Total pages in book: 187
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 184867 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 924(@200wpm)___ 739(@250wpm)___ 616(@300wpm)
Remember the route. Remember.
God, why can’t I remember?
Panicked, I run off to one side and into the maze, left, right, C, right, right, left, left. I don’t know where I’m going, and when I turn a corner and come to a dead end, I can feel my own breathing pick up.
“Little rose … I can smell your perfume luring me.”
His low, gravelly voice makes goose bumps scatter on my skin.
I turn around, and a rose’s thorns scratch my cheek, but I keep running into the next turn and another one until I’m lost in the maze once more. The roses in this part are unkempt and completely overgrown, and I stumble over the prickly branches, nearly falling into the bushes. I only manage to capture myself on … two strong arms.
“Hello, darling, going somewhere?” Long black hair flows behind the mask, and I take a step back.
“Blaine,” I mutter, jerking myself free from his grip, and I bolt off as fast as I can.
“Run, run, my darling! We both know they’ll find you eventually. But I do enjoy watching this chase.”
I can hear him laugh behind me as I keep running in the opposite direction of wherever the crackling sounds are coming from. Twigs snap in half and make me gasp as I turn around to a ghostly figure wearing nothing but a black pair of pants and shoes appearing from behind the hedge, sparkling gray eyes boring a hole into my chest.
Ares.
My blood runs thick with icy cold fear as I rush in the opposite direction, but then I see another figure emerge from the darkness, blond streaks of hair and tattooed skin peeking out from underneath a hoodie.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I run to the left, and within seconds, I find myself out of the maze, running across campus grounds, past the Skull & Serpent Society building, and into Priory Forest and beyond. I don’t stop running, not even as my lungs grow frigid and my body begins to shiver as painful spasms shoot up my legs.
The adrenaline keeps me going, makes me feel alive. It makes me feel like I could face the world with a smile because no matter what it sends my way, I can take it.
Thanks to them.
Caleb
I can see her bolting past the campus grounds from a distance, and I signal Ares to her location, who goes for the pursuit.
A chase like this is all I’ll ever crave, and now that Crystal had a taste of us, I just know she can’t get enough of it either.
Blaine passes me by. “Gotta run quicker than that.”
“I don’t see you helping,” I rebuke.
“I already had her in my clutches,” he muses.
I frown at him. “You had her? And you let her go?”
“Of course. Gotta give her a head start against you guys.”
I grumble. “What the fuck, Blaine!”
“Where’s the fun without a chase?” he says, shrugging. “Now go on, chase her. I’ll be waiting.”
He runs right past me, headed straight for Priory Forest, and I fucking hate that the sheer length of his legs makes him faster than me.
“Keep running, slut! Doesn’t matter where you go; we’re going to fucking catch you,” I yell at Crystal, letting off some steam before I bolt into the woods she just entered.
I zigzag past the fallen trees, keeping an eye on the others. Ares is to my right, a little in front of me, but when I look ahead, I can clearly see Crystal running up the hills behind the school.
That cheeky little thing thought she could escape us by exiting the rose maze? Not a chance.
We run as fast as our legs will take us, slowly but surely catching up with her.
One glance over her shoulder has me going wild with lust.
“That’s it, slut, run for your fucking life because when we catch you, it belongs to us!”
We come up to a giant wall, which she’s scaling, and I jump up and make the climb right behind her. To my left, Ares runs around the other side, disappearing from view. But I don’t give a damn what he’s going to do because I’m nearly there. I can hear her breath and heavy grunts as she drags herself up the slopes toward Priory Lake.
Right before she manages to lift herself at the top, I grab her ankle and hold on tight, adrenaline invigorating my decrepit mind. “Gotcha.”
Crystal
When I look down and see the demonic mask staring back at me, I shriek. Caleb’s tattooed hand curls around my ankle, forcing me to stay put when I was just reaching the top.
Shit.
I try to shake him off, to no avail, and then I see the shadowy outline of two feet crackling on the dead leaves in front of me. My gaze tilts upward toward the stars, a familiar set of equally blinding eyes staring right back at me through the devil’s mask as the man goes to his knees and takes my chin with a firm grip.