Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
He’s threatening me? That motherfucker…
My finger hovers over the block button, ready to push. But I don’t know if I have the balls to actually go through with it. They’ve already warned me not to, and I know they’re not the kind of men to mess with.
Me: What do you want?
Prick: Those pretty lips … begging for mercy.
I swallow back the lump in my throat.
Me: Don’t. Don’t fuck with me.
Prick: Or what? Will you tell your friends? Go ahead. Tell them where we are. We’ll be waiting …
Shit, I don’t want to put them in danger either.
What do I do?
Prick: Right outside.
My heart almost comes to a stop.
Me: Stop.
Prick: I can see you.
A cold chill fills my bones.
I slowly turn around on my bed and blink at the window.
When thunder strikes down on the earth, it illuminates a ghostly figure standing on my balcony, a golden, demonic-looking mask complete with horns covering half his face. In his hand is a knife that glints in the dark.
My eyes widen.
Oh God.
My phone buzzes again, and I can’t fucking move as I watch the text come in.
Prick: You look a little pale, little rose. Don’t worry. We’ll give you back your red glow. Run. Run as fast as you can, and let’s see who wins this game.
One look over my shoulder at the man behind my window, just one look, and I’m gone.
I rush through the door and down the stairs of the sorority, trying to get away from him as fast as I can. I don’t know where I’m going. All I know is that I need to be as far away from him as I possibly can.
CRYSTAL
I run straight into the pouring rain, not giving a shit that I’m only wearing a onesie. There’s no time to grab a coat, no time to grab anything.
Because he’s right there, climbing down the steps of the fire escape next to the balconies.
Oh God.
Sheer panic forces me to move as I run toward the main area of the campus in the middle of the night. Hardly anyone is outside, and by the time I do finally come across a student, I can barely speak.
“Are you okay?” they ask, lifting their umbrella.
I suck in a breath, wondering what to say. “Just going for a run!”
“In the rain?”
I pick up my pace even though I must look insane.
If I told them the truth, they’d be implicated.
Mutilated.
Killed.
Just for knowing.
It’s not a question of if but a question of when. And I don’t want anyone else’s life to be in jeopardy.
I turn around the corner of the street but come to an abrupt halt when I see another stranger in a hoodie slowly walking in my direction. In one hand is a phone with open texts, and in the other is a knife just like the guy on my balcony. And on his face is the same eerie gold demonic mask.
Oh God. There are two of them.
That’s why he said we.
My phone buzzes again, and I hold it up, rain pitter-pattering down on the screen, which I swipe away to read the text.
Prick: Run … hide … wherever you go, we’ll find you.
My whole body begins to shake.
I dash to the right, away from the guy in the hoodie and run all the way across campus through the pouring rain, my clothes soaking wet when I finally get to the big doors of the main building. They’re closed off, and when I try to pull them open, they refuse to budge.
Everything’s closed. It’s midnight.
No one’s still here except maybe a guard just to shoo away any unwanted guests.
Shit. What do I do now?
When I look over my shoulder, my breath falters.
There are two of them now, staring me down from the far end of the main campus grounds, and I can’t help but wonder if they’re smiling behind those damn masks.
I run away as fast as I can in the only direction that’s still safe; the Spine Ridge gardens. My heart’s going a million miles an hour, and it almost feels like they can hear it. Like it fuels their desire to chase me even faster.
Every time I glance over my shoulder, at least one of them is right behind me, slowly catching up with me.
Shit.
Rain trickles down across my cheeks, and I brush my hair out of my face to see better in the darkness. There has to be somewhere I can go where they can’t find me. But before I know it, I’ve run all the way to the rose gardens.
My phone buzzes, and I take a quick glance.
Prick: Tick tock, little rose. What will you do? Run and hide? Or face your demons?
My feet almost tumble over themselves when I spot a guy in a gold demon mask with horns standing mere feet away from me, casually tossing a lighter up and down, the suit he’s wearing completely soaked through.