Page 34 of Hide and Seek
I’m just about to peek out over my rocks when he steps out from behind a large tree about six feet from where I’m still crouching.
More fear and panic fill me, and I react without thinking as he walks toward me, taking those measured steps that are still somehow scarier than the heavy ones of him chasing me.
I try to jump up and run away, but I get tangled up in my limbs and end up falling forward, landing hard on my hands and knees. It takes me two tries, but I scramble to my feet as he closes the distance between us. I can barely think as more of that exhilarating fear fills me, and I race away from him, tripping and stumbling as I desperately try to flee.
I’m too afraid to look behind me, and I’m also too panicked to really pay attention to where I’m running as I break through the trees and into a small clearing surrounding a tall rock wall.
I skid to a stop without tripping or crashing into the wall and start running parallel to it. I’m so turned around that I have no idea where I am, or even how far from school I am, but I don’t dare slow down so I can orient myself.
I don’t have to look over my shoulder to know he’s following me, and every thud of his booted foot hitting the forest floor sends another rush of exhilarating fear through me.
I spot a break in the trees and race through it, desperately looking around for a place to hide. I need to find somewhere that doesn’t look like a hiding spot, and I’m so focused on searching out a suitable place that I don’t immediately notice the footsteps behind me have stopped.
I look over my shoulder, half expecting to see him silently closing in on me. But there’s nothing. He isn’t behind me anymore.
What the hell?
I slow to an easy jog and look around, spinning in a full circle as I scan the area around me. I can’t see him anywhere.
Did I lose him?
Shaking my head, I slow to a walk. I just need to find somewhere to hide, then I can figure out where the hell I am.
“Eeep!”
The squeal that escapes me is embarrassing as fuck, but I’m too focused on the black-clad figure standing directly in front of me, his hood hanging low and obscuring his face, to care how dumb I sound.
A fear unlike anything I’ve ever experienced rushes through me, and I stop dead in my tracks as he stands there like an apex predator kettling his prey.
My chest heaves as heavy breaths saw out of me, and I’m relieved to see his shoulders rising and falling as he also draws in heavy, panting breaths as we stand there like we’re in some sort of face-off.
His foot twitches, like he’s about to take off. That’s enough to send a rush of panic through me and activate my fight-or-flight response.
I do a hard turn and run back the way I came, but his heavy footsteps are loud and closing in on me. I try to run faster, but the ground is unusually soft here and the rocks are slippery and uneven, forcing me to slow down.
He doesn’t seem to have that issue thanks to the heavy boots he’s wearing, and thanks to the steady thud of his footsteps, I don’t need to look behind me to know he’s rapidly closing the distance between us.
More of that fear and panic fill my chest, and my vision goes white as a loud buzz fills my ears and a hand closes over my shoulder.
The scream I let out is high-pitched and ridiculous, but I don’t have time to be embarrassed as he wraps his other arm around my waist and lifts me right off the ground. Using our combined momentum, he swings us around, sort of slingshotting us in a half circle until we’re facing in the opposite direction. The spin also slows us down, and his tight grip,combined with the way he digs his feet into the ground and throws our weight backward, brings us to a complete stop.
I’m weirdly grateful he didn’t tackle me as my feet touch back down on the forest floor. I’m only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of running leggings, and the sharp rocks and pieces of broken trees around us would have torn me to shreds.
“Gotcha,” he rasps in my ear.
I make a weird sound, sort of a cross between a gasp and a groan. Excitement and more of that confusing arousal pour into my system, and my dick goes even harder as heat pools deep in my belly.
I’m too overwhelmed to say anything, but he doesn’t seem to mind as he gives me a rough shove toward a large tree about six feet in front of us.
I stumble as my feet slip on the uneven ground, but he’s on me a second later, guiding me to the tree with a firm grip that stops me from falling. I get my arms up in front of me so I don’t smash face-first into the tree, but that’s about all I manage as he uses his bigger body to sandwich me against the rough bark.
His breaths are harsh and loud in my ear, and the scent of apples and cardamom mixes with something that smells a little like leather and old books, making my brain glitch out as little bursts of calm break through my fear.
He caught me, exactly like he said he would.
What is he going to do to me now that he has me?
9
