Cold Revenge by Mary Stone & Donna Berdel

Author:Mary Stone & Donna Berdel [Stone, Mary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-13T22:00:00+00:00

15

Rob tilted his disposable coffee cup all the way back, draining every drop before sighing. “I want another one. Please? You promised.” He clasped his hands under his chin and batted his eyelashes.

Gabe laughed. Always such a ham, his Rob. “Okay.”

He got up from their cozy little table to order another coffee, but the register was so far away. He kept walking and found himself inside a tunnel. The bright lights of the café vanished, along with the laughter and chatter. A crackling sound filled Gabe’s ears. Soft at first, but growing in volume the farther he disappeared into the tunnel’s depths. He whirled in a circle, desperate to go back, but nothing but darkness greeted him. The coffee shop was gone.

“Rob? Rob, where did you go?”

The yawning blackness didn’t answer, but in the shadows, a murky figure writhed. The crackling grew louder.

Fear pierced Gabe’s heart. “Rob, is that you?”

The darkness slithered around Gabe’s ankles, grabbing at his jeans with invisible hands. His breathing quickened, and he kicked up his pace. He wondered briefly why the shadows felt hot rather than cold, but the thought turned into a rat with beady pink eyes and raced away, his spindly tail twitching behind him. A rising certainty deep in his chest fed a growing dread and made him want to howl into the void.

Gabe shook his head. The dark was messing with him. Once he found the barista and ordered Rob that second latte, everything would be okay.

In the distance, a circle of light appeared. Finally. Gabe was so relieved that he laughed out loud. The sound distorted, echoing off the walls and turning into sinister whispers. Gabe froze. No, wait. The whispers were coming from the darkness behind him. Someone else was in here. Stalking him.

Shaken, Gabe turned back toward the light and broke into a sprint. The tunnel poured into a room with tall ceilings, sending Gabe tumbling headfirst into a pile of junk. The light here was bright. So glaring, after the pitch-black corridor, that Gabe couldn’t open his eyes. He crawled around the objects blind, on all fours like a dog.

“Rob? Rob?”

The heat grew in intensity, and Gabe started to sweat. Where was the damn barista? This was absurd. A loud crunch came from behind him.

“Rob?” He wanted to look, but his eyes refused to open, so he patted his way along the path of scattered objects, trying to move his hands and legs even faster. Behind him, he sensed the presence growing closer.

His fingers closed around a rectangular shape in his path, preparing to fight the monster stalking him. The familiar shape stopped him short. A book. He was holding a book.

Like magic, the realization restored his vision. He opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by books: on shelves, in heaps on the floor. He laughed out loud in relief.

“Rob, you dork. Why didn’t you tell me we were in the library?”

He rose to his feet and turned, expecting to find his boyfriend standing there, flashing that naughty little grin that Gabe adored.

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