“There she is,” came the gritty voice of my nightmares. “The one that got away.” Davis was leaning against the passenger door, arms crossed and looking casual, like he didn’t have a worry in the world. Only his eyes gave him away; they were hard and angry. Angrier than I had ever seen them, and it made the thick flow of dread that was already winding through my veins feel even more dire.
Feeling my panic rise, I twisted my arm hard, surprising Spaz enough that I was able to break his hold, and I didn’t hesitate. Running as fast as my shoeless feet could carry me, I sprinted up the alley, desperate to reach the cross street where I could see cars zooming past.
“Get her!” Davis’s voice echoed off the walls of the narrow alley, making it seem as though he was everywhere at once.
“Fucking bitch,” Spaz spat, his booted feet pounding after me as I ran, but I didn’t dare look back. “I am so done chasing your skinny ass.”
Reaching the corner, I took a hard right, hooking my hand on the rough concrete wall of the hospital as I tried to control my turn, but my speed got the better of me, and I careened off the sidewalk and into the road. The traffic was much busier here, on the front side of the hospital, and as I darted into the busy lane, I could hear the wail of a siren getting closer by the second. A horn honked from somewhere nearby, and I could see people, patients and staff members alike, staring at me as I skidded around in my sock feet, racing toward the main hospital entrance, its bright red sign calling to me like a desert oasis.
It was the scream that made me stop. That and the squealing tires.
“Someone help him,” came the frantic shout, and I turned, wondering the heck everyone was looking at, because it was no longer me.
No, they were now all looking at Spaz, his body twisted and bent, lying lifeless under the back tire of the ambulance. How I had managed to avoid getting hit, I had no idea, but Spaz had not been that lucky.
As people all around me flocked to the scene, I used the distraction to head for the door, wanting to be as far away from Davis as possible. As I approached the main doors, they slid open, and I stepped back to make room for the trauma team rushing out with a gurney. I was about to step over the threshold, my brain telling me that inside was safe. Inside was where this would all finally be over.
But nothing was ever easy for me.
“Not so fast.” The arm that circled my neck was thick and strong, but it was the feel of a gun to my back that had me freezing.