Page 125 of Two Sides of Sin

For a long moment, there was nothing but the wind rustling the creaking branches. And then… I heard it.

Splash. Splash.

Heavy combat boots crushing the rocks in the shallow stream.

He was close. I held my breath, pressing myself as flat into the shadows as I possibly could.

Crack... skrrrrt... crunch.

My eyes snapped open in the dark. It was the heavy, scraping drag of an iron chain being hauled over the forest floor, snapping brittle twigs and crushing dry leaves in its wake.

He was playing the role flawlessly, moving through the woods with the slow, terrifying confidence of a predator who knew exactly where his prey was hiding.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing, the thrill of the game making my knees weak.

Suddenly, the crunch of leaves moved directly to my left.

Before I could even turn my head, a massive, gloved black hand shot out of the darkness, swiping blindly through the empty air and clawing at where my shoulder had just been.

A startled, breathless squeal ripped out of throat.

“Missed me!” I teased, ducking under his massive arm and shoving off the trunk of the tree.

I didn’t look back as I ran, laughing hysterically into the freezing night air as I tore blindly through the underbrush, the adrenaline overriding my exhausted muscles. I dodged low hanging branches and scrambled over exposed roots, the thrill of the cat-and-mouse dynamic pushing me deeper and deeper into the unknown.

“You’re going to have to be faster than that, soldier!” I yelled over my shoulder, my voice swallowed instantly by the vastness of my surroundings.

I kept sprinting until the stitch in my side became a stabbing ache I could no longer ignore. I slowed to a jog, and then a stop, bending over to rest my hands on my knees as I dragged in desperate gasps of air.

“Okay, okay,” I panted, holding one hand up to the empty shadows. “Truce. Give me a minute.”

I stood up straight, wiping a stray, sweaty curl from my forehead, and turned around to look for the imposing silhouette of Julian’s costume.

But as I spun around, the playful thrill evaporated from my body, replaced by a sudden, dropping sensation in the pit of my stomach.

In the pitch black, I lost all sense of direction. The last of my light was gone—even the moon had deserted me, as if it were hiding from something, or someone, too."

I scanned the horizon, desperate for the warm glow of the estate’s windows. I looked left. I looked right.

Nothing.

I had run blindly, laughing and twisting through the trees, losing my sense of direction. I had wandered off way too far. The house was gone, swallowed by the dense, towering pines, leaving me utterly exposed and alone in the freezing, isolated dark of the estate. The more I tried to focus my eyes into the dark, the more turned around and disoriented I became.

I couldn’t have gone that far, I thought, a genuine spike of panic finally piercing through the adrenaline. It was only a few minutes.

“Julian?” I called out, my voice sounding thin and weak as the dense trees swallowed the sound.

Silence.

“Okay, you win!” I yelled, wrapping my arms around myself as the crisp air bit into my bare skin. “I’m lost! Come get me!”

Snap.

I whipped my head around. The sharp, distinct sound of a heavy branch breaking echoed from the shadows directly behind me, but by the time I registered the noise, it was already too late.

A sudden, metallic clink hissed through the quiet, followed by the whistle of moving air. Before I could even take a step, something heavy and freezing cold lashed around my ankle. The thick links of the chain bit into my skin with an uncompromising grip.

With a powerful, painful yank, the chain was hauled backwards. My legs were ripped out from under me with such force that the world tilted in a dizzying blur. I went crashing down hard, the breath punching out of my lungs as I slammed against the forest floor.