Page 26 of Stop and Seek
Because if someone knew Noah’s name, then he knew theirs. But the nerdy redhead hadn’t even registered on his radar before now.
It looked like coming back to Eunice wasn’t a bad deal.
Holy shit. What the fuck just happened?
Theo’s shoes caught a jagged stone as he skidded around the corner, rubber scraping against pavement.
He nearly faceplanted. Legs wobbling. Ankles screaming.
No time.
Push forward.
No one said this stupid-ass game would be dangerous.
His mind was still reeling—adrenaline tearing through his bloodstream like battery acid.
Every nerve ending buzzed.
The sting on his chest pulsed hard, matching the frantic rhythm of his heart. Blood had soaked through the front of his hoodie, tacky and hot.
He hadn’t even noticed it before.
Now? It fuckingburned.
Noah ruined his goddamn hoodie.
Theo slammed both hands against the cold chain-link fence, wheezing. The metal rattled under his weight, clinking in that shrill, cheap way fences do when they’re about to fall apart.
Maybe he was out of the limits Decker set,but—
Screw it.
Jumping the fence was a clean exit.
Wham. Bam. Done.
But the school backed up into the woods…
The stories were stupid. Seriously. The kind of shit meant to keep kids in line—like the freaky disappearances no one talked about, buteveryoneremembered.
Urban legend or not, the monster in the woods was still terrifying as an adult.
He didn’t want to chance it.
Not tonight.
Not when he was already a ball of nerves.
Theo dropped onto the grass with a groan, lungs burning, ribs aching like someone had taken a sledgehammer to them.
He pressed a trembling hand over his chest, heartbeat skittering under his palm.
Slow it down. In. Out. Count to four or whatever the hell his last therapist told him.
Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. Don’t—
“Asshole,” he muttered, breath fogging up his glasses until all he could see was a smeared blur of green, blue, and black. Everything around him had melted into a watercolor mess.
