by K. Weikel
Chapter 26
Becca feels her breathing intensify and her brain start rushing to conclusions.
She needs to find Banshee.
Now.
She needs to stop this madness he’s creating.
Her feet touch the wooden floor of the Black Clan’s living quarters. The boards squeak a little as she shifts her weight to stand, but neither of the boys move or wake up.
She holds her mask in one hand, almost disgusted and revolted by it.
And for some strange reason, she feels as if she needs it.
Becca slips on her black shoes carefully, still trying not to wake them.
The floor decides to be loud as she tries to walk silently across it, every screech sending chills of fear exploding through her body like a million tiny bombs. Even if they do wake up, this is her decision, and no one is going to take that from her. They can’t stop her. She has to face Banshee. She has to face the man that has followed her around since that day in the alleyway, and she has to find out what’s going on.
The doorknob is cold as she turns it, and it makes a soft clicking noise as she pulls the door open and steps through the doorway. As she steps out into the quiet, she sees something move out of the corner of her eye and she lets go of the doorknob, snapping her neck around to see what was there.
Nothing.
She makes her way to the stairs. The metal is cooler than the doorknob, but she doesn’t know if it’s something that’s just in her head, something trying to distract her from what she feels she needs to do this early in the morning.
The stairs squeak as she makes her way to the bottom floor. A thought crosses her mind as she reaches it. She doesn’t even know where Banshee would be.
Unless he’s still following her.
She turns around to look for him, and she sees black fabric disappear behind a corner. A little wave of excitement runs through her. It’s not too hard to find him after all.
Becca runs to the next hallway that branches off behind the stairs, and looks down the long row of greenish-blue doors.
The fabric disappears behind the next corner.
Her legs carry her down to the end of the hallway of doors and she sees one of them close somewhere near the center of it. She keeps her eyes locked on the turquoiseish wooden rectangle as she sprints down to it. She tries the handle. It’s unlocked.
What if it’s not Banshee? She finds herself asking. What if it’s someone else? What if I’m breaking in to someone else’s house?
She lets go of the knob quickly at that thought.
“Becca,” she hears from behind the door. “Come in.”
Suddenly, she doesn’t want to do this anymore.
She can feel her heart threatening to rip out of her chest as she turns the knob and slowly opens the door, still debating on if she should carry through with this or not.
It swings all the way open, hitting the wall behind it with a hollow thud. The room is empty and the walls are black with splattered white paint everywhere. It reminds her of Twitch…
A man cloaked in black stands in the center of the room on the wooden floor. His plain black mask sends cold chills all through her body.
“What a turn of events,” Banshee chuckles, standing completely still with his arms down and slightly away from his body. “You, searching for me, instead of me searching for you. Again.” A low chuckle slips from the small hole in his mask where the masks’ lips would part, if it were a real face.
Becca opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. She stands in the doorway, speechless and blank. What exactly was she coming to say? To ask?
She moves the mask in her hands, feeling it split a little bit more down the center from where she had pushed down on it.
“Come in.”
She can almost feel the smirk playing behind Banshee’s mask.
She walks forward, her heart beating and memories running through her head on loop. The memories of Banshee. When she threw her first mask on the ground. When she chose the Light Clan. Every incident after that. The conversations.
She hears the door click shut behind her as she pushes it, never taking her eyes off of the man she’s been afraid of all of her life, the man she’s been running from since the first day she got her mask.
“So you read my book, didn’t you, Becca?”
