I bolted, hearing his heavy footsteps close behind, but my breath caught as something yanked me back—my wig. He’d grabbed it. I heard him curse as the wig slipped free from my head, and for a split second, I thanked the heavens I hadn’t glued it on like Katy had suggested.
His footsteps pounded after me, closer now. I sprinted between parked cars, the uneven ground making it harder to keep my balance. But he was faster. His hand latched onto my neck again, dragging me backward, then throwing me to theground. My back hit the asphalt with a thud, the air rushing from my lungs.
I barely had time to gasp before his weight pressed down on me. I thrashed beneath him, my foot kicking up gravel as I fought for release. My hands tightened on the wipes, and in a desperate move, I hurled them at his face. They bounced off uselessly.
“Help! Somebody, help!” I screamed, struggling harder as he gripped my neck with one hand, the other slipping the mask off his face.
One eye gleamed, cold and menacing. The other one was covered with an eyepatch, and the unpatched one was ringed with jagged scars that marred his face. He pressed harder on my throat, cutting off my breath. My heart pounded so hard it felt like it would tear through my chest.
“Remember me?” His voice was eerily calm, sending another wave of terror down my spine.
I gasped for air, trying to place him. “The fuck are—”
He leaned in closer, a twisted smile creeping onto his face. “In the woods, that night.” He pointed to his eyepatch. “You did this. I’ve been looking for you, Ainsley Hades. Now, I’m taking back what you owe me.”
My vision blurred as his words clicked into place. The woods. That night. The kidnapper I had fought off, the one I hit over and over again with the iron rod until he passed out. My stomach churned as the memory crashed into me. He was the one leaving me those letters.
He smiled again, a sickening, gleeful smile. “I’ve waited a long time for this.” He pulled out a syringe, the glint of the needle catching the faint light.
Panic overflowed my veins as I thrashed harder, my legs kicking at him, trying to get him off. But it was fruitless. He pressed the needle to my neck and plunged it in. The momentthe cold liquid spread through my body, I felt my muscles start to weaken. No, no, no.
My limbs grew heavier with each passing second, my strength draining as the drug took hold. My vision swam, the world tilting back and forth. I fought it, tried to push through the sleep, but my body betrayed me.
I could feel him rifling through my costume, his hand brushing over my waist as he searched me. My heart stuttered when he found my phone. I heard the crunch of it under his boot as he shattered it against the ground
No. No. No. No.
That was my only lifeline. The only way Theon could find me.
Tears pricked my eyes as darkness crept in, swallowing me whole. He won’t find me.
That was the last thought in my mind before the world went black.
29
THEON
SEVEN HOURS EARLIER
Ainsley: I think we’ll be taking another detour to Ma’am Jeena’s. We didn’t want to go inside the school. It’s changed a lot. Have you gone back there since you came to South Highland? What are you doing right now? Also, have you seen my front yard? We added a few ‘designs’ to your decorations last night mid-drunk. It was so funny when I saw them this morning.
I lay on my back, staring up at the ceiling with my phone held above me, a faint smile pulling at my lips. Ainsley’s friends were a chaotic bunch, but they made her happy. I’d seen enough to know that. Her message, though, had me shaking my head slightly as I pictured whatever ridiculous stunt they’d pulled in their drunken state.
Still smiling, I got up and wandered over to my computer, pulling up the camera feed to her front yard. I’d turned off the ones inside the house yesterday. When I set my cameras in her house, it was because I wanted to watch her. Just her. Watch her fuck around in her house when she thought no one was watching. But watching her friends gave me the same cringe I got whenever the thought of obsessing over any girl who wasn’t Ainsley crossed my mind.
The feed flickered on, and the sight that greeted me nearly made me laugh. The jack-o’-lanterns were wearing bright, mismatched wigs. The skeletons had been accessorised too—one had a top hat, another had on a rainbow wig, and a couple of them held a cardboard sign that read,Happy Halloween, don’tturn into me.Bats made of plastic were strung haphazardly on the skeletons, and someone had slapped sunglasses onto one of the pumpkins and drew a moustache.
It was insane. And I could see why it made her laugh.
I was just about to reply when I noticed something shift on the edge of the screen. A man, hood up, was standing at the edge of Ainsley’s front yard. He wasn’t looking at the ridiculous decorations; his gaze was locked on her door.
My brows narrowed.
I knew him.
The way his shoulders slumped forward, the shape of him—he was the same man who’d slipped a letter under her door. I’d watched that clip too many times to recognise him in the dream.
The bastard even had an eyepatch.
