Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
Ivy
I ride my bike as fast as I can up the hill where Spine Ridge University is situated. The steep and curvy road follows a mountain path surrounded by pine trees. Every day, I made this trek up and down the mountain to attend the university while I still slept in my own home. But now that I have those Skull & Serpent guys after me, I can’t risk going home and putting Cora’s safety in jeopardy, so I’ve opted to stay somewhere else for the time being, somewhere far less cozy.
Joining a sorority this late in the year was out of the question, not to mention that I can’t pay the associated costs. My only option was an abandoned house halfway up the mountain road, colloquially known as The Shack.
There are a few empty rooms and lots of stains on the flooring and walls, but there’s one relatively clean room upstairs with a dirty bed where I’ve put a new sleeping mat and a blanket on the floor. It’s better than sleeping on that filthy bed or out in the cold air, and it’s already getting darker outside.
But with every push of the pedal, my eyes can’t help stray to the car persistently driving behind me. There are no streetlights for me to see who it is, nor are there lights turned on inside the car. But I can definitely tell it’s driving far slower than it should be … and it’s been like this for the past fifteen minutes.
I glance over my shoulder again and try to peer inside the vehicle, but no matter how hard I pinch my eyes, I can’t fucking see.
“Goddammit,” I growl, nearly crashing on my bike, but I catch myself by swerving around the road.
I come to a stop in front of The Shack and swiftly chuck my bike into the grass before I head inside and shut the door. With labored breathing, I make my way to the living room and lean over the couch, ripping away at the wood that blocks the window until I’ve managed to peel off a corner. I peer through the hole I created and nervously look around the premise and all the overgrown bushes and weeds.
But then I spot that same car, parked a few feet away from the house.
I do a double take.
Something flickers between the trees in Priory Forest and I suck in a breath.
Is it a flashlight? No.
An LED purge mask. Not one, but two.
And the guys wearing them are dressed in all-black streetwear, including chains and a white Skull and Serpent Society logo on the front of their shirts.
Silas and Heath … are marching straight toward me.
Panicking, I crawl backward, falling off the couch headfirst.
“Fuck,” I groan, rubbing my head before I get to my feet.
I have to get out of here, fast. But how? Where?
I run into the kitchen and rummage at the door, but it’s locked and bolted shut.
“Shit!” I growl, and I run back through the living room and bolt upstairs, skipping several steps.
Right as I enter the bedroom door, there’s a loud banging noise downstairs.
I shut the door and hide under the bed.
WHAM!
The front door is knocked open, and I jolt up against the wooden slats of the bed.
“Oh, Ivy …”
His voice makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“I’m baa-hack!”
It’s really them.
“Miss me?”
An unsettling laugh makes me shudder underneath the bed.
If I stay here, they’ll definitely find me, but where else am I supposed to go? The doors are locked. The only way out … is running straight into their arms.
“You know you can’t hide from me, right?”
Crack. Crack. Crack.
His footsteps as he heads up the stairs make my heartbeat shoot through the roof.
“Little thief, little thief … let me come in.”
Fuck.
I fish into my pocket and search for the only thing that can help me right now. My little pocket knife that I always carry with me.
“Not by the hair on my chinny, chin, chin.”
That was definitely Heath. His voice is much, much lower than Silas’s … and much more ominous.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Silas laughs. “Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in.”
WHAM!
The door to the bedroom is slammed open, and I hold my breath.
They’re here.
I swiftly cover my body with the blanket I bought underneath the bed.
“I’m impressed at your ability to lie, twig,” Silas says.
“Almost had me fooled too,” Heath adds as they enter.
I can see their black-laced boots as they waltz around the room, searching every nook and cranny. The closet is thrown open, all the contents that were left spilling out onto the wooden flooring. Objects are smashed against the walls, windows are torn open, and not even the bed is spared.
That’s when I spot him. Bent over. Looking straight at me.
Heath .
Strands of his painted brown hair fall over his face as he gazes around, and I can see it all right through the fabric of the blanket. Our eyes actually connect. But for some reason … he doesn’t see me.
He grunts and stands up again, and the footsteps sound farther and farther away.
Did they leave?
I wait a few more seconds, my ragged breath the only sound I hear as I clutch my knife so hard it feels like my fingers might break.
After a while, I push the blanket off me and look out from underneath the bed. They’re not in the room anymore. I have to be quick.
I crawl to my feet, kick off my shoes, and run to the stairs in my socks, praying they won’t hear as they search the other rooms. One. Two. Three steps down.
CRACK .
My pupils dilate.
“There!”
Heath’s voice sets me off, and I race down the stairs as fast as I can and storm out the door. I can hear them bolt down the stairs behind me as I run to the side of the house where I left my bike, but my eyes widen as I come to a full halt.
The front wheel has been taken off.
Oh God.
The front door slams open.
Shit, no time to think.
I run off into Priory Forest, not even checking where I’m going as I need to get away from them as quick as possible. I fall over a couple of rocks and catch myself on the ground, grazing my skin until it bleeds, but I still keep going. Because when I glance over my shoulder, two dark figures are chasing my tracks, their masks like warning signals beaming through the woods.
“Keep running, little thief!” Silas’s voice booms through the woods. “I’m still going to catch you.”
He’s insane. He’s completely, utterly insane!
I go to the left and zigzag downhill through the forest, trying to shake them off by disappearing in the sea of leaves, but every time I look, they’re still there, running after me like hounds who’ve been set loose … and I’m the prey they’re going to catch.
“Run all you want, but there’s no escaping us, Ivy,” Heath calls out.
I glance over my shoulder.
THWACK!
A knife whooshes right past me and lands in the tree beside my face, barely avoiding my skin.
I rip it out and keep running as I tuck it into my pocket. If they don’t stop coming after me, then at least I’ll be ready when they pounce on me.
“Yes, that’s it. Run, little thief,” Silas growls. “Do you even know how badly it turns me on?”
A maniacal laughter follows that makes me acutely aware of every step I take.
My feet hurt from running across gravel and uneven ground with only socks on, but I refuse to give up. I have to get out before they find me, but they’re slowly catching up to me with every passing minute.
I only have one choice—lay low and hide.
From the corner of my eye, I spot an alcove with an overhanging rock overgrown with bushes, and I make a beeline for it when they’re momentarily out of sight. I jump underneath and throw a whole pile of leaves on top of my body while I make myself as tiny as possible.
The wind blows through the trees, making them sound alive as they creak with movement, the howling noise making me shiver. But I stay put with my breath held and my body stiff as can be while their footsteps close in.
“Oh, twig, where are you hiding?” Silas yells.
“Come out now, and we might go easy on you,” Heath adds, but I can hear them snigger at each other.
Lies.
Even though I can’t see them, I can hear them circling the area, kicking leaves aside with every step. And then … nothing.
The wait seems forever.
Did they bolt off in a different direction?
My eyes open slightly, and I gaze around through the debris I stacked on top of myself while hidden in this alcove.
Maybe I managed to shake them off?
I take in a deep breath as my eyes skid across the forest floor. I don’t hear a single step.
“Nothing excites me more than hunting a wicked … little … thief.”
His voice is the first thing I hear before sparkling green eyes connect with mine … floating right above me. A devilishly sharp grin grows behind the mask as Silas leans over the stone.
“Boo.”