XXII
Tori
U nlike a lot of college campuses, James Keyingham is a closed one. A tall wall with decorative wrought ironwork on top circles the grounds. There’s a main entrance, a service entrance, and one near Denali House that used to be the private entrance for the dean when he lived there.
The wall has been standing for a long time, but it’s not to keep students in, so much as to keep others out. With so many students coming from influential and affluent families, however, at some point, someone probably realized this was a good way to protect them.
Despite the appearance of protection, there’s no curfew on campus. Students can come and go as they want and even though there’s always someone in the security office at the gate, no one needs to check out. If there hadn’t been a game this weekend, most people would have left campus last night. It’s an hour to New York, and if most people don’t have a home or second home in the city, they know someone who does.
When Syn told me to run, I did.
Earlier, when I dressed in this stupid cheerleader outfit, I noticed it was the first time he’d given me running shoes instead of a pair of heels, but I figured that was because cheerleaders wore them. Not because I’d be spending this evening running.
When I asked to take part in the initiation, I hadn’t done so completely blind—I knew sex was a part of it. Syn was anything but subtle about that aspect. I keep telling myself sex is just sex, and if I allow myself to enjoy it, I could do any depraved act asked of me.
Or so I’ve told myself.
But now with the threat of having to service every member, every night for a week, that argument wasn’t so convincing any more.
Not when Syn gave me an opportunity to avoid it.
There aren’t many places to hide on campus. Going back to my room, even to get my phone, feels like a trap. And there’s no way I’m going to Penny’s. The camera was still up outside my room when I’d been there earlier today, so a quick look on that will tell them I’m not there.
Hopefully, they’ll search the university before they think to look for me off campus. Assuming I can sneak out without security seeing me to buy me some time before they start checking their security system.
As I hide in the shadows of one of the blind spots I’d found when trying to work out how the hell my brother could supposedly kill someone without being seen, I try to keep my focus on the only two members of security at the gate.
When one of them gets up, walking in the opposite direction of the church, I creep towards the gate, ignoring the fact that the last thing I should be doing in a skirt this short is crawling, and get down on my hands and knees to stay below the view of the window.
Then I’m running down a country lane as fast as I can with the little bit of light the moon is offering as it ducks behind thick clouds. It’s not until I reach the main road into the local town of Keyingham that I slow.
I’m not sure what time it is, but it can’t be too long past ten. Even so, Keyingham seems more like a retirement village than a bustling college town, is dark and quiet.
“Now what?” I mutter to myself.
Now what to everything…
Keyingham didn’t have a bus, and the last train went through at ten. I had no phone, no wallet, no jacket, and no fucking underwear.
With a sigh, I come to a stop, wrapping my arms around myself. I’m still hot from running, but my skin is ice cold to the touch. Sleepy town or not, I can’t stay out here like this. I can see my breath in the air, and the sidewalk is sparkling with ice crystals. If I head back now, I might make it to the house before Syn’s curfew, and if not, I can spend the night in a classroom.
I turn on the spot, just as I hear a low rumble. There are heavy clouds in the night sky, but it’s not thunder. It’s a car engine. Or several. The kind of engine that comes with a high-performance car that so many students at JKU have. In the distance, I can see pinpricks of headlights.
My heart seems to leap into my throat.
The drivers are coming here looking for me.
If students were going to leave campus, they’d have done it long before now. There’s an Elite party in full swing, and no one’s leaving that. Not unless they’re told to.
Which means whoever is in those cars are here under Syn’s orders.
So, I turn and run, bolting around the first corner. As I get to the end of the block, I hear cars passing the top on the main street I’d only just been on. Rounding the corner, I swerve into the parking lot of one of the few cafes in town and duck down behind the wall.
My options are limited.
There are only a few stores around the town square like cafes and a pizza place. There’s a fire station, and the police station… but if I were chasing someone, I’d make sure to have people waiting outside them.
Main Street will eventually lead to the next, larger town, where there’s a Walmart, a hospital, and a lot more options to hide, but that’s a few miles with no cover. The other roads that spiral off are residential. Maybe I could find a garage that’s been left unlocked.
I close my eyes and concentrate. Whoever’s hunting me is doing so in cars with obnoxious engines, and the one advantage of this dead town is that the noise carries.
The Elite has about sixty members spread out across all four of the college years. If I assume the worst, Syn has sent all of them. There’s probably only half the student body with cars because, like Penny, they’ll just send for a service when they want to leave campus. Most with cars have the kind with no back seat.
If I was given the task of hunting me down, I’d split them into three. Keep some hunting on campus. I think Syn underestimates me and probably still thinks I’m at the university. But just in case, I’d send two groups off campus. Some headed left into Keyingham since it’s closer, but a few headed right in case I could make it to the next town.
Five cars, ten people? Maybe double that?
I’ve barely explored Keyingham other than Main Street, but I saw trees at the end of the street before I hid behind this wall. Oaks with thick trunks, and diligently maintained shrubbery give more places to hide than sticking to well-lit streets where most buildings sit on the sidewalk, and there are no cars to hide behind.
Certain there isn’t a car in the immediate area, I poke my head out from behind the wall and look to the trees. There’s no cover between here and the corner, but once I make it there, I should be okay.
Without wasting more time, I sprint across the road, wincing at the sound of my footsteps echoing around me. I don’t slow, and when I reach the corner, I’m relieved to see the buildings thinning out into fields, lined with low, stone walls. I quickly run across the road, scrambling over the stone wall, and then drop down behind it.
The grass on the other side is long, coarse, and poking at me between my legs, but before I can stand, I hear a car engine. Ignoring my discomfort, I stay low.
“Here doggy, doggy, doggy.”
I’m not sure if they’ve been saying that while they’ve driven through town, or if it’s because they saw me run in this direction. Even though my head is already below the wall, I drop to my hands and knees, and hold my breath.
The car moves slowly, but it doesn’t stop.
I wait until I can no longer hear the engine or their whistling before I slowly stand.
Which, of course, is when it starts to rain. A steady stream that’s not quite water, but not snow either, instantly cools my body from after running. For a brief moment, I consider staying here, making myself comfortable behind this wall, hoping I could wait out the morning.
It’s one thing to stay out in the cold, but being wet is going to make this a hundred times harder.
And I’m not ready to give up yet.
Keeping on this side of the wall, I run across the field until I reach the trees at the end. By now, most of them have lost their leaves, and they offer me little protection from the wintery rain. But with the clouds almost completely blocking any light, I’m stumbling over roots and whatever else lines the ground.
At this rate, I’m going to trip and break my leg, and then I’ll really die out here.
I make my way back towards the road. Although the concrete would be safer to walk on, I stay by the trees in case I need to duck behind them. My progress is slow; however, and two more cars pass me before streetlights finally start to line the road.
At this point, I’m not even sure I’m still in Keyingham. The road I thought led to one of the residential areas probably leads to the next town.
Then, from further down the road, I see the headlights before I hear the rumble of an engine. Exhausted, I move back into the trees and lean against the trunk as I wait for the car to pass.
Syn said run, so I did.
Now, with the air so cold that it feels like my throat is being sliced open with every breath I take, and every inch of my body feeling like it’s on fire until I touch it, I’m wondering if getting caught is the better option.
As headlights light up the area, the low whistle of someone calling for their dog pierces the night air.
Instead of stepping out of the shadows, I flatten myself against the damp wood.
It’s only when the car has gone that I remember something.
“The safe word.” My lips are trembling so much that I’m not even sure what came out of my mouth was what I tried to say.
Could Syn come up with something worse?
Should I just let myself be found and face the consequences?
Or what if there’s only another hour until sunrise?
Even thinking is an effort now, and I’m not even sure I was making much sense.
Pushing myself off the tree hurts, but as I head down to the road, I tell myself I’m done hiding.
The rain has eased off, though the only difference it really makes is that I don’t have to squint to see.
I force myself forward, dragging my feet more than walking properly. I’m not sure how long I’m walking for but finally, I see something in the distance.
Lights.
Praying it’s a house—because I will knock on the door at this point—I start to move faster.
And then I realize the low buzzing I hear is not in my head.
Stopping, I slowly turn on the spot, but the roads are empty. Until something compels me to look up over my head.
It’s a damn drone.