Page 7 of Escaped
Erin
Have I ever been more anxious than this?
The question ricocheted as I edged along the looming hallway.I’d known unease plenty of times before, never more so than since Chelle’s little adventure had unraveled so lethally, but none of those occasions compared to the panic furling in me then.
On my own, everything seemed harder.I probably hadn’t been out of Hawkins’ office for very long, but in that time, each second had lengthened to become an hour.Alone, each breath was amplified, as was the noise of every step I took.My fingers tightened around the gun intermittently before relaxing as anxiety about accidentally pressing the trigger flitted through me.
Those were only the physical symptoms of my stress, though.Without another person to back me up with moral support, I found myself second-guessing every decision.Had I chosen the right direction?Was my current path the route to freedom or only toward more men hellbent on my subjugation?And if and when I met those morons, would I be capable of firing the gun?Trepidation twisted, focusing me on the more important question—would I bewillingto fire it?
There were no answers as I walked on, no voices of reassurance.Eli had been torn from my side and I had no way of knowing whether I’d ever see him again.Whatever happened next was up to me.Grappling with that concept, my steps slowed, the sound of each as quiet as I could muster as I neared another corridor intersection, and my apprehension intensified.I thought I’d heard male voices coming from around the corner a few minutes before, but when I’d listened to check, there had been no obvious sounds, making me wonder if I’d simply invented the concerns.Standing on the brink of discovering the truth, though, I wasn’t so convinced the voices had only been an illusion.
What if there’s someone there?I inched closer to the wall, bracing myself.What if there’s someone and they’re just waiting for me to come around the corner?
My old acquaintance, nausea, stirred at the unsettling queries.Not that there was anything left in my stomach to rise to the fore, but still, the sensation remained, adding to my escalating sense of unease.Grasping the firearm with both hands, I lifted it in front of me, determining that, should someone be lurking around that corner, I was going to be ready for them.It didn’t matter that I had huge qualms about using the damn thing—it was then or never.
Who could say how long I loitered there, my digits gripping the black gun?It seemed like an extended amount of time was spent hovering, but in reality, it might only have been a minute.In the end, my own sense of looming impatience coaxed me into action, deciding that whether there was an enemy waiting or not, the only way to find myself out of Hawkins’ nightmare was to move.It wouldn’t be long, after all, before he’d discover my absence, and then he’d have goodness knew how many idiots with guns running around after me.I had to keep going while I still held the element of surprise.
Steeling myself, I slid to the end of the wall, my stomach in knots as I spun to face my potential aggressors.My gaze landed over not one man, but two, and as their tall, stocky physiques towered over me, I staggered back with shock.Not that it was a surprise to have encountered them—I’d been expecting as much—but the sheer size of them daunted me.Worse still, they were both armed, my attention landing squarely on the evil-looking guns in their hands.
“Stay back!”I hissed, waving the gun in their general vicinity.“I have a gun and I’ll use it.”
Even to my own ears, it was the least threatening warning of all time, and I cringed as the words left my lips, squeezing my eyes shut, even though I realized it was a foolish thing to do.I needed to focus, to wield the weapon convincingly and be prepared to fire, but in the face of my opposition, that suddenly seemed impossible.
I wasn’t really going to shoot them, was I?However dreadful a man who worked for Hawkins might have been, could I truly take his life?But if I didn’t shoot them, what would happen?How was I ever going to fend them off?I wouldn’t win in a fist fight, and I could never outrun them.
Doom spiraled, rising until I almost doubled over.Apparently, it didn’t matter to my weary body that there was nothing left to vomit.It was determined to make me heave, regardless; to make me suffer at that most crucial of moments.
“Erin?”
Staring at my knees, my name had been the last thing I expected to hear, and it took a few seconds for my brain to process what that meant.
“Erin, are you okay?”
His concerned timbre was strangely familiar, though I couldn’t persuade my chin to rise.
“So,thisis Erin?”
The other guy spoke, his tone almost upbeat as he moved in beside me, but hunched over on my haunches, I couldn’t bring my focus any higher than their thighs.
“Please.”The pounding in my head was back again, the same brutal rhythm that had seen me attempting to redecorate Hawkins’ God awful color scheme.“Just leave me alone.”
“No chance.”The first one lowered in front of me, one of his large hands pushing my gun down as he lowered his own.“You’re the reason we haven’t left.”
“What?”Only then did I convince my chin to rise, my eyes locking with the familiar, calm, gray pools of Eli’s gaze.“Eli?”
I couldn’t believe it.Of all the possible scenarios I’d imagined, I hadn’t conceived one where he was roaming the halls, looking for me.Bloodied and bruised from the beatings he’d endured, he was there—alive and kicking.
“B-but I th-thought you were Hawkins’ prisoner?”I couldn’t seem to get my words out, couldn’t believe he was real.
“I was.”His lips curled as he signaled to the guy behind him, and with his cut mouth, I had the sense that even grinning that way was liable to induce pain.“But with a little help from my friend, I’m free.”
My focus darted to assess the face of his so-called friend, though I didn’t recognize the knowing eyes of the man who smiled at me.
“You have a friend here?”My attention returned to Eli.
“It’s a long story for another time.”Eli reached for me, his fingers grazing my chin.“Did that son of a bitch hurt you?”
“No, I…” Closing my eyes, I tried not to remember how hideous it had been when I was tied to the chair in Hawkins’ office.For long, awful moments, I’d envisioned all the horrid things that he might have tried to do, but I dismissed the images with a shake of my head.“I puked all over him and managed to make a run for it.”
