The sound stops immediately.
He couldn’t seem to get rid of me fast enough once we got into the bathroom, and much to my dismay… it hurt—a stupid, traitorous sting right behind my sternum.
Am I really so unbearable?Yes.
I don’t know why, but hearing him struggle in the hallway makes my heart hurt. He asked me to stay in here and block the door.
What is it about me that makes him need to stay away?
Maybe if I left, whatever’s happening to him would stop. He said he wouldn’t hurt me… but why did he feel the need to say it? Is he not able to be around humans without slaughtering them, like the scary stories say?
I glance at the window beside the shower, then back at the door. I know he’s right outside waiting for me.
Why do I feel guilty? Why does leaving feel like abandoning someone I don't even know?
I survived losing Anna. I learned to breathe through that kind of loss. Surely I can survive this.
But my chest aches, physically aches—like something invisible is hooked behind my ribs, tugging me backward toward the door… toward him.
This is insane. He’s a stranger.
A thud hits the bathroom door.
A deep growl splits the silence. My heart hammers in my chest, and my hair stands on end. Whatever is happening to him is escalating. And I’m obviously the trigger at the moment.
I dress quickly and throw a towel around my wet curls. I move toward the window, and with each step I take, the feeling in my chest grows more painful. I unhook the latch and push the pane open. Frigid air floods the room. Can I even survive out there?
Will I survive in here?
I don't know where I am. I search the woods, hoping for some kind of sign. I catch headlights out of my peripheral. If there’s a car this close, that means there has to be a road—a way home.
Could I really leave him like this after he saved me? And then I ask myself the question that makes up my mind.
Could I stay and watch him suffer because of me?
I already live with the guilt of surviving someone I loved. I can’t add another ghost to the list.
Another snarl rips through the room. I swing my leg over the windowsill. The cold hits instantly, biting at my still-hot skin.
He saved your life, Lumi. And you’re repaying him by running away.
I won’t be the reason another life is ruined.
I swing the other leg over, and then I jump. I land clumsily in the snow, but nothing hurts, so that’s a plus.
I walk toward the faint lights. Guilt gnaws at me.What if he needs help? What if he’s hurt, and that’s why he was making those noises?
It feels darker than it did when I was out here earlier, and the further I walk, the more I feel like the forest is silently judging me for running away from the very thing it led me to.
Something snaps behind me. I duck behind the nearest tree.Snap. Crack.
I drop to the ground and inch forward. A howl splits the stillness, vibrating the very snow I’m crawling over. It didn’t sound like any animal I’ve ever heard before.
“Lumi!!” His voice shreds through the branches like the sky itself is screaming my name.
Shit.
He must have realized I left.
