Page 75 of Exes and Oh Hell No

But the house is silent as everyone inside slumbers.

Everyone exceptme.

Unlocking the front door, I slip out, closing it behind me.

My shaky breaths burst from my lungs as I hurry around the side of the house to the backyard. My eyes dart between the ground and the woods in the distance.

My chance to escape.

Freedom.

I pause, taking a deep inhale before exhaling.

The night air is cool against my overheated skin as I bolt across the yard, my sneakers barely making a sound against the damp grass.

My breath hitches, my heart pounding in my ears like a warning drum.

Keep going.

Don’t stop.

Don’t look back.

I reach the tree line and plunge into the woods, my feet crunching over twigs and damp leaves. The darkness closes in around me, thick and suffocating.

Moonlight barely filters through the branches, casting eerie shadows that stretch and twist like ghostly fingers.

A branch snaps behind me, breaking the silence.

I whirl around, my heart slamming into my ribs.

My lungs seize, waiting, and listening.

Nothing.

It’s just an animal.

Probably a deer or raccoon.

Or maybe it was only the wind.

I swallow hard, forcing my legs to move, but now, every little noise makes me panic.

A rustling of leaves to my left.

A creak of wood groaning in the darkness.

The crunch of a step that’s not my own causes my heart to pound like a drum.

The feeling slithers up my spine like ice.

A certainty rolls through me.

Someone is here.

I slow down, my breaths uneven.

My ears strain.

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