You Look Beautiful Tonight: A Thriller by L. R. Jones

Author:L. R. Jones [Jones, L. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Published: 2023-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifty-One

Present . . .

I cannot believe this is happening.

I managed to escape the building stairwell and even found my way behind the bushes framing the parking lot to the building. Then I blew it all by falling and yelping with the pain in my belly. The whimper of pain, truly the smallest of sounds, placed me in what I fear is almost an ideal position for whoever followed me out of the building.

I suck in a breath and curl my lips around my teeth, my legs trembling as I balance on my heels, my fingers curled around the letter opener with a death grip, aware, oh so aware, that it is my life it may well protect. Seconds tick by, laden with my fear that what comes next is more blood. More death.

But there is no sound, no crunch of boots on gravel, no movement, nothing to tell me whether the person who followed me from the building is moving toward or away from me. Silence lingers and breaks apart with a low, angry rumble of thunder, a bear in a cave, warning of its mighty rage, ready to explode upon the world below. A random icy-cold droplet splatters on my nose, almost as if it’s calling me to action, telling me it’s my time to run before the deluge is upon me.

I want to listen to this warning—I do—but if I run again, I risk the noise giving away my location.

If I stay where I am, though, I also risk being found, being attacked.

Despite how recent events might argue differently, I am not exactly the girl who wants to shove a knife in someone’s body, nor am I a fighter. My love of jogging does not translate to me being athletic. I do not lift weights. I do not know karate. I didn’t even participate in gymnastics as a kid.

This means staying and fighting is a bad idea.

The sky opens up, rain showering down from the heavens above, and when it does, so do I.

I start crawling right, down the line of the trees, biting my lip, silencing my whimpers of pain with another curl of my lips around my teeth, the iron taste of blood on my tongue. Get up, I think in my head, run, but my body is anchored in pain. Still, I manage to keep moving. Forward I crawl, forward, forward, and then a blast of awareness so strong rushes over me that I don’t even dare look back. I just act. I push upward, rising to my feet, and run, run as hard and fast as I can. Fear drives me, consumes me, is a part of me as if it were my skin, my blood, my muscle. My hair is wet, draped over my scalp and face, my clothes a soaking-wet mop of weight on my body. But the road is near—it has to be near; please let it be just ahead—but I can’t see it. I can see nothing but darkness.

And then it happens, that thing we all laugh about when we watch horror movies.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.