Chapter Thirty Noah
Chapter Thirty
Noah
Goldie’s eyes are like saucers as she stares back at me before she starts swinging.
“Fuck,” I yelp, holding my arms in front of my face as she slaps them before trying and succeeding to kick me.
She steps away quickly, creating space between us, as I hold out my hand, a finger up.
“Shh. Don’t scream . . .”
Her eyes are wild as she searches the room. She’s definitely looking for a weapon, and I’m beginning to wonder if maybe she’s going to be the one who does the job and puts me in the ground. I see her eyebrows raise before she swipes up a fake knife off a console table.
My brows start to draw together because it’s one of those plastic ones that have fake blood dripping on the inside, but then I still my expression because I’m not trying to make her any angrier.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she shrieks, making me wince. I put my fingers to my lips to shush her again, because I need her to calm down and be quiet.
“Killer . . .” I say calmly, but she stabs the knife at me, making her hair bounce with the way her body jerks ragefully.
“Don’t call me that . . . Why are you here?”
My hands are out in front of me as I try to urge her to be calm, but it’s not working.
“You need to listen to me . . .”
She scoffs, drawing her head back. “Fuck you. I need to listen to you? Who do you think you are, coming in here and ordering me around? Because I know who you’re not—my boyfriend, my fiancé, a guy who refrains from lying . . . Should I keep going?”
Jesus Christ. I’m going to have to pick her up and throw her over my shoulder, while she literally tries to stab me in the back, to get her the hell out of here.
She growls, making my eyes pop open wider.
“And how did you even know I was here?”
Shit. I take a step forward, wanting to explain, but she scowls at me, so I step back. “Okay . . . I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to talk, but I’d preferably like to do that away from this camp.”
She laughs, but it’s a mix between panic and a callout of what she clearly thinks is my audacity.
“You’re not going to hurt me?” The face she makes is half smile, half I hate you. Oh shit. “Says the fucking guy who just had his hand over my mouth.” Her voice raises way too loud. “And broke my fucking heart!”
“Baby, I didn’t want you to scream,” I rush out, instinctually closing the distance between us.
Her eyes pop out of her head as she hurries backward, and I see it in her eyes.
She’s going to scream for help.
Goldie’s mouth opens, and I know it’s coming, so I pounce, sealing my palm over her mouth again and wrapping my other hand around her body. Our eyes are locked, both pleading with the other.
She’s trembling and I hate it, but I need her to listen. But then her eyes move down, and I realize in the moment that she’s fake stabbed me.
Damn. My girl actually stabbed me.
“Okay . . .” I breathe out as I look back at her. “If you’re done fake murdering me, I’d like to talk.” I swallow. “I promise I am not here to hurt you, Goldie. But you’re in danger, and I need to get you and your sister out of here.”
Her brows draw together, and I can feel her chest slowing as she stares up at me. Seconds tick by as we just stare at each other. And I know that holding her like this isn’t ideal, but it’s really nice to be close to her again.
I let out a breath and take advantage of the silence.
“There’s a lot to say, but this isn’t what you think . . . I’m not the bad guy, killer. But someone dangerous is here, and I think he wants to hurt you, and maybe Evie too. So we have to get the fuck out of here, okay?”
I hear and feel the fake knife retract from my gut.
But when she doesn’t say anything, I realize my hand is still in place over her mouth.
“I’m gonna take my hand away now. No more screaming . . . Nod if you understand.”
She hesitates, then nods.
I take a deep breath and slowly remove my hand as we never break eye contact. You could cut the tension with a knife. Her lips part as she breathes steadier and then slowly lifts her hand, making me tense before she brushes her hair from her face.
Her voice is quiet as she stares up at me. “How am I supposed to trust you?”
I frown because what I want to say is, Because you know me. But that’s not true anymore. So I go with reason.
“Why would I come all the way out here just to lie to you? How do I gain in that?”
She only blinks once before this time she cuts me with her words. “I don’t know . . . Why would you lie about who you are for a whole fucking year?”
My tongue darts out as I lick my bottom lip. “Killer . . .” She raises an eyebrow. I drop the nickname. “Goldie, I promise I’ll tell you everything if you just come with me. Time is actually of the essence.”
She shakes her head and crosses her arms, and it’s a look I know all too well. It’s the equivalent of You’re fucked.
“No,” she levels. “Tell me everything right now, and then I’ll decide whether I’m leaving with you or we’re fighting to the death.”
“Jesus,” I breathe out as I run my hands through my hair, my cool breaking. “This is not the time to be stubborn.”
A scream from outside quickly draws my head over my shoulder. And that means like an amateur, I take my eyes off her. The next thing I know, the sound of the bathroom door shutting and locking echoes through the small space.
“Goddammit,” I grit through clenched teeth before banging on the door. “Goldie, I’m not fucking playing. We need to get out of here.”
“You’re a criminal,” she yells. “You stalked me, and now you’re trying to kidnap me.”
I bang on the door again. “No. I’m not. Will you please use your head? This is fucking ridiculous. I’ll knock the door down.”
I step back as I eye it up . . . Jesus, are those real logs?
She doesn’t just yell back at me; fury oozes off each word.
“Are you calling me stupid? Fuck you, Noah! You don’t even know how to spell ‘convenient.’”
I throw my arms in the air. “Nobody spells that correctly. Would you please just come out of the goddamn bathroom.”
I’m met with silence, which makes my fucking jaw clench.
“Goldie!” I take in a deep breath, letting it whoosh out before I drop my forehead against the door. “Baby, please . . .”
She’s giving me the silent treatment, and unless I can put on another hundred or so pounds, there’s no way I’m getting past this door and keeping the use of my shoulder.
Something’s got to give. Fuck it.
“You want the truth . . . fine. I’m scared to death.
There are truly fucked-up things in my past that are putting you in harm’s way.
And I couldn’t ever tell you because I was afraid of losing you.
Joke’s on me, though, right, because that’s exactly what happened anyway.
I fucking love you, killer. I haven’t been able to eat or think clearly without you.
This week’s been torture, but I swear I stayed away to try and keep you safe.
So please just let me get you out of here, and I’ll explain everything with all the finest detail you want. ”
My palm presses to the door as I wait for her to say something. To say anything. She doesn’t understand what this feels like, for her to look at me the way she does. It’s hell.
“Baby . . .” I say again, waiting, but the front door swings open, and I spin around, meeting Chase’s face.
“What are you doing? You’re supposed to be the lookout.”
His forehead wrinkles. “Well, your girl just ran by in her pajamas, flipping me the bird, so look out.”
“Fuck,” I groan, and run past him, out the front door.
“She’s faster than I thought,” he yells at my back. “The chances someone picks her off are slim.”
I bark back, “Get to the party and get Evie . . .”
If we don’t die tonight, Goldie’s going to be the death of me.
My feet carry me quickly as I weave through the crowd, getting glimpses of her red hair as she walks quickly ahead of me.
She glances back at me as I call out her name. “Goldie, wait.”
My heart is beating a mile a minute because everywhere I look, someone poses a threat. This place is fucking unreal. Chase wasn’t wrong when he said Halloween was the perfect night for a serial killer to hide out in the open.
Everywhere I look, I see ten new versions of Billy.
There are just too many knives, masks, and hammers. Someone’s even carrying a chainsaw. I can’t tell what’s real or fake. And that makes my pulse speed up even faster.
I swear to god, this is just my luck. Imminent death is everywhere, and my girlfriend won’t stop fucking running away.
“Killer,” I yell louder, pushing past a guy in a Ghostface mask, but the crowd goes wild around me, chanting her nickname and yelling out as if it’s a joke.
“Yeah, killer” . . . “I’m a killer” . . . “Kill me.”
She looks over her shoulder one last time before disappearing around the corner of a building, so I shove through two people, hearing them gripe “Hey!” before I cut through the rest of the crowd to where she went.
As soon as I get into the shadows between the two buildings, I catch only a glimpse of her, because she closes a door behind her.
Instead of running, I glance over my shoulder ensuring nobody’s following me before heading in her direction, because I don’t know what I’m about to walk in on.
I think I saw the word “Cafeteria” on the front .
. . So this time there could be real knives.
I get to the door, pulling it open slowly before sliding inside, then quietly close it behind me. I’m in a kitchen.
The room’s dark but not pitch black. So I stand for a moment and let my eyes adjust before I look around for her.
“Goldie,” I whisper cautiously, putting one foot in front of the other as I walk deeper into the space. “I swear to god, I am not here to hurt you.”
I reach carefully into my back pocket and pull out my phone, but as I bring it to my face, the light gives away my exact location. I hear a grunt from my left side before something hard nails me right in the shoulder.