip and began running again. I went deeper into the woods. The forest could extend for miles and miles; I didn’t care. The farther away from civilization, the better.

I ran for two miles.

When I stopped, I was far in the woods.

It was then, and only then, that I stopped and bent over to gasp for breath.

My phone had been continuously buzzing. I pulled it out, seeing twenty-eight missed calls from Mason and almost the same number from Logan. Forty text messages filled my inbox.

Please, forgive me, I thought as I turned my phone off. Then I sat.

It was just me and the forest.

We were waiting for him.

*

I heard the first footstep crunch over the gravel.

Everything in me was primed for action. I was sitting at the base of a tree, twelve feet off the path. I was already dressed in dark clothing from before, but I tucked my sneakers under my legs. They were neon yellow and they were my weakness, or one of them.

Another footstep.

He was being so quiet, slinking along, but I kept my breathing even. Years of marathon training were helping me out now. I couldn’t see him, not yet, but a third footstep wasn’t too far away.

I was searching the path’s shadows for him. He’d have to stick out. He should have the mask.

I was waiting.

I was looking.

A fourth footstep. Gravel crunched beneath it again.

It was like he wasn’t there, but I knew he was. He had to be. That’s what made sense, if he followed me instead of them.

A flash of light, moving.

He was on his phone, and that’s when I saw him. It was him. I couldn’t see him that well, but it was him. I knew it. He was in all black. I couldn’t see the mask, but it was him. I felt it. He was standing right in front of me on the path, punching numbers on his phone, and then he waited.

God.

I bit down on my lip, closing my eyes for one agonizing moment.

A dial tone rang, then my voice sounded from his phone. “This is Samantha, leave your—Logan, I was recordin—BEEP!”

The killer was calling me.

I sat there, stunned.

I’d turned my phone off, but he would’ve found me in two seconds if I hadn’t. Fucking hell. He knew my number. I . . . A ton of bricks landed on me.

The killer knew me.

I knew the killer.

“SAM!”

No!

I froze again.

No, no, no.