I swing the front door of the building open. I’m running so fast I can’t even begin to see my feet hitting the ground. Night is falling upon us. Luckily, the guys outside weren’t expecting me, which gives me a head start.
“Get her!” I hear one of them shout.
They’re not too far behind. The road’s empty, no cars to be seen. Haze’s building just had to be in an isolated spot. I wish I could lose them, but the way the street borders the apartments makes it impossible. I’m exposed, darting in the center of the road. There’s no escape. I try and reach for my phone in my pocket, but then I’m reminded that Ryan tossed it. I left it upstairs. I signed my own death warrant.
A car roars loudly behind me. It’s getting closer and it’s going fast. Too fast. It’s one of them, it’s got to be. What am I going to do? I can’t outrun a car. My heart is beating so rapidly it seems impossible that I haven’t had a stroke yet.
In a scene worthy of an action movie, the car passes me and loudly hits the brakes right in the middle of the road, screeching as it stops and blocks the way. I desperately search for a way out. I search and I search, but there’s nowhere for me to run.
This is it…
I’m going down.
28
Dilemmas
Tears. It’s all I can see when the door flies open and a broad-shouldered silhouette rushes out of the car. It takes me a second to recognize him, for the familiarity of his tall frame to sink into me.
Haze.
He’s here.
I don’t recognize his car. Without a word, he runs to me, his eyes telling a million stories, and goes straight for my face. He cups my cheeks with his hands and examines me obsessively. “Thank God. Are you okay? Did he touch you?”
“I’m okay. I’m okay.” I nod in distress and hold on to his jacket as if I need to make sure that he’s real.
“I’m so sorry, Winter. I’m sorry. I had no idea, I…”
In that moment, I don’t care about what he did. I don’t care that he disappeared. I cry in relief and throw myself into his arms. He holds me as tight as possible, but our reunion is short-lived when footsteps come running down behind us. We turn around.
There they are, a few feet away from us. Three guys. A redhead, a guy with black hair, and Ryan. His eyes are red, burnt. He glares me with a hatred I’d recognize anywhere. Murder lies in his gaze. He walks toward me, but Haze steps in front of me, his arm and body immediately shielding me.
“Don’t even think about it,” he says through gritted teeth, and Ryan stops dead in his tracks.
“Get out of my way, Haze.”
“You’re not touching a hair on her head.”
The tension fills any empty space it can find and renders the air toxic.
“Let me guess, Trev told on us,” Ryan says.
Haze doesn’t reply, but the answer is all over his face.
“I knew we couldn’t trust him,” Ryan says to his friends. “He’s weak. His guilty conscience always gets the best of him.”
“At least he has one,” Haze spits.
“Listen…” Ryan starts. “This doesn’t need to get messy, man. We just want the girl.”
“You’re going to have to kill me.”
I compress Haze’s bicep. He’s basically challenging them into killing him. He needs to stop.
The red-haired guy next to Ryan speaks up and steps forward. “That’s what you call not seeing her anymore? You’re a liar, Haze. This girl needs to stop being a fucking problem.”
“Really, Andrew? You too? I’d expect that coming from Ryan, the piece of shit, but you…” Haze says in disgust. “You were my friend. I trusted you.”