Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 60965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
This is taking too much time. I need to get going. My left foot moves first, all the way to the edge of the sill and as far as I can get with both of my hands still gripping the window frame.
I have to let go in order to lean over, and I do it so quickly and with so much force that I nearly push myself off. My head spins from the height, but I keep moving. My right hand grips the window and my left reaches for the brick closest to the pillar. My nails scratch at the rough stone, but my grip is solid.
I feel stuck for the longest time. The cold makes my hands numb and the wind is coming and going so frequently that I’m afraid the second I move, it will violently rip me away from the pillar, but I manage the motion in a single leap.
A scream is torn from my throat as I fall an inch or two until my sneaker hits the decorative carving on the pillar and I’m able to wrap my arms around it. Adrenaline roars inside of me and I pray Mason didn’t hear. And then I make another silent prayer: that this foolish plan will work.
Slowly, ever so slowly, I climb down inch by inch. The only places I dare to look are directly in front of me and up to the open window. I watch the curtains sway inside of the bedroom as I slip down the pillar at a snail’s pace, relying on the tread of my sneakers against the carved marble pillar for purchase.
I don’t even realize I’ve made it safely until I try to slide farther down and can’t. There’s ground beneath my feet.
Astonished and still very much consumed by fear, I note my sweater is torn with pulls everywhere, and I’m so cold I can hardly move my limbs. I look up once more at the open window and realize it’s only a matter of time before he realizes I’m gone.
Run. I don’t hesitate one more second. My sore limbs come to life as I take off down Mason’s driveway and I don’t look back.
Mason
I need to make two things clear to her.
I love her, and I always will.
She’s not leaving me.
We’re going to work through this one way or another. Even if I have to drug her. I know the chances of a roofie working at this point are slim to none, but depending on her reaction, it’s the only thing I can think of and the only easy out to make things right again. If only she would forget.
As I draw closer to the top of the stairs, a cold draft wraps itself around me. At first, I’m confused, then furious. She didn’t. She wouldn’t… my denial is pointless. I already know she did.
My pace picks up and I bang on the bedroom door. My knuckles slam against the hard wood door and I yell out, “Jules!”
How long has it been, maybe a half hour at most since I locked her in there? My heart hammers in my chest. She’s gone. She’s left me.
It’s no use. I can already feel the cold air seeping into the hall from under the door. The keys are already in my hand as I pound my fist against the door again like a fucking fool, nearly breaking down the door. They rattle as I find the right one and shove it into the lock before throwing open the door. I’m greeted with an empty bed and the biting cold blowing in through a torn window screen.
I stare at the window for only a second before taking long strides across the room, pulling the curtain back to look down at the ground outside. I half expect to see her lying dead on the grass.
She’d rather risk this than deal with me.
My throat closes at the bitter thought, and the harsh wind whispers, taunting me that she simply jumped to end it all. Relief is unexpected but welcome when I peer out and trace the footsteps in the snow. She hasn’t been gone long judging by how clean and clear the prints are.
My lungs threaten to fail me as I take off out the room and down the stairs, and I don’t stop moving as I snatch my car keys and phone off the front hall table. She’s out there with a head start and I only have so much time to catch her. My coat’s in the living room, but I don’t bother with it. I don’t bother with anything other than climbing into my Mercedes and reversing out of the driveway as quickly as I can.
A thin layer of sweat covers my skin and only adds to the freezing effect of the air.
If she tells anyone… I’m fucked.