“Nice of you to show up,asshole. You left me a gift. Am I not allowed to play with it?” I stood, brushing the leaves off my ass and pointed the light at him.
“How do you know it was a gift? How do you know it wasn’t just a good way to get you out here…all alone…to bury you with your dead?”
He makes a good point, I guess. But I was all alone out here two other times, and I’m not covered in dirt. I shrugged. “Guess I don’t. You said it was a peace offering. But it sure looks like you went through alotta trouble to make him suffer. So, who is it?”
He took a step forward…I took one back. “Maybe the ‘peace’ part was forme…when I have the peace of mind, knowing I don’t have to worry about you being alive anymore. Why should I tell you who it is? My gift not good enough for ya, Red?” Another heavy step…another reason for me to second guess myself and back away. “You do seem like a brat. Brats usually need to be punished.”
“Try it. I wasn’t bullshittin’ last time you got too close. You fuck with me, it won’t end well for you.” I backed up another step and his eyes raised in the corners.He’s smiling. Mask or not, he’s not the least bit fucking worried…and it’s unsettling me. I’m not used to that.At all.
“They’ll have to find me first…and you.”
I’m nervous. My heart is pounding. Now, I’m starting to wonder if I was wrong and thisisthe guy from the parking lot. “One more step, Batman, and I’ll have a weenie roast with that flaccid inchworm between your legs that makes you feel so brave.” He chuckled and took another step towards me. I held my knife out in warning.
“Didn’t work out so well for you last time, did it? Brats have a hard time learning their lesson, too. Startin’ to see a bit of a pattern. It’s almost sad…how predictable you are.”
“So, you lured me here to kill me, then?”
He stopped and pulled a huge knife from the front of his hoodie. It flashed in the beam of my flashlight, and I felt my stomach flip. “I guess we’ll find out…” I braced myself, my breaths coming quicker and clouding in small puffs between us.“Run, Little Doe…”
Goddammit!
My legs reacted before I could, and I bolted, surprising myself when I had the good sense to switch off my flashlight. I heard nothing behind me. Running faster, my face stung with low-hanging branches I couldn’t see, but my adrenaline fed me more and simultaneously stole my oxygen. If I can get to my car, I swear this time I’ll run him over. I’ll flatten the bitch to the point that he’s unrecognizable and curse myself for ever thinking this was sexy. Lungs burning, I slowed, pressing my back against a large tree. My chest is heaving. I looked around warily before pulling my phone from my back pocket and dimming the screen. I’m in too deep. This is over…if nothing else, somebody needs to know where to find me. Declan can find a stray hair on a gnat’s ass. Calling him just makes the most sense.
Fine…I also want him right now more than anything else in this world. There, I said it.
This has got me fucked up. I realized then that I was thinking about him earlier today when I tried to take home those cupcakes. I thought about him first when that gun went off that was aimed right for my fucking face. I’m thinking about him now, and it’s weighing on me that this could be my last few minutes alive.
…I do love you. I always have, and I’m so sorry…
Tears pricked my eyes…gross. I’ve fucked this whole thing up. And I might never get the chance to fix it or tell him any of this. I don’t think we’ve ever truly uttered the words since we started seeing each other. Not even after living together this long. So, this is what it feels like…to have your heart shatter. I pressed call, and his face lit up my screen. I stared at it until it started to get blurry and distorted. I felt the hot tear race down my cheek when his voicemail picked up.
“You’ve reached the Godfather…say hello to my little phone—the mailbox is full and cannot accept messages…goodbye.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and bit down on my lip, more tears finding their way out and then…a twig snapped.
“Givin’ up already, Little Doe?”
He sounds like he’s a few feet away. He’s on the other side of this tree, and he’s likely known exactly where I was this entire time. I never stood a chance. I should’ve known it. I’m not going down without a fucking fight. Maybe he’s got me, but he’s gonna feel the twisted wrath of the Byrnes…and it’ll start with me. I pulled every thread I had inside me to the surface, trying to work up the balls to face this like the queen that I am—or the one I tried to be. I wanna make him hurt. Let this be the last fucking thing I do. I dropped my flashlight to the ground and slipped another knife from my boot, double-fisting them while I slung myself around the tree and screamed. He had the nerve to giggle right before he took off, running the opposite direction while I charged for him with everything I had.
“Come and get me,Rambo!”
Oooo, he pisses me off. I’m gonna rip him apart, piece by piece, and feed him to Simon.
I’ve got nothing on this fucker’s stamina. I tried my best to keep him in my sight, dodging trees and hurtling over limbs…but I can’t do much about the fact that it’s just as pitch blackout here as his god-forsakenstalker getup. I growled, my boots skidding in the leaves as I stopped, and held my knives at the ready, listening for any movement. I hear nothing but the sound of my unsteady breathing and the roaring of my pulse.
“Boo.”
Game over. I’m checked.
The cold steel of the knife at my throat froze my body while his own pressed against my back. My eyes slowly drifted shut. “That was cute. Drop the knives and I’ll make this quick. Fight me, and you’ll wish you hadn’t.”
“That’s like asking a wolf to hand over his teeth. Gofuckyourself.” I flipped both knives backwards and swiped my arms back, the blade leaving my throat in an instant. He knocked one knife out of my hand with his fist, and spun me around, holding me against him while he squeezed my wrist, turning it until the other knife dropped to the ground. I kicked and fought, screaming until he lowered me to the ground, straddling me, and pinning my arms down with his full weight under his knees.“Bastard! I’ll fucking kill you!”
“You could have…several times. I think I made it clear enough, helping you out, that you’re a complete amateur. Fun to watch, though.”
“I hope you get syphilis. I hope your grimycockrots off! I hope I get a front row seat in the darkest pit of Hell, when my brother ushers you in. You’re a fucking dead man!”
He leaned into my face, and I could feel the heat of his breath through his mask. “Yeah? And where was all this violence when you were grindin’ your ass against that‘grimy cock’, hm?” My fingers inched towards the phone that had slid halfway out of my front pocket. I laid as still as I could manage.
