Hideaway (Devil's Night 2)

Right there. I looked up, off to my right, and squinted my eyes ahead, making out the stone tower about two stories high and the tall, green shrubbery around it.

The Bell Tower was a ruin, part of an old village that died out over a hundred years ago when a bad storm drove everyone inland a few miles for safety.

“Hello?” I called again. Maybe someone was over there. “Hello?”

My heart raced. It was getting dark.

“Kai!” I shouted.

My foot caught on a log, and I stumbled forward, hearing a creaking branch to my right. I jerked my head, looking for where it came from.

Nothing.

Then a swoosh of leaves sounded behind me, and I spun around, panting.

“Who’s there?”

I caught sight of something black and turned my eyes just a hair to the left.

Kai stood there, leaning his shoulder into a tree and watching me.

I immediately took a step backward. “Wha—What are you doing?”

How long had he been there? He had been behind me, which meant I passed him on my trek. A chill ran down my spine.

He took a step, his mask dangling from his hand.

I glanced around. “Where is everyone? Why’d you bring me here?”

He didn’t answer, his eyes locked on mine as he moved closer. What the fuck?

I moved one step back for his every step forward.

“It was stupid of you to eavesdrop on me today,” he stated calmly. “And an even bigger mistake to reveal yourself earlier. I might never have known it was you.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, still retreating. The music in the distance felt like a lifeline all of a sudden, and he probably knew what I was thinking.

“You should run,” he said, his warning cool and quiet.

Should I? But this was Kai. I didn’t know him, but I’d watched him. He was the good one. The quiet one.

He was playing with me.

“You…” I stammered. “You won’t do anything.”

“Like I didn’t do anything to that girl in the shower?” he challenged me. “You think I’d go to all this trouble to get you here just to let you go?”

Maybe. Yes. Okay, no, but…

“You see, I don’t like being teased,” he continued, one of his eyebrows arched. “Respect and reverence are important to me, and you have neither. You need to learn a lesson.”

“That’s not true.” I did respect him. I didn’t know he was going to be in that confessional today. I didn’t mean to listen.

“I’m not afraid of you,” I told him, but my feet betrayed me, still backing up.

“That’s because you think you know what’s happening right now.”

And suddenly, I hit a wall.