That only made him tighten his grip. “Don’t waste too much energy. The chase is only fun if you are actually trying, dear.”
“You creature,” I seethed.
“Well, well, that would be closer than your previous guesses!”A wild smirk, paired with a crazed look in his eyes, flashed before me. I would say he was enamored, but it was most likely the itch to kill me.
He pulled me closer to his face by my hair. “Now, let’s get started, shall we? Let’s go over some ground rules,” he instructed, suddenly letting go of my scalp, causing me to slump upon release. As the man stood, he smoothed the wrinkles from his dark coat and stepped away from the basin. “Get up. Let me see you.”
“That’s unfair. You’re fully clothed.” I hugged my body and sank lower into the tub. My fingers graced the hilt of the knife that rested on the floor of the tub under my legs.
“Alina, don’t make me ask twice.” His face went cold. Nothing in his tone said he was joking. “I won’t be a gentleman and ask next time.”
I took a shaky breath, stalling as long as I could to put off whatever fate I was about to meet. Before sheepishly standing, I clutched the knife behind my back. My hair fell in thick, wet tendrils down my body, thankfully covering my breasts. My legs crossed awkwardly. Everything was too exposed. The soap suds slid down my figure and back into the water from whence they came. My free hand covered whatever it could.
What is the point of this? Humiliation? Sadism? The former and the latter all at once?
He let me squirm there for a long minute, not saying a single word. His eyes crawled over my body at a painfully slow rate. I could not make myself look at him. I only imagined the hungry expression that would without a doubt be present. Or maybe I was afraid of seeing a look of victory, of satisfaction.
Was this some sort of power play? To break me down before we began?
My cheeks burned, hot to the touch. It could have been thelack of sleep, but I felt like a million little bugs were crawling around my skin.
He finally spoke. “Do you like games? Let’s play a game. You hide, and I will seek you out.” He moved closer.
“How do I win?” I asked, shivering as the cold air from the cracked window licked my body.
“Hide until dawn. You have three hours until then.” He smiled, approaching until we were only a breath apart.
“Will you kill me?”
“No.”
“Then what do you win?”
“I get to eat you alive,” he said coldly, cocking his head to the side as his gaze ventured lower, watching me shake before him. “Are you scared?”
“I amcold,” I hissed between clenched teeth, shrinking into myself to obscure his view.
“Is that how you will shake when I catch you? Or will it excite you to be under me in all the ways I plan to have you?”
I swung the knife, aiming straight at his chest.
My wrist smacked against his grip, his fingers squeezing around it.
His expression never faltered, and that wicked glint lit like wildfire. “I was wondering when my little snake would strike.” He let me push the tip an inch into his shoulder, then another and another. The white shirt under the dark coat turned wet and black from the wound.
How is he just standing there?
He cracked his neck to either side and leaned in close. Something changed. Blood rushed to the whites of his eyes, filling them with darkness until there was just a halo of a silver iris surrounded by a sea of black. “Our game starts now.” He hovered above me. A wet split tongue slid over my lips slowly.
My eyes widened at the man—Creature—before me.
My shock subsided when he quickly pulled the knife from his shoulder. I dove under his arm and darted out of the room. There was no time to rationalize what I saw. This was beyond what I could have prepared for. This was never a fair game, and heknewit.
I moved light on my feet through the labyrinth of rooms. I made sure not to touch creaking doors and to skip squeaky floor panels I knew of. I managed to grab a robe that I had discarded on a chair to save some of my remaining dignity.
His pacing could be heard throughout the house before it stopped. He was listening for me, waiting for a mistake to be made.
It was hard to move fast without making any noise. A hiding place would be difficult, since it could not be as obvious as the closet. Hide-and-seek might be more difficult than I anticipated.
