Page 10 of Fall

“What if I don’t?” I inexplicably find myself asking. “What if I think that sounds way too good to be true, and I’d totally rather hype myself up to stab you guys with forks?” It’s too easy for my voice to lay on the sarcasm. And way too easy for me to imagine myself with thePsychosound effects as I stab them with fork prongs.

“Then you don’t. And I open that door over there for you.” His eyes darken, something predatory entering his expression as he leans forward. “You run, you try to find help, you scream and cry, and do whatever else your panicking brain tells you to do.”

It can’t be that easy, but I glance toward the door, anyway.

“And after a couple of minutes, we come after you. We play a game, Noa. Your goal is to get away from us, and your prize is success. But we’ll be trying to catch you, and if you run, you’re giving us permission to do whatever we want with you until we figure out if we can trust you, one way or another. So it’s your choice, princess.” He cradles his face in his hands, elbows on the table, and grins. “Do you want to do this the nice, sweet, easy way? Or the very exhilarating, hard way?”

5

For a moment,I’m sure I’ve heard him wrong. Judging by Kieran’s face, he’s less terrified and more intrigued by the proposal, though he drums his fingers on the table with a sigh.

“Did Ihappento mention I spent all afternoon cleaning up bodies and entrails and blood?” His voice is deceptively mild, but when I really look at him, I can see the complaint is just a front. The way Kieran’s gaze sharpens as he watches Val shows me he’s certainly into the idea of…

Well, if I’m being honest with myself, I doubt he’s looking for me to pick the good girl option. The smarter, safer option, maybe. Unless Val is lying to me about it. And judging by how much they’ve lied to me in the twenty-ish hours that I’ve known them, I can’t really take either of them at their word. I suck in a breath, then another, while my eyes dart between them as if I can find some secret part of this that they aren’t telling me.

“So if I stop dreaming of stabbing you guys with utensils and pretend I like you, you’ll beniceto me?” I ask, unable to keep the disbelief and slight sarcasm out of my tone. “You’ll pretend you didn’t kidnap me and aren’t keeping me in a cabin in the middle of somewhere?” Glancing at the windows, I stare at the pitch-black glass as if I’ll suddenly gain the ability to see in the dark.

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you, princess,” Val purrs. “I’ll be thebestboyfriend you could ever dream of. You’ll forget all about not being able to leave, and we’ll figure out what we need from you together.”

I don’t believe him.

Not for a second.

I lean back hard in my chair, still eyeing them as I worry my bottom lip between my teeth. Running isn’t really my favorite athletic activity, and I have no idea where I am. On the other hand, I have a very particular set of skills thanks to my camping obsessed family and apparently my latent love of old Liam Neeson movies.

Not that I think I could be a real threat to these two with myparticular set of skills.But I know how to survive in the woods, and I’m not afraid of them. I won’t let this turn into a horror movie where I get lost, panic, and start jumping at every imaginary noise or shadow before tripping and breaking my leg before the big bad killer comes to chop me up.

To their credit, neither of them pushes me into making a fast decision. I’m as grateful as I can be, though belatedly I wish I was wearing leggings instead of shorts when they kidnapped me. Even though we’re in Tennessee rather than the North Pole, I don’t love the idea of running around on the first night of November in what I’m assuming is a forest outside this cabin.

“How long of a head start do I get?” I ask at last. There’s only two of them, and I like my odds if I’m smart about this. Only two of them, one of me, and the dark won’t help them either. As long as I don’t panic and flail around screaming or stomping or breaking every noise-inducing object I can, I should have a real chance.

But would he really offer if you did have one?A small voice in my head whispers while Val visibly considers my question.

“Five minutes,” he says at last. “Not a lot, but let’s be real. We’re not going to just let you make it too far for us to find at all. Five minutes of us being in here without looking for you.” Kieran nods his agreement when Val glances his way, then their attention is all on me.

It would be stupid to run.

It would be more stupid to stay.

I’m tired of talking, of worrying, of waiting for the moment they turn on me in this small, warm place.

I’m so fucking tiredof sitting here when every nerve in my body is ready to run, to escape, to take my life back.

“Fine.” Without hesitating, I push to my feet, jerking my chin up in an arrogant facade that I’m sure neither of them believes. “Five minutes start when I walk out that door.” It’s not a question, and I barely glance at the door before my eyes are back on the two of them. I definitely sound a lot braver than I feel, since I’m about to shake myself apart in fear and desperation.

But I managed to not die last night…

So, I can make it through tonight as well if I just keep going. That’s what I’m going to tell myself, anyway, as adrenaline courses through me and leaves a ripple of goosebumps on my arms.

“All right,” Val agrees. But when I move toward the kitchen, he jerks his chair back, causing it to slide across the floor with a god-awful noise. I wince away from it, and when I start to ask him what he’s doing, my eyes find his shit-eating grin and the words die on my lips. “No utensils. No weapons. We’re not bringing any, I promise. So you don’t get anything from here, either.”

“Fine.” I wonder if I can find a sharp rock or a particularly pointy and sturdy stick outside. Relinquishing my desire for a pronged object, I take a step back with my hands up and fingerssplayed in surrender. “Five minutes,” I repeat, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

“Five minutes, princess.” God, Val is enjoying this way too much. Kieran isn’t doing much better, though. Even though he hasn’t said much, I can see the excitement rolling off of him. When our eyes meet, I notice his attention is trained on me like he’s a bloodhound and I’m the prey about to be flushed out for him to track, catch, and kill.

Maybe that’s a pretty accurate analogy, all things considered.

My steps take me to the door across the room, but I don’t bolt out of it immediately. Instead, I lean my forehead against it, listening to my heart beat a continuous warning in my chest. “If you catch me…” I trail off, gazing at the door only inches away from my face.

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