Page 7 of I Was Always Yours (RCA: Royal Crown Academy)

I pick myself up and keep sprinting, ignoring the twinge in my left knee as I near the treehouse that my father had designed and built for me right on the edge of our property.

No, this won’t do.

If he’s decided to look for me specifically, then this is the first place he’ll search out. I need to find somewhere else to hide.

Problem is that he’s got to be done counting by now. He’ll be on the prowl very soon, so the clock is ticking on finding another hiding place.

If he comes to the treehouse and finds it empty, maybe he’ll think that I’ll have gone in the complete opposite direction to throw him off the scent.

This time I do look behind me, throwing quick glances over my shoulder to make sure he’s not there. I don’t feel him nearby but the hairs on my skin are starting to stand to attention, almost as if preparing me for a battle they know is inevitable.

I grab the hood of my sweater and throw it over my head, tucking in my braid and loose strands to make me less conspicuous.

Picking the pace back up, I round the massive tree trunks holding up the wooden cabin structure and come to a small slope in the earth that leads down to an even smaller stream.

If I can find a hiding place on the other side of the water, I’m sure he won’t find me. At the very least, he’ll assume that I’ll have turned back at the stream.

Approaching the edge of the slope, I drop onto my butt and slide down the decline until I reach the streambed.

I’m in the stream without a pause or a second thought, the freezing water reaching my mid-calf as I plod across as best I can.

My knees reach high out of the water as I try to take larger, quicker steps.

When I’m halfway across, the back of my neck starts to tingle as awareness creeps into my bones.

My gut tells me I have mere seconds to find a hiding spot before he descends on me.

I clear the stream and ascend the opposing slope as quickly as I can, my fingers digging desperately into the earth to provide leverage as I climb.

My lungs feel like they’re going to explode as I reach level land and stand, urgently scanning for possible places to hide.

There’s a massive tree, one of the biggest I’ve ever seen, with equally large and tentacle-like roots. I round it until I find a compact opening between its limbs, the space partially hidden by grass and a fallen tree trunk.

This’ll have to do. Hopefully I’ve gone far and out of the way enough that he won’t find me here.

Without second thought, I drop to my knees and go head and arms first into the hole. I won’t be able to fit my entire body in it, even though I’ve always been small for my age, but the brush should provide the cover I need regardless.

I try to fit myself into it compactly, squeezing my limbs together so I can put as much of my body in as possible, and then I wait.

It’s pitch black and I can’t see anything.

I try to listen for any footsteps but all I can hear is my blood pumping in my veins, adrenaline rushing through my body, and my heartbeat pounding loudly in my ears.

The combination of the three completely deafens me.

It feels like I hide for long minutes, maybe even hours, but I’m sure it’s been only a matter of seconds when I feel fingers wrap around my ankle and dread constrict my lungs before I’m viciously tugged out of the hole.

I scream and futilely try to hold onto the small roots in the hole so I can stay hidden even though I’ve already been found, but I’m yanked out in one efficient move, then laid flat on my back and pinned to the ground as I’m forced to look up into a pair of soulless black eyes.

“Found you.”

My heart pounds loudly against the walls of my chest, but this time it’s for an entirely different reason as I open my eyes and see Phoenix smirking down at me.

He’s still got a baby face, but I know he’s going to be incredibly handsome one day. He already is, but it’s especially evident when he looks down at me with the victorious expression currently stamped across his features.

His eyes are so wholly black that they feel like if I stared into them long enough, I might be able to travel through time and space to an undiscovered world where it’s just me and him.

They take me in completely with their intensity and hold me captive. He's not big on the whole blinking thing, so it’s hard to look away.

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