Dark Wish (House of Sin 1)

The doors open.

I’m ready to fight, but luckily, we’re alone.

I breathe a sigh of relief and step out with Anna following suit.

It’s only a small room with one exit. Not at all a safe space to be for two wanted girls on the run, but it’ll have to do. I wasn’t ever going to go down those main stairs with all the guards lined up, ready to jump us. This was the only other option. That, or somehow finding a way to destroy the bars on the windows and making a grand escape there. Not the greatest idea.

“Wait here,” I whisper to Anna. “If they come … hide in the elevator and go back to your room.”

She swallows and nods. “I just hope this will work. I don’t want to anger Tobias.”

I pray the same, as I definitely don’t want to get on their bad sides. We just have to get far enough away from them so they can’t catch us anymore when they find out we’re gone.

My hand pushes against the door, opening it just a tiny bit. I peek through and spot two cooks stationed at the far end of the room chopping vegetables for a soup.

It’s now or never.

I glance back at Anna and beckon her to come.

With one big push, the door opens wide right as Anna grabs ahold of my hand.

We run across the room to the other side of the kitchen, where a door leads out back into a garden. The two men haven’t noticed us yet, as they’re too busy chatting and making noise with the pots and pans. So I push down the big door handle and make our great escape.

The fresh outdoor air hits me like a brick, and I suck in a breath as we run. The grass tickles my bare legs, but I pay no attention to it as we head for the forest right in front of us. I don’t know where we’re going, and I don’t even care as long as it’s as far away from this House as possible.

“Where the hell are we?” Anna asks as we run into the woods.

“I don’t know,” I reply. “Eli never showed me how I got here. I was drugged.”

“Right,” she responds. “But what’s your plan?”

I shrug as we move through the woods, the bright sun lighting my path. “I don’t know. But there must be a road somewhere.”

“What if a wall surrounds the property?” she asks.

I pause among the fallen leaves because I hadn’t even thought about that yet. I swallow back the nerves. “We’ll think about that when we get there.”

I continue running, but Anna remains put. “But what are we gonna do if there is? What if they find us first?”

The panic is starting to show on her face. I have to pull her out of it.

“Don’t think about it,” I say, and I go back to grab her hand. “You’re here with me now. I’m going to get us through this. You just have to trust me.”

“Okay. I’ll try.” She nods a few times, and I turn around again and make sure she follows me. I don’t want to lose her. I spent way too much time trying to save her, so now I have to push through and make it happen. I have no other choice. This is it.

However, these pumps are really starting to wear me down. Grunting, I tear them off my feet and chuck them away. “Good fucking riddance.”

Anna pauses and giggles. “Why didn’t I think of that?” She quickly rids herself of her high heels too.

“We have to be careful, though. Barefoot can be dangerous, so be aware of where you step,” I say. “Let’s go.”

We run through the forest together, across the many puddles and dead leaves that rustle beneath our feet. We jump over thick logs, which is hard when you’re wearing an extravagant dress. And I don’t think it’s a coincidence we had no other outfits to wear. These clothes definitely weigh us down.

Suddenly, I hear a crackling noise behind me. The noise makes me glance over my shoulder.

Two eyes catch mine. My breath falters, and my throat clamps up.

It’s a guard.

What feels like minutes is actually mere seconds before the guy starts running toward me.

I don’t think twice and run like hell.

“Get back here!” the guy yells at me.

“Run!” I squeal at Anna.

The sheer terror in her eyes is too much to take, but I can’t console her now. We only have one shot to make it out. We have to escape this man before he catches either of us and alerts the others.

Suddenly, I hear his voice. “I got eyes on the two. Over.”

“What’s your twenty? Over,” another voice replies.

The scratching noises every time someone speaks reveals what it is. A walkie-talkie.

“Forest. North. Headed toward the beach. Over.”