Page 50 of Haunted Prey

We waved the girl goodbye who stayed to admire the display. I helped Lena first into the elevator, then started for the stairs, feeling tense, the paranoia beginning to slither its way back into my head and heart.

That same feeling I had in the park with Liam overtook me, but it was worse, like that feeling of being hunted but unable to see the predator in the dark. After enough times of being stalked and chased, I trusted that gut feeling more than anything. I rushed down the stairs to the first floor trying not to collide with those coming up. At the bottom, I stuck to the wall as I made my way over to the elevator, the shadows distorting faces. Every time I saw someone in a mask, my heart galloped.

It couldn’t be Severfalls. Why the fuck would they wear masks?

No, this was something else.

I thought of those fanatics Jamie had told me about. The ones who’d been making theories about my escape.

Could they have been following me? Stalking me?

Either way, I was ready to go.

I turned to the elevator, wondering what was taking so long. Why hadn't it come down yet?

I pressed the button, but nothing changed. I saw a big man with SECURITY on his shirt walking by, and I stopped him.

“I think the elevator is stuck. My friend’s inside,” I told the burly guy who gave me a weird look. Probably because I looked more scared than I should be about the elevator being stuck on another floor.

The guy took out his walkie. As he did, I studied the crowd. I should tell him I felt like I was being stalked. That I was unsafe. That I should stay by him until my friend comes down and maybe someone could walk us out and stay with us until the Uber came. Yeah, that was a good idea.

Through the bobbing of dancers and strobing of lights, a lone figure caught my eye, and I grew still.

It was a tall man, with the face of a skull.

Time slowed as he watched me.

“No,” I whispered. No. Not now. How could he be here? How could my phantom have followed me?

His skull face wasn’t how it usually looked. Now it was like he wore a mask again, black with red slashes across the face like scars.

But still, that face smiled at me. And I knew it was him.

“Miss, hello?”

I blinked and forced myself to look at the security guy.

“She’s on the third floor,” he said. “The elevator acts up sometimes.”

“Will you take me to her?” I didn’t dare look back at my phantom, knowing he must still be there.

“I have to keep watch on this floor. But one of my guys is with her. Just have to wait.”

He was gone, off to check on a rowdy group near the bar before I could say more. I made the mistake of looking back overand saw my phantom was still there, only now he was making his way toward me.

Panic over took me, and I forced myself to move, heading back for the stairs. Fuck this, I’d meet Lena instead and tell the guard to take us out some other way.

I sprinted up the steps, two at a time. When I turned onto the stairway leading to the third floor, I halted as two men in masks blocked my way. One of them was the guy with the black mask and the stitched-up smile, X’s where his eyes were. The other wore a white mask with a frowning clown-face in black ink.

From their body language, I knew they were deliberately blocking my way.

“Excuse me,” I said, my heart pounding.

They didn’t budge.

I took a step back, and they took a step down.

“Don’t make this difficult,” said Clown-face.

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