It takes me a moment to realize one of them is not a military uniform. Swaying in front of me is a grey cloak.
His father storms to his office door, and I hear him jiggling the doorknob furiously. “Why is my office locked? Did you do that too?”
I realize there is no way I am not going to be found. There is only so long someone can hide in a closet for. I open the door quietly and wait.
Bryce’s dad is one of them, a Beast.
I have been running all day from Beasts. It is time I face one head on. I grab the military blade from the wall and stare at the door intensely.
The door lock turns, and its unlocked. The doorknob turns, and the door opens into the hallway. With all my might, I kick the door out, and it strikes his father in the face, dropping him to the floor.
I try and run past him, but he grabs my loose pants.
Bryce watches us in horror and runs into his bedroom.
Mr. Jamison pulls on my pants with force, and I drop to the floor. With the knife firmly in my hands, I swing at him. Mr. Jamison easily manages to grab my hand and take his knife back. Why I ever thought I could take on a military trained specialist is beyond me, but I had to try.
Mr. Jamison uses his body weight and slides on top of me. He firmly places his hands around my neck and squeezes.
I feel the pressure of his strong hands taking my life.
I slap Mr. Jamison in the face, but he smiles back. “You got fight in you, girl. I’ll give you that.” I manage to scratch his face and can feel his skin under my fingernails. His grip tightens in response.
Bryce stands over his father with his concert trophy in his hands. He brings it down with a heavy force on top of his father’s head. His father’s grip loosens immediately, and he rolls over.
Bryce manages to hit him several more times before he looks at me. “Go! Now!”
I cough as I get to my feet and hurry down the stairs. I don’t have the travel bag or the money, but run out of Bryce’s home as quickly as I can.
I run down the block as fast as I can. A woman watering some flowers in her front garden stares at me confused.
A hear a sports car driving up the street loudly. The car follows my pace as I continue to run.
I look over and realize its Chase Aldridge’s car. He lowers the window and smiles. “Must have been some night.” I ignore him and continue to run. “I saw you go into Bryce’s home. I was waiting for you to come out. If I wanted to hurt you, I could have done so a long time ago.”
I slow my pace. “You’re one of them! Don’t even fucking lie!”
“I’m a Beast, you’re right. My father is one. My father before him. Yadda, yadda.”
I stop out of breath, and he pulls his car up beside me. I lean against the side of his car. His passenger side window opens, and he calls out to me, “As I see it, you have two options. You can run through the Creston neighborhood and make your way through one of the lesser known trails in Ryland, camp out in the woods somewhere and get eaten by nature’s beasts, or you can jump in my car. I can go fast. We can go to the city. Go wherever you like. Wherever you feel safe.” I lower my head and look at him. He looks at me with a thin smile, lowering his sunglasses to look at my eyes. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”
“Why do you want to help me? You’re one of them.”
Chase takes off his sunglasses completely and stares at me empathetically. “I care for you. I’ve been trying to help you the whole time.”
I stare blankly at him. It would not take much for him to jump out of his car and grab me, but he doesn’t. He’s calm and collected. He also would be someone who has the resources to help me escape The Beasts.
I look down the street towards Bryce’s home but see no one.
“Decisions, decisions,” Chase says jokingly. “Would this help make up your mind?” Chase pulls out a revolver from inside his suit jacket and points it at me. He smiles and turns the gun handle towards me. “Take it. I showed you how to use one before. The safety is off. I do anything you do not like, blow me away. Hell, you can take it with you when you leave. Or you can take it and run through town like a maniac if you like instead.”
I grab the gun, and sit down in the passenger seat, shutting the door loudly. I point the gun towards him. “I choose to believe you.”
Chase puts on his sunglasses and nods his head. “Just don’t point it at me with your finger on the trigger, darling. We are about to go amazingly fast.”
Chapter 5
Lance
I quickly run through the Smithson property and jog lightly once back on the street towards my car. Once inside, I turn on my cell tracker app on my phone. It gives a location close to this neighborhood. Above her location it says in red, “Last Known Location.” I am not completely sure what that means, but hope she’s holed up at this spot.
I quickly make my way to her location. I notice the neighborhood as being where her friend, Bryce, lives. The tracker app ends almost right outside of Bryce’s block.
I do not know Bryce very well, but I know his father. He is one of us. Harker Jamison is one of those guys who could recite you every rule in the Beast handbook if you asked him. Military trained and smart, he is dangerous.
