Page 44 of Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

Waiting.

Stalking.

Choking back a sob, the branches scratched my skin like sharp claws and sticks broke underfoot as the rich, cloying scent of moss clogged the back of my throat.

I stumbled to a halt. Up ahead, lit by the moonlight, the shape of a car—wrapped around a tree—revealed itself through the dense fog lining the forest floor.

Barely daring to breathe, I backstepped.

I knew that car.

I had driven that burned-out car.

My feet moved forward and I stepped over a fallen log before ducking beneath a low-hanging branch, lifting it out of the way. My trembling breaths puffed out in front of me.

The car came into view, haunting me with the past. Wrapped around a tree, the hood resembled a crushed can. And the charred metal–once black–was now white with orange, blotchy patches.

Holding my breath, I inched closer to the driver’s side, the memory of the stench of the melted interior pricking my nostrils as the clouds shifted overhead, and a silvery stream of light filtered through the trees.

I carefully placed my hands on the cold metal where the window had once been and swallowed thickly. Only the spring frames remained of the seats, and the leather had melted away on the rusty steering wheel. In fact, rust, metal wires, debris, and leaves covered every inch of the interior surface.

I felt him before I heard him.

Trapping me from behind with his hands on the car roof, Nate’s warm lips brushed up against the shell of my ear. “Remember that night, little killer?”

“What is this?” I whispered, barely daring to breathe as his citrus and leather cologne seduced my senses with evil intent.

“What do you think?”

My eyes felt heavy and my body weak. Tightening my grip on the window frame, I inhaled the stench of burning flesh—a figment of my imagination. “I don’t know, Nate.”

“You do know.” His hand slipped from the roof, only to dive beneath my dress. Calloused fingers trailed up my body, dragging the fabric with it over my chest, until his hand wrapped around my throat.

Goose bumps swelled over my exposed skin, the cold metal of the car biting at my stomach and thighs.

My nipples puckered beneath the thin lace of my bra. I was exposed to the night. To my worst nightmare.

“It’s time to face your fears.”

“Nate,” I whispered when he squeezed my throat and nipped at the skin below my ear with his sharp teeth.

“You can’t hide here forever, Skyler. Sooner or later, you’ll have to face what you did.”

As I slowly turned around, his hand slipped out from beneath my dress, and the fabric slid down to cover my naked skin. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t hide from Nate.

“What do you want from me?” I whispered, leaning back against the icy metal and suppressing a shiver.

Nate’s dark eyes bore into me, seeing every ugly truth hidden in the shadows.

“Come out, come out,” he coaxed, his white teeth gleaming in the moon’s glow, the scent of betrayal and deception wrapping itself around my throat like a noose. “It’s time to tell the truth, little killer. Time to stop hiding.”

He dug his finger into my forehead, his eyes darkening like an inbound storm on the horizon. “You can’t hide in here forever. I’m hunting you, Skyler, just like the fucking wolf in your own made-up fairytale.”

Hooking my leg over his hip, I lifted my skirt and moved my panties aside while my eyes stayed locked on his. “Maybe I want your wolf to find me and devour me, then choke me to death with my red cape.”

As I slipped a cold finger inside my cunt, his eyes skated down between my legs.

His heated gaze lit a wildfire that caressed my skin, and I sank my teeth into my lip to bite back a moan.

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