I scowl as I kick open the exit door and step outside. The night air is cool, and I frown as I glance around.
Fuuuuck.
I’m on the opposite side of the building from the parking lot.
The Fonteyn Theater sits on the edge of campus, near the woods, and because I’ve taken the wrong exit, I’m now standing in the shadows, near those woods. At night.Alone.
Great freaking job, self.
I grumble to myself and quickly start down the paved pathway that leads around the building, back towards the parking lot.
A stick cracks nearby.
I freeze, my ears pricking and my head snapping around as my gaze pierces the shadows near the rear door to the theater.
“Hello?”
My voice breaks a little as I heft my bag higher onto my shoulder and frown into the darkness.
Nothing there.
Justas I’m dialing my paranoia back, movement rips my head back. I gasp sharply at the dark shape of a man who's just appeared from around the side of the theater and is standing ahead of me on the walkway.
The hulking silhouette starts to advance on me, sending a chill up my spine.
“Vaughn?” I whisper hopefully.
The figure laughs darkly.
“Try again,bitch,” a man’s low, rough voice rasps.
Suddenly, he’s not walking toward me.
He’srunning.
I whirl as a scream rips from my throat, dropping my bag and running headlong back down the pathway. I slam into the wall next to the exit door and yank on the handle, only for my heart to drop like a stone.
It’s locked.
I glance over my shoulder and see the man in black rushing toward me, something metallic glinting in his hand. The color drains from my face.
Holy shit.
Adrenaline roars through my system as I spin and bolt, screaming as I run away from him as fast as I can.
I can actuallyfeelhim chasing me, sending panic charging through me as the crunch of his heavy boots on the walkway gets closer and closer.
“HELP!” I scream. “SOMEBODY! ANYBODY! HELP!”
I know I should run to one of the other buildings—maybe one of the dorms. But with the theater being located where it is, and me being on the wooded side of it, there’s nowhere nearby.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the blue light from one of those campus safety emergency phone station things. But it’s too far away.
Instead, I run as fast as I can toward the trees, the footsteps chasing behind getting closer and closer.
Utter darkness swallows me as I bolt off the main campus walkway and onto the one that winds through the woods.
It’s well-lit. But I don’t want that right now.
