Catching my breath for a split second, I tuck myself into the cutout entrance that leads down to the seating of section 131.
The heavy steps grow nearer, and I shut my flashlight off on my phone, hoping I can lose him.
“Where’d you go, Serena? Don’t make it harder than it needs to be. Bates is only going to grow more impatient.”
Questions and quips form on the tip of my tongue, but I keep them sealed behind my lips, not letting even a single breath sneak past.
Step. Step. Step.
Closer and closer they sound.
Suddenly, my phone vibrates, and I’ve never noticed the noise it makes, but it practically rings out loudly in the deafening silence.
“There you are,” he calls out, the steps turning and walking right toward me.
“Shit,” I curse under my breath, fumbling to turn the flashlight back on before taking off down the stairs to my right.
I have no idea if this is a smarter place to go, but right now, I know it’s in the opposite direction of the man chasing me.
Taking the stairs as fast as I can, I fly down them, racing toward the glass. I don’t know my next move, but I keep going, choosing to figure that out when I get there.
Glancing back as I reach the lowest step, catchingmyself on the glass, I look up and find a silhouette of a tall guy standing where I was hiding, his frame stretching across the opening.
But his size isn’t what throws me off my axis; it’s the outline of a knife in his hand.
“This floor’s now off-limits,” he announces before slipping back into the darkness.
My thoughts are fractured, the arena spinning around me as I realize something.
Everything thus far has been intentional, every single move since I entered the building. I didn’t stumble down here by accident; I was led, like a rat in a maze, responding to stimuli. Regardless of what section I’d chosen to run down, the outcome would have been the same.
The course is shrinking. They’re leading me somewhere.
Pressure builds in my chest, every hair on my body standing on end. This may have started as a silly game in my mind, but it feels incredibly real at the moment, especially after I saw the blade in his hand.
My phone vibrates again, and I aggressively flip it over, the screen illuminating.
Bates: Ooh, he was so close
Who was that?
Bates: I told you I had help.
He had a knife
Bates: So does my other helper. So do I
Will they hurt me?
Bates: Do you want them to?
No.
Bates: Then they won’t. But if you manage to outrun them all, I’ll reward you.
What happens if they catch me?
Bates: I wouldn’t worry about that. You should be worrying about what happens when I catch you
