Page 57 of Split

My blood turns to ice in my veins the moment Roman’s harsh voice cuts through the air. My heart trips over its valves, lungs seizing in panic as I twist around to meet his cold, soulless eyes. I open my mouth to speak, but no sound comes out, true fear gripping me like a noose when I realize it’s not Roman I’m looking at.It’s Mr. Hyde.

“Niko, you can go,” he bites out, his voice an eerie, sinister monotone. His stare stays locked with mine as he adds, “I need some time alone with mywife.”

My throat tightens, a wave of nausea rolling through me as Niko abruptly turns on a heel and heads straight for the back door like the good soldier he is, leaving me alone to dance with the devil.

I thought he could be my way out of here. I hoped he was a better man than the one I married.

I was wrong.

At the sound of the door snicking closed behind Niko, I finally find my voice, grasping for some way to explain away what Roman just saw. “I wasn’t… I didn’t…” I stammer, feebly trying to come up with some passable excuse, but my husband just calmly holds up a hand, silencing my pathetic display.

“It seems you’ve forgotten who you belong to,” he murmurs, taking a threatening step in my direction.

I flinch, retreating a step to maintain the distance between us and shaking my head. “No, you don’t understand…”

He takes another step forward, and I take another back.

“I was testing him,” I say, my mind working overtime to piece together the lie. “I’ve seen the way he looks at me, and the two of you work so closely…”

Another step forward. Another back.

“I wanted to test his loyalty, make sure you could trust him,” I rush out, drawing a sharp gasp as my back meets the hard surface of the built-in bookshelves, my stomach flipping.

Roman eats up the remaining space between us in two long strides, slapping his hands against the shelves at either side of my shoulders, caging me in with his massive build. My throat bobs with a hard swallow, my voice shaky as I continue.

“I did it forus, Roman,” I breathe, reaching up to cup his jaw. I’m acting my ass off right now, my thumb caressing his cheek as I gaze into his eyes adoringly.

His lips slowly curve into a smile, and that’s when I know I’ve failed. It’s not a pleasant or reassuring smile. It’s the type of smile that promises pain; the kind I imagine the grim reaper would wear while collecting his victims.

A low chuckle rumbles in his chest as he shifts his hands from the shelves to the sides of my body, the bandage on his left hand tickling my skin as he trails both down to rest on the curve of my waist. “Oh, pet,” he tuts, shaking his head. “What pretty lies you spin.”

I yelp as his fingers tighten around my middle, and before I can even blink, he’s spinning me around, hauling me back against his chest and dragging me toward the patio door. I scream as loud as I can, kicking and thrashing as he manhandles me over the threshold and out onto the lawn.

The crisp night air bites at my exposed skin, my useless screams echoing in the eerie silence of the night. There’s nobody around to hear them; nobody coming to rescue me. I should’ve known better than to cross Roman. It was a desperate, impulsive move– one that’s sure to cost me my life.

He leans down, his warm breath fanning my neck as he murmurs into the shell of my ear. “Since you seem to be confused as to who owns you, we’re going to play a little game to help you remember.” His grip around me suddenly slackens, arms falling to his sides as he whispers, “run.”

I take off like a bat out of hell, kicking off my heels and sprinting barefoot across the damp grass. I have no idea where I’m even headed, just that I need to run for my goddamn life. Adrenaline floods my veins as my legs pump faster, lungs seizing with the effort and throat burning with every labored breath.

When I come upon the hedge maze, it’s a split-second decision that has me darting inside, feet slapping against the dirt path as I disappear between the rows of towering shrubbery. This place is disorienting enough in the daylight, but at night, the shadows cast by the pale glow of the moon make it damn near impossible to navigate.The vodka I just drank on an empty stomach probably doesn’t help, either.I almost run straight into a hedge before I manage to skid around the corner, my heart thundering in my chest as I twist and weave my way deeper into the maze.

I’m hyperventilating so much that I start to get lightheaded, my steps slowing as I search for a dark corner to hide out in and catch my breath. Slinking into a shadowed alcove, I press a hand against my chest, willing my pulse to slow as I listen intently for any sign of Roman’s pursuit. It’s difficult to hear anything over the sound of the blood pumping in my ears, though, and the eerie silence sets my teeth on edge.

The snap of a twig behind me has me jerking away from the corner in alarm, whipping around to blink through the darkness. I press a hand over my mouth to quiet the sound of my own breathing, but then another twig snaps, sounding like it’s right on the opposite side of the hedge.

I take off running again, and this time, I’m certain there’s another set of footsteps echoing behind me. Terror tightens my throat at every corner, part of me knowing that it’s only a matter of time before I turn one and find Roman waiting there. I run and run until my lungs feel like they’re about to burst, then tuck into another dark alcove to catch my breath again, trembling with fear as I strain my ears to listen for the shadow of death hunting me.

The rustle of leaves sends me sprinting for my life again. I have no idea whether it’s Roman or just the wind, but I’m worked up into such a panic at this point that I can’t tell the difference between reality and my own wild imagination. The branches catch on my clothes and scrape my skin as I bump into the hedges, stumbling over my feet as I twist around each corner.

Light suddenly comes into view up ahead and for a fleeting, desperate second, I think I’ve found the end of the maze. I put forth a last burst of energy, even as I hear the pounding footsteps behind me start to close in. Even as I burst out of the hedge maze to find that I’m right back where I fucking started.

There’s no time to mourn my failure. I hook a right, feet sliding in the wet grass as I run past the maze in the direction of the forest beyond. My tangled hair twists around my face as the breeze kicks up, but I don’t even feel the cold anymore. My entire body’s burning with adrenaline, running purely on vodka and the instinct to survive.

The gravestones of the family cemetery plot cast ghoulish shadows over the ground as I stumble past them, desperateto get to the thick cover of trees beyond. The single-minded pursuit of escape gives me tunnel vision. I’m not paying enough attention to the ground beneath my feet, so I’m completely unprepared when it suddenly gives way, my foot hooking over a soft edge carved into the earth and sending me tumbling downwards. My shriek pierces the air as I rapidly descend into a dark hole, the air punching from my lungs when I land on the cold, hard ground.

The fall is so disorienting that it takes me a second to even realize what happened. Pain shoots through my body from the force of the impact, a feeble groan slipping from my throat as I roll onto my side, curling in on myself. I gasp for breath, gently wiggling my fingers and toes before moving onto my limbs, testing them for any sign of serious injury.

By some miracle, nothing feels like it’s broken– just bruised to hell. I groan at the effort it takes to roll over and push up to stand, blinking chaotically as I swivel my gaze around and finally take stock of my surroundings. Terror chokes my throat at the realization that it’s not just a random sinkhole I stumbled into. It’s a fuckinggrave.

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