Her chest felt tight and sore; inhaling brought sharp pain. She didn’t let herself exhale too fully yet. She felt terror spread through her body. She pushed it away.
Hold it together, Kyla!
She inched along slowly on the balcony, making her way down toward the guest room’s terrace doors. After she passed those doors she looked ahead. Directly on the opposite junction of the rectangle she saw the set of doors to where the light had been on earlier. Her heart felt like it was beating in her ears. She took a mouthful of air in and tried to erase the image of his eyes from her mind. She had to go, regardless of the fact that right now she felt like she was being pulled back toward that bed by magnets. It felt like every vein in her body was throbbing and aching and reaching back toward that bed.
She thought that this could still be blocked by the gates, she wasn’t sure, and felt discombobulated so she decided to keep going to the opposite end to where she’d seen the light earlier. As she rounded that corner she could see that there was a drop-down ladder that she would have to pass. Should she take it instead?
She had no idea if it would make noise or not so she decided to keep walking and stick with the original plan. Before taking another step, though, she quickly got into her track pants and hoodie and stuffed her flip flops into the kangaroo pouch of the hoodie. They wouldn’t do her any good right now, would probably just slow her down, so she’d put them on once she got outside the house.
She tried to remain calm and steady even though she felt so weak and ill from all the blood loss and retching. Her body pleaded with her to give up and try tomorrow instead. Something else in her pleaded with her to give up and try never instead. She heard him in her mind, remembered when he’d said, “I’ve got you,” but pushed any emotions those words wanted to stir up away. She pushed ahead and finally she was at the set of doors. She peered in the window and although it was dark there was a faint glow under a desk credenza giving off enough light that she wouldn’t likely trip over anything in there. It was an office and it looked unoccupied. She pulled on the latch. It didn’t budge. It was locked.
Fuck!
Her heart started to race as she pondered what to do next. Should she go back?
Wait…Yes!
The window directly adjacent to the door was open about 2 inches. There was a screen. Kyla ripped at the screen and the mesh dug into her fingers.
Don’t bleed, Kyla, don’t bleed!
She saw the threat of vampires coming from every angle in her mind the second she spilled a drop of blood. Maybe that wasn’t the case. Maybe it was. She didn’t want to chance it. She pulled her fingers back, turtling them into her hoodie sleeve and tried to pinch through the fabric to rip a hole into the screen or rip the screen off the frame. She just needed enough room to get her wrist in and push through and unlock the door.
Digging at the screen through a thick hoodie wasn’t all that effective. She was so afraid of drawing blood. She pushed at the screen hard and its frame started to bend. Kyla pushed harder, a grunt getting caught in her throat, and finally the mesh gave way at one corner and she was able to push her wrist through and shove the window open wider and then reach the door latch. She fumbled with it for what seemed like an eternity until she found the lock and twisted it. She carefully pulled her arm back out and then grappled with the door. By the time she was inside, she was breathless. Her arm had a few scratches but she didn’t bleed. She closed the door as softly as she could.
She found herself in a large library-like room with a big desk in the middle. Beyond the desk and several chairs there was a long conference table for over two dozen, there were tall bookshelves filled with hardcover books, a wall of wooden filing cabinets with shiny brass fittings, a computer, a telephone…Should she call 9-1-1? She stared at the phone for a minute, wondering if she should call the police and get them to rescue her.
There was a clatter, commotion from somewhere outside of the room. It didn’t sound too close but she wasn’t sure.
“Kyla!” she heard him yell. It sounded strangled. Was his voice full of rage or pain? She didn’t know but every nerve in her body prickled in response.
She held her hand over her mouth and held her breath for a long minute but her body was in full trembling mode. There was silence for a while, she didn’t know how long, then she heard a muffled voice, then someone call out “Where?” in the distance. It might have been in the courtyard. That wasn’t Tristan’s voice.