Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96112 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 481(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
In a fraction of a second, my heart went from hammering to stopping. Complete darkness met me like a brick wall, and I blinked rapidly. Sucking in a sharp breath, I left distant hollering and shouting behind, and I veered left to get away from the other prey.
At first, I didn’t hear anything other than my pulse rushing in my ears. The adrenaline hadn’t reached the important senses yet, and doubt tried to take over. I swallowed hard, my gaze flickering to find a path I could take. Make your path. I held out an arm, preventing branches from whipping me in my face, and cut through the thick vegetation.
Someone ran past behind me, panting.
New sounds invaded my ears. Twigs snapping, the underbrush rustling, shoes scuffing against the forest floor. My eyes were adjusting. My footfalls found a rhythm with my heartbeat.
I stumbled into the smallest of clearings and barely managed to steady myself.
A guy whizzed by me, causing my breath to hitch. I decided right then and there to avoid anyone I saw. There were already going to be mistakes once the Predators were unleashed. I was bound to run into a Top who had to make sure I wasn’t who they were hunting.
Time to think strategy. The forest wasn’t massive, and it was surrounded by fields. It was big, yet small enough to be certain that the whole area would be utilized for the bottoms’ attempts at finding a hiding spot. So I would stay away from the perimeter. I would also get away from the middle and pick a side. Which would give me a fifty-fifty chance that Colt would start searching the opposite side.
I gasped as another shot was fired, letting us know the Predators were coming for us. I scanned my immediate surroundings and went straight for the thicket to my right and picked up the pace.
I saw a babbling little brook straight ahead, and I jumped across it.
“What the—” I hauled in some air and searched the treetops frantically as a weird sound echoed through the forest. It sounded like wheezing laughter. And it got louder and louder.
Get ready for the mindfucks our Sadists have planned…
Lucas’s warning came back to me.
The speakers. They had planted speakers all over and were playing sound effects in surround sound. A dark chuckle came from the east, a bark of a laugh from the west.
A woman’s scream pierced through the air, and it flooded me with fear and anger. Anger because fuck this fucking shit; I wasn’t going to let them take me down with noises.
Is that all you got, motherfuckers?
I clenched my teeth and ran deeper into the woods.
“Run, prey, run,” came out in a girl’s singsong voice. It sounded suspiciously like Ivy. “Run, prey, run. Run for your life, not because it’s fun.” Her tinkling laughter breezed through the trees. “Run, prey, run. Run because Daddy’s got a gun.”
The forest was alive.
Adrenaline pumped through my bloodstream, and I came alive too. Hyperalert and more determined than ever, I— “Shit,” I panted. The sirens started wailing, and the red flashes pounded on my retinas.
Smoke billowed around me.
The first prey was down.
“I’m coming for you, Tate!” someone yelled.
Too close. I sprinted down a dirt path as the alarm quieted, and I found cover behind a boulder.
An exhale traveled through the forest, turning into a low, drawled chuckle. Colt. I’d know that voice anywhere. He’d recorded sounds, too. Then the chuckle died, and he growled, “I’ll make you fuckin’ crawl, boy.”
I let out a shaky breath, half expecting fear to cripple me. It didn’t. My hands were steady. My heart kept hammering, but my senses were on high alert, and the thrill had shot into my veins like a heady drug.
“Fuck you!” a girl screamed. “No!”
I hunkered down and kept an eye on my surroundings. The scream hadn’t been too close, and I didn’t want to run as soon as I heard someone. I had to save my energy for the fight.
For the fight… God, how my way of thinking had changed.
The sirens returned, louder this time. I must be close to a speaker. The red lights flashed, and the mist from the smoke machines grew thicker.
The undergrowth rustled heavily nearby, and I was just about to flee the site when a hand clamped down on my shoulder. Panic set in, and I formed a fist and swung it around until it thudded hard against a chest.
“Ouch,” a man coughed.
Oh, thank fuck. It wasn’t him. Wrong voice, wrong clothes. “Wrong prey, Sir,” I squeaked and ran away.
I ran. I ran too far. I ran past a man fucking a girl into the forest floor, and I jumped across the brook again. Red flashes all around, the sirens bounced between the trees, more screaming, and another recording. A man whispering everything he was going to do to his prey once she was captured.