1. Lilah #3
I barely get the car into park before the engine dies.
Omen’s already outside; he looks up as I pull in, his expression changing the second he sees me.
I should be afraid of him. He’s huge at six-feet-seven, with jet black hair and tattoos that cover the majority of his body.
He's a scary-looking guy, but I’m not afraid.
He was one of the men that found me running from that cabin.
To me, Omen is safe, he’s the only one that’s safe.
He doesn't come to the car, doesn't knock on the window, or tell me to hurry up. He just waits while I stare through the windscreen, trying to make my hands stop shaking. They don't, but eventually, I force the door open, the cold air hitting my face.
"He found me." The words scrape out of my throat.
Omen doesn't ask who, he already knows. “Okay."
That's all he says, one word, no disbelief. Just... okay.
He falls into step beside me as we head inside. The clubhouse is loud, filled with voices, laughter, and music. It all fades into the background as he leads me into a small office at the back.
"He left flowers," I whisper. “On Lucy’s grave.” The words tear from my throat. I hate that he was close to her again.
Omen doesn't interrupt.
"The back gate, someone opened it." I swallow hard. "The kitchen window was unlocked. I convinced myself that I was imagining it, that I hadn’t locked them.”
Omen is quiet, watching me, waiting.
"I saw him,” I whisper, my entire body shaking. "He was at the cemetery." My voice cracks. "He smiled at me."
Omen leans back in his chair. "If he found you once," he says quietly, "he'll find you again."
The words knock the last bit of hope out of me. "I know."
"You can't stay here,” he tells me, his voice thick with anger, but I know that it’s not aimed at me.
"I know." I've known since the second I heard him say my name; I just needed someone else to say it.
Omen studies me for a long moment before leaning forward. "I've got a friend in Boston."
I look up, my heart racing, my hands shaking. I have no idea what to do right now. The fear I feel is overpowering. I thought I could survive after what happened, but I can’t, not here, not in Connecticut.
"He'll help."
I don't ask how or why, I don't have the energy.
"There are people who do this," Omen says. "People who make sure someone disappears when staying isn't an option anymore."
Disappear. The word settles somewhere deep inside me. I need this. In order to survive, I need to disappear and start over again.
"You'll have an apartment, a job, and a fresh start. No one will know where you've gone.” The way he says it makes me believe him.
I look down at my hands, at the scars that are peeking through. "What if he finds me again?"
Omen doesn't hesitate. "He won't."
I shake my head. "You don't know that."
"No." His voice stays calm. "But I know the man I'm sending you to." I look back at him and swallow past the thick lump in my throat. "He'll keep you safe."
When I look up again, Omen is gone, the office is gone, and I'm back in the cabin. My wrists are tied to the chair, the rope cutting into my skin as I fight against it.
Lucy is across from me, blood covers the front of her clothes.
"No."
She reaches for me, her hand stretches across the space between us, but I can't reach her. I never can.
"Lucy."
Her lips move; at first, I can't hear her, but then her voice fills the room. "Run."
I pull harder against the ropes. "I'm not leaving you."
"You have to."
"No."
The cabin door opens behind her and Evan steps inside, his hands are in his pockets, the same way they were at the cemetery, my stomach revolts as he smiles at me. "I found you."
Lucy shakes her head, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Run, Lilah."
Evan moves toward her. I scream her name, fighting the restraints until my wrists burn. "Please. Don't touch her."
He pulls the knife from his pocket, and the blade catches the light.
"No!"
Lucy keeps her eyes on me. "Live enough for both of us."
Evan raises the knife, and I scream.
I jerk awake with Lucy's name tearing from my throat. For a few seconds, I don't know where I am. The room is dark, and my sheets are tangled around my legs. My heart is beating so hard it hurts, and each breath catches before it reaches my lungs.
I shove the covers away and scramble backwards until my spine hits the headboard.
Boston. I'm in Boston, in my apartment, the bedroom door is closed, the windows are latched. Evan isn't here and Lucy isn't either. That truth hurts more than the nightmare.
I press both hands over my face and try to breathe, but I can still see her reaching for me, I can still hear her telling me to run.
A floorboard creaks somewhere outside my apartment, my head snaps toward the door. I stop breathing as another sound follows: footsteps in the hallway.
Slow, heavy, and coming closer.
I reach beneath my pillow and wrap my fingers around the knife I keep there. The footsteps stop outside my apartment. Silence. I sit frozen, the blade clenched in my hand, waiting for the handle to move. It doesn't.
A key slides into the lock across the hallway, and the door opens, then closes. My neighbor, nothing more. I lower the knife, but it takes several minutes before my heart follows. The clock beside my bed reads 3:17 AM I won't sleep again tonight.