A thud.
He’s jumped the railing.
I burst through the door, cool air slapping me across the face.
A hand nearly grabs my shoulder but I slam the door behind me and smile at the deep cry of pain.
Ha. Take that.
The door dumps me into the hospital’s under-construction wing—a maze of skeletal walls and unfinished corridors.
Plastic sheets sway from the ceiling like specters.
My foot catches on a loose cable—I stumble. One flat slips off. I kick the other away, choosing speed over protection.
I duck behind a stack of crates, pressing to the cold surface, steadying my breathing.
Every sound is louder now—the rustle of plastic, the creak of beams—then I hear him.
A low chuckle slithers through the air, chilling my spine.
“You’re fast, baby. But I still have two minutes to catch you and fuck you the way I want.”
A pause.
“Two minutes is such a long time, don’t you think?”
I clamp a hand over my mouth.
Two more minutes. I just need to reach another floor and hide.
I can do it.
Spotting a partially open door, I make a plan: reach it, barricade it, buy time.
I inch forward, my muscles taut, nerves on fire.
Peeking around the corner, I see nothing and exhale.
Turning back toward the doorway, I scream.
He’s there.
A black balaclava.
The white Punisher skull.
His fist tangles in my hair and slams me into a beam. Breath leaves me in a rush, but instinct kicks in. I jab his throat, knocking him back.
I bolt again, barefoot, heart pounding.
But he’s faster.
He catches me like I weigh nothing, slamming me to the ground so hard stars burst behind my eyes.
Pain flares up my spine, but rage burns hotter.
I fight like a woman possessed—writhing, clawing, landing an elbow to his jaw. Blood soaks the white threads of the skill design.