Run Now, Panic Later
I broke Tyler's neck.
He will be fine given if Ethan was telling the truth about them being Immortal but the weight of what I had just done threatened to swallow me whole.
However, My legs didn't give me room to breathe, survival screamed louder. The others would be coming, I had to move. So, I spun on my heel and bolted down the stairs, the large doors clear in sight to run through. I headed right for it but I hadn’t expected my unnatural speed.
The world blurred into slithery beams around me as I tore through the mansion past the lingering silhouettes of Abigail and Caleb. I didn’t stop to register their expressions, I only had time to acknowledge the thunder of my own heartbeat.
I was fast. Faster than I had ever been.
The wind rushed past my hair as I shot through the estate’s iron gates, my feet barely registering the pavement under my soles. My muscles hummed with an electrifying energy, each stride propelling me forward at an inhuman pace.
It was exhilarating.
For a quick moment, I forgot everything, the lies, the stories, the sea of confusion storming inside me. There was only running, the pure freedom of it, of being untethered and bound to nothing.
The mansion disappeared behind me, swallowed by the towering trees lined up by the boulevards of the city. I wove through empty streets and shadows slipping between spaces with ease, my duffel bag slung over my shoulder like it weighed nothing.
I didn’t stop until my breath came in ragged gasps and my legs gave out. Sweat coated my skin as my adrenaline faded into exhaustion. I was hunched over by the parking lot of a tall building, my limbs ached, and the reality of what I had done was sinking in.
Then, I heard it. Doors hissing open. A bus.
Turning to the direction I heard it from, I staggered forward with my heartbeat thrumming dully in my ears. Somehow my legs had traveled far to reach the busier side of town. I climbed the stairs, barely aware of the driver’s bored gaze as I fumbled for cash and dropped into a seat by the window.
The excitement was gone. Only exhaustion remained.
I slid as inconspicuously as I could to the back of the bus with muted footsteps. My eyes met a pair of protruding blue eyes of a man sitting by the window seat of the back row where I intended to sit. Something about the way he was staring encouraged me to sit his way.
Perhaps it was the challenge in his eyes or his guarded demeanor that spoke of discomfort with my presence. I couldn't really tell I just wanted to take the seat by the window across from him.
I let my head rest against the glass, my fingers clutching the strap of my bag. My body ached, my mind reeled, but I had done it. I ran away.
The bus buzzed into movement leaving the sound of wheels grinding against gravel to sing in the air. It was loud, really loud, I winced. It didn't help that other sounds seemed to grow louder too.
I played with my fingers picking at the nails, my legs shook anxiously against the metal floors of the bus. My body was still sensitive. I hadn't thought about how exhausting it would be outside.
Everything felt irritating to an extent and that made me anxious. As time went by it felt like the more I sat there surrounded by the odd scents and sounds, the more I felt like ripping the windows apart and leaping out of it.
“I can't wait to get back home,” I mumbled to myself, biting my nails. I wasn't exactly sure where the bus was headed yet, all I knew was that I wanted to get as far away from Ethan and his people as possible. I would figure out the rest as I went.
I lost my phone at some point during the plane ride so calling was out of the question. Hypothetically I did use a payphone, there was a chance that calling my parents could potentially make things worse for them if God forbid, they had been captured.
So I would simply sneak into Springville. I should probably stop by an ATM to get cash for all the bus rides I'll be taking back.
“Are you okay Miss?“ a flat baritone cut through my thoughts. There was a lack of sense of concern in the tone that seemed to be reflected in the inquiry itself.
It was New York. Abigail had told me at some point there was an unspoken rule to not speak to strangers so I was surprised. I looked to my immediate left where the man beside me spoke from. His vividly cerulean eyes remained fixed on me, they were unsettling.
“It would do you well to mind your business” I replied rather snappishly before turning to face the window once more before he would take a chance to engage again.
I didn't have any time to talk to peculiar strangers. I needed to plan where I'd be heading from the bus ride to find a way back to Springville, back home.
“Are you sure? You don't look well at all,” he persisted.
I decided to ignore him. Surely he would get the message at some point. But then I heard him move. Quickly I snapped up raising my hand to defend whatever he was sending my way
To my surprise, I didn't feel anything heavy like I'd immediately expected. Instead, a Sharp sting prickled my right arm and almost immediately I felt a wave of dizziness wash over me.
“Someone call an ambulance,” I heard the man yell.