I could have tried to yank it from him, but I didn’t. I ran as fast as I could, weaving between the trees.
“You stupid bitch!” he yelled.
The twigs under his feet snapped and cracked as he ran after me. I didn’t look back, but based on sound, he was close.
I would have to unlock the door and get inside before Elijah caught up to me. I felt a strong urge to reach into my pocket and feel the keys, but I forced myself to ignore the feeling. It would only slow me down, and I didn’t need to touch them… I knew they were there.
Of course, I knew that I wouldn’t have forever. Elijah had been in the house before, and he’d find a way in again, but I had to do something to buy myself some time.
I jumped over a long, thick branch that had fallen during a storm when I was a twelve. I’d been so afraid during the storm that I’d crawled into bed with my mom.
There was a hole just underneath I had dug when I’d tried to build myself a hideaway cave. I’d wanted a place that I could hide from the clutter in the house.
Elijah wouldn’t know it was there. If I was really lucky, he’d break his ankle.
It was only a few seconds later I heard a thud followed by a stream of curses. I forced my feet to move faster.
Three feet from the door, I pulled out my keys. My hands were shaking, but I managed to expertly put the key into the lock and open the door.
I stepped into the house and slammed the door only seconds before Elijah’s body crashed into the wood.
The wall shook from the force. He pounded his fists over and over again.
“Open the fucking door, Melaney!” Elijah shouted.
I backed away, keeping my eyes on the shaking door. Then… it went quiet. The only sound was the racing beating of my heart.
I looked around, trying to find something I could use to protect myself. There wasn’t anything that would stop a bullet from the shotgun.
But he hadn’t pulled the trigger. He could have tried to shoot me, but he hadn’t.
Elijah didn’t want me dead. Of course, if it came down to it, there was no doubt in my mind he’d kill me, but he was trying to avoid that.
Before I could get to the kitchen, Elijah kicked the door open. The door boomed against the wall and vibrated in unison with Elijah’s laughter.
“Stupid girl,” Elijah said.
I darted into the kitchen. Instead of grabbing a knife, I yanked open the basement door and pinned myself between the wall and the door.
Something my mom had stored on the basement stairs shifted and bounced down the stairs. It sounded as if I’d run down them.
Elijah laughed. “What were you thinking?”
The floor creaked with each step he took closer to the basement. I knew exactly where he was. Each squeak and creak made a familiar sound.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Elijah sang. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
Daylight was vanishing quickly. There was little light left, and Elijah’s steps slowed. He was hesitant to go into the basement, but I needed him to take two more steps.
Whatever had rolled down the stairs had stopped making sounds. Elijah took one more step.
We were too close. The only thing that separated us was the thin basement door.
My heart was so loud I was almost sure he could hear it beating. His weight shifted, and I knew he’d taken a step back.
Lightning flashed in the window, lighting the entire kitchen. Thunder rolled, and Elijah laughed.
“Aw,” he said, taking two steps closer. He reached over and curled his fingers on the side of the door. “All alone during a thunderstorm in that big, scary basement? You’re not going to like that, are you?”
He started to close the door. Lightning flashed again, brightening the room. I stepped out from behind the door, and with all my strength, I pushed him.
32
I couldn’t see him falling down the stairs into the dark basement, but I could hear it. The bangs and booms were like thunder, but the crack wasn’t like lightning. I cringed at what sounded like a bone snapping in two.
“Yeah,” I said, slamming the door closed. “I’d hate that.”
“Melaney!” Elijah howled. “Help me! I think my arm’s broken.”
“Bummer!” I shouted through the door.
It took me by surprise when I heard his foot against the bottom step. He cried out in pain as he took another step.
“Dammit, Mel!” he bellowed.
Why hadn’t he broken a leg? I bolted to the dining room and grabbed a chair, banging it against the cabinets as I brought it to the door, wedging it under the doorknob.
I didn’t wait to see if the chair would stay in place. I took off.
I wasn’t even at the end of the driveway when I heard the shotgun. The sound was muffled by the house, but that didn’t stop me from ducking behind a tree.
I sucked in two quick breaths before moving my feet. Even though it would have been faster, I stayed off the main road.
I couldn’t let him catch me again. It was a miracle that panic hadn’t taken over me and that somehow, I’d gotten away.
If he caught me again, I wouldn’t have it in me to fight anymore. Surely my luck of evading Elijah was running out.
I was out of breath by the time I saw Erik’s house. The shadows had hidden the house, but a crack of lightning piercing the sky above me illuminated the building.
Rain poured out of the sky, cooling me and creating a cacophony of sounds. It was like being followed by a group of drummers, all pounding their own beat.
My legs were numb and my vision grainy as I walked up to the front door. I was afraid to make any noise, but if Elijah was after me, he already knew where I’d go.
“Hey!” I shouted as I knocked on the door. “It’s me! Please let me in!”
The door opened, and Erik pulled me inside. He stood in front of me and stared at the door with his gun drawn.
“What happened?” Erik asked, his stance wide.
I took in two deep breaths and opened my mouth. There was so much to tell them, but nothing came out.
Dorian was staring at me. Sam was lying on the couch with her eyes closed, blood crusted in her hair.
“Holy shit, Mel,” Archer said as he walked toward me with his arms open.
The room started to spin as my vision narrowed.
“Catch her!” Erik said.
Blackness sucked me in. Shit.
The storm was raging when I woke up in my bedroom upstairs. Candlelight danced on the walls and on Archer’s face.
He was holding my hand, stroking the back of it with his thumb.
“Hey!” Archer smiled. “You’re back.”
“Was it a dream?” I asked, even though I knew full well it wasn’t. But with every inch of my being, I wanted it to be.
“We don’t even know what happened,” Archer said, tilting his head toward Erik, who was standing in the door. “When we got back, Dorian had Sam on the couch. He didn’t even know what happened to you.”
I shook my head. “Sam doesn’t remember?”
“Sam hasn’t woken up yet,” Archer said.
“It was Elijah,” I said, placing my hand over my mouth. I pressed my lips together to stop myself from bursting into tears.
Archer shook his head. “I’m not following.”
Erik came into the room and stood at the window. The distant flashes of lightning flickered in his eyes.
“My ex followed us here. He’s crazy,” I said. “He did that to her and dragged me away.”
“Tell us everything,” Erik said without looking at me.
And I did. I told them every detail.
“Maybe he shot himself,” Archer said.
“If he didn’t, I will,” Erik said, cracking his knuckles. He jerked his chin at Archer. “Let’s go over there. Pay him a visit.”
“Let’s go,” Archer said, getting to his feet.
I sat up and caught his hand. “No, please. He’s dange
rous. He’s armed.”
“None of us are safe with him alive,” Erik said.
“We’re not killers,” I said.
“There isn’t anyone else that will handle this,” Erik said. “We have enough to worry about.”
Feet pounded against the stairs. We all turned toward the door as Dorian poked his head inside my room.
“Sam’s awake!” Dorian said before turning and running back down the stairs.
Archer helped me out of bed and wrapped his arm around me as we walked toward the door. Erik stepped in front of me and looked into my eyes.
“We’re going to finish this,” Erik said.
“I think it’s better if we just leave,” I said, my brow wrinkling. “Let him rot down there.”
When we got downstairs, Sam was crying. Dorian was holding her hand and scratching the side of his head nervously.
“Sam!” I said, dropping to my knees beside her. My eyebrows felt heavy on my face. “Oh, Sam, I’m so sorry.”
“Mel,” she said with tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. “It was him, wasn’t it?”
I nodded. “It’s all my fault.”
“I had horrible dreams,” Sam said, wincing. “My head hurts.”
“Do you have pain relievers?” Dorian asked, looking up at Erik.
Erik grunted and left the room. Sam whimpered as she brought her hand to her face. She closed one eye and then the other.
“I can’t see,” Sam said.
I scooted closer and looked into her eyes. “What do you mean? You’re looking right at me.”
“My left eye,” Sam said. “Everything is blurry.”
Her face was black and blue, but her eyes appeared normal. Sam’s shoulders shook as she sobbed.
“I can’t see,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut. She popped them open as if that would fix them. “Oh, God, why?”
“I’m so sorry, Sam,” I said, rubbing her shoulder.
“I’m going to kill him,” Erik said.
Sam winced as she tried to sit up. “What do you mean? He’s still out there?”
“Mel locked him in her mom’s basement,” Erik said.
“I heard a shot. He might have taken his life when he couldn’t get out,” I said.
Sam snorted. “No way. That piece of shit wouldn’t take his own life.” Dorian helped Sam settle into her spot. She pressed her palm to her forehead.
“Let me do it,” Sam said. “I want to kill him.”
“No one is going back there to kill him,” I said. “It’s the middle of the night. It’s storming. And Sam, you probably have a concussion. I’m fairly certain he broke his arm. Let him suffer until morning.”
“Then you’ll let me strangle him?” Sam asked.
I exhaled slowly. “He’s armed. It’s not going to be that easy to walk up to him and strangle him. He stole our shotgun.”
“Erik and Archer will help, right guys?” Sam asked.
“Yes,” Erik replied instantly.
“After what he did? I’ll definitely help,” Archer said.
Dorian grimaced. “So, we’re killers now? Why not leave him down there? It’s not like he’ll survive, and we’ll be long gone.”
“Because he’s evil,” Sam said. “And he messed up my eye.”
“The rules of the world have changed,” Erik said, smacking his hand into his chest. “Things are different, and we’re all going to need to be different. We’re going to have to do things we don’t want to do. Things that are hard… that are painful. Things that change us. This is non-negotiable.”
Sam nodded with every word. “Elijah deserved the chair before everything changed. If we don’t get him, there is a chance he’ll pick each of us off one by one. He’s a sneaky bastard. He followed us all the way out here. That could give you some indication as to what kind of evil he is.”
I couldn’t argue with her. “And for that reason alone, we should wait until daylight.”
“Fine,” Erik said. “We can wait, but it’s happening. Archer and I will go over in the morning.”
“And me,” Sam said, pointing at her eye. “I’m pulling the trigger.”
“For now, let’s all just get some rest,” Erik said.
Archer placed his hand on my lower back. “Want me to go up with you?”
“Please,” I said, not wanting to be alone. My body was still trembling, and I couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that someone was watching me.
It wasn’t possible, though. Elijah was trapped in the basement, just like he’d trapped me. He was getting a taste of his own medicine, and I really hoped he was hating every minute of it.
“Did you guys find some gas?” I asked as we walked up the stairs.
“Some,” Archer said. “Not as much as we would have liked.”
“It took you a long time.”
Archer nodded. “We stayed out of town and checked along the shore for abandoned vehicles.”
No one had said anything, but I was almost certain we wouldn’t be heading out on the road for a while. Sam was in rough shape, and she would need to heal. She would need to regain her strength, and after my confrontation with Elijah, I needed to regain mine too.
Morning came far too quickly. Archer was standing at the window when I opened my eyes.
“Erik’s ready to go,” he said, concern wrinkling his brow. “I think you should stay here with Dorian.”
“Oh, no,” I said, shaking my head. “Not that I don’t trust Dorian, I think we should all stick together. Elijah would want us to separate.”
“I thought you’d say something like that,” Archer said. “I want to talk you out of it, but I don’t want you out of my sight.”
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and got to my feet. Archer wrapped his arms around me and squeezed.
“Ow!” I said, wincing.
Elijah had been rough dragging me through the woods, and until that moment, I hadn’t realized exactly how rough he’d been.
“Sorry.” Archer’s brow wrinkled. It was like he was angry all over again about what happened to me. “Let’s go get this asshole, huh?”
I nodded, but I wasn’t exactly thrilled by what we’d have to do. Seeing him dead, on the other hand, might be a relief. Elijah had tortured me for far too long, and it needed to be over.
We walked close together. Archer and Erik at the sides of the group, each holding a gun.
Everything was calm and peaceful. The sun brightened our surroundings, and the birds were singing their sweet morning songs. They’d probably change their tune if they knew what we were going to do.
I slowed slightly when I saw the house. Being close to where Elijah was sent shivers up and down my spine.
“It’s okay,” Archer whispered. “We’re not going to let anything happen to you.”
“That’s right,” Sam said. “He’s going to pay for what he did to you and to my eye.” Sam looked at Erik’s hand. “Shouldn’t I have the gun?”
Erik ignored her and pushed open the cracked front door. He glanced at me over his shoulder.
“You left this open?” Erik asked.
“I… I don’t remember,” I stammered. “I must have.”
Erik led the way into the house, and we all followed him single file. He stopped walking and rested his hand on the top of his head.
His eyes were focused on the wall. My hands started to shake.
“No, no, no!” Sam shouted, pounding her fist into her thigh.
There was a message written in blood. Three short words meant for me.
This isn’t over.
I covered my mouth with both hands as the room started to spin. Erik stepped to the side and looked toward the kitchen.
“Fuck!” he said, punching the air.
I dashed toward him, needing to see. The chair was on the kitchen floor in two pieces. There was a bullet hole through the door near the knob.
“We need to get out of here,” Erik said, grabbing my arm. He pulled me along as we al
l rushed out of the house.
Our feet moved fast. I kept looking back as if I expected the house to blow up, which, of course, didn’t happen. Elijah was good, but he wasn’t that good.
At least I hoped he wasn’t.
We jogged back to Erik’s house and locked ourselves inside. Erik and Archer swept the house to make sure Elijah hadn’t sneaked inside.
“What the hell are we going to do,” Sam asked, lying down on the couch.
Her chest was rising and falling with her labored breaths. I could tell each inhale caused her an intense amount of pain.
“We’ll just leave,” Dorian said. “We got the gas. Once we’re in the car, he won’t catch us.”
Erik nodded.
“It’s just too bad he gets to live,” Sam said.
“We’ll rest for three days,” Erik said. “No one goes outside. Someone keeps watch at all times.”
“He’s hurt,” I said. “He’ll need to rest too. With a broken bone, he likely won’t try anything. Elijah isn’t stupid. He won’t come for me unless the odds are in his favor.”
Sam nodded. “Mel’s right. We’ll just be smart and careful.”
“Think you’ll be okay to travel in three days?” I asked, kneeling on the floor next to Sam.
“Oh, yeah. Definitely,” Sam said. “I could go now if I had to.”
I smiled at her. “Well, I’m pretty sore. I could use the rest.”
“We all need to be ready,” Erik said. “It’s going to be a long trip. I don’t think we’ll have enough gas to make it without stopping, but we should make it a good distance.”
“Where is this car anyway?” Archer asked. “What makes you guys think it’s going to run?”
Erik ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s old. No electronics. It should run.”
I couldn’t wait to leave. The further away from Elijah we all were, the better.
There wasn’t anything worse than being stuck anywhere near where Elijah was.
I’d thought Sam was being selfish and careless about leaving, but I was glad she’d pushed it so hard. We had a plan, and we would get away from the dangerous creep.
In three days, we’d be gone. In three days, I could breathe again.
I made it without my medicine. Perhaps I was capable of more than I thought. If we could survive the wrath of Elijah, we could survive a road trip.
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