Page 13 of His to Burn
But I refused to let fear take over.
I realized I still held the man’s forearm in a tight grip. I let it go, and he relaxed his hold.
I shifted slightly, my body rubbing against his a welcome distraction from full-blown terror, and looked back at the man’s face, eerie in the weak glow of my cell phone.
He shook his head before I could speak, his eyes firm and his intention clear.
Shut up.
My heart pounded wildly now, and the sweat pouring down my back had nothing to do with heat.
The footsteps, which had gotten ever closer, stopped.
All of this was wrong.
Very, very wrong.
That was my last thought before a hard crash shook the elevator.
The same crash also shattered what was left of my self-control.
The scream came out involuntarily, feeling as urgent as my next breath.
But much like my next breath, it was muffled by the man’s hand.
He must have anticipated my response, because he clamped his hand down tight, holding me as the scream poured out of me.
The elevator car stopped rocking, but the lack of motion on the outside did nothing to calm the jangling nerves that made my breaths jagged and jerky.
But at least I didn’t scream.
I waited, my breath almost refusing to leave me, and without even realizing it, I lifted my hand to the man’s forearm again.
As afraid as I was, I held him tight, hoping that the next sound I heard was those same stalking steps leaving.
No such luck.
Another crash, this one more intense than the first, shook the car.
Strangely, this crash had the opposite effect of the first.
Rather than screaming, my response was a deep exhale.
And rather than sending my mind shifting, that crash left me with an intense clarity.
Whoever was out there wanted to be in here.
And that would be very, very bad for me.
To make no mention of the elevator, one that had been here since the seventies, maybe even earlier. It wasn’t built to withstand that kind of stress, so whatever was outside would find its way in or send the elevator crashing to the ground trying.
Fanfuckingtastic.
I shifted in the man’s arms again and turned on the light on my phone.
He pressed his finger against his lips, and I nodded my agreement.
Then he pointed up.
