Page 125 of Corrupted Heart

I’m alone.

The sound of a heavy step in the underbrush near the edge of the clearing has my body shaking horribly as I whirl.

Actually, you’re not alone at all…

“Whoever you are,” I yell, my voice cracking as I back against the side of the car. “You should know that my family is extremely dangerous. They’re also wealthy, so?—”

“I’m not interested in your fucking money.”

Jesus H. Christ. The same metallic, robotically altered voice from the car rasps dementedly from the woods somewhere in front of me. My heart lurches as fear stabs in me. Even the fucking birds squawk and fly away as the monster speaks.

Not a fake monster with a pretend mask and an agreed-upon safe word.

A real one.

“I-I’m armed!” I stammer, my voice breaking. “I have a gun?—”

“No you fucking don’t.”

My skin crawls as I cling to the side of the car, my nerves shattering as my chest heaves. I glance down at my phone, open to my last text exchange with Kratos.

Kratos

Where are you?

Me

Are you home? I’m on my way

My mind races, trying to do the math. That was maybe an hour ago. By now, if I’m not home yet, or responding, maybe he’s out looking for me?

A second after the thought crosses my mind, giving me hope, that same hope is dashed to the ground.

He won’t be looking for you in the fucking woods an hour outside the city.

Not for days. Weeks, even.

Probably never.

“I—”

“Let’s play a game, little girl.”

I shudder, trembling as the voice comes from the shadows all around me.

“W-what’s the game?” I whisper.

“It’s called tag,” the monster growls. “And I’m IT.”

It happens in a millisecond. He roars the last word through whatever is changing his voice, and as he does so, I hear the snapping of twigs and the crunching of underbrush as a shadow comes lurching out of the woods right in front of me.

Humans have an inherent fight or flight response to danger, from the days when we were living in caves trying not to be eaten. When a saber tooth tiger leaps at you, you have two options: stay put and fight for your life, or turn and run and take your chances.

In the second that the monster storms out of the shadows, I make my choice. I turn and fucking run.

I want to scream, but I’m incapable of making a sound as I bolt away from the car and the man chasing me. My heels fall off and I kick them away. I wince and cry out in pain as I slam through the underbrush of the forest at the edge of the clearing and crash into the blackness.

The clearing was almost pitch dark, with the moon behind the clouds. Here in the trees, it’s like running through a black hole.

---