I whipped around. My chest heaved as voices bounced through the woods.
“Over here, Blair!”
I pivoted again, only for another voice to call out from deeper in the trees, “Time to hunt us, little Fawn.”
A faint glow flickered in the distance. At first, I thought it was the moon, but that light began moving.
Closer and brighter.
I froze, my feet rooted to the earth and unwilling to move, as the light approached me. Slowly, I saw the outline of a neon light.
The mask wasn’t like the one Enzo had worn the night he forced me to watch him torture Jett or the one he had worn in my dorm earlier.
I jammed my hands beneath my arms, hugging myself against the cold, and hesitated.
Do I run?
Do I stay?
The wind whispered like it wanted to answer.
Or is that someone’s voice?
I was so close to hyperventilating. If I didn’t do something now, I’d pass out.
“Fuck this,” I said to myself.
I turned and bolted in the opposite direction. My lungs burned like they’d been stung by a thousand bees as I sprinted as fast as I could.
My vision blurred, confusing my thoughts, and I hoped I was running in the right direction. Hoped that I was headed toward safety and not deeper trouble.
I didn’t make it far.
A shadow with a ray of neon burst from behind a tree ahead of me. It slammed into me, kicking me sideways before disappearing just as fast. I hit the dirt hard, the impact rattling my entire body.
Heart pounding, I stood and ran in another direction.
Another masked man stepped in front of me. He didn’t shove me down like the last one. He simply shoved my shoulder to send me off course before disappearing.
No matter which direction I turned or which way I tried to run, another masked figure appeared.
Sometimes there was one. Sometimes two or three circled me like coyotes pushing me toward a trap.
“Blair … we see you.”
Their fucking voices made everything just as creepy.
“Blair, we’ll catch you.”
My head whipped in every direction as I tried to track them, but they were everywhere, like a thousand demons spilled from the depths of hell for the sole reason to torture me.
All that surrounded me were trees, flickers of neon masks, and terror.
It was like the forest had come alive with its worst inhabitants.
Another shove struck me, sending me sprawling back.
Before I could fully stand, a hand gripped my collar from behind and forced me ahead. Then it released me.
