My eyes fell closed.If I had anything to do with proceedings, their boss wasn’t going to be having anything from me.
“I didn’t think it would be like this…”
One of them was still protesting as their voices trailed away toward Hawkins’ office, my senses primed in case they changed their minds and did a one-eighty.I stayed there long after their voices were no longer audible, suspended in the intensity of such a close brush with danger.Even though the apparent risk had passed, I couldn’t compel my feet to move again.
“Come on.”
Whispering the words into my chest, I tried to coerce myself, but the quiet darkness of the room had taken on an odd solace I hadn’t expected.I didn’t know what waited for me outside, but in that moment at least, I was safe in there.
“I have to get Eli and get out of here.”
In the end, I persuaded my fingers to turn the handle, and peeking my head into the corridor, I checked the coast was clear.
They’re gone.This is as safe as it gets.
Stumbling out into the hallway, I blinked at the abrupt light.The shadows had been my sanctuary, but the only way out of the shithole was in the light.
Inching to the end of the corridor, I glanced nervously in both directions, trying to decide which way to go.For all I knew both led to certain doom, and with no new information to guide me, it was essentially a fifty-fifty choice.I opted to stay against the wall that was currently propping me up and turn right, a decision that gripped fresh apprehension in my stomach as I forced myself on.
The new hallway was narrower than the last one, and a quick survey of it revealed there were no obvious doorways.If another of Hawkins’ friends came wandering, there’d be nowhere to hide.The next encounter was going to be a lot messier and there wouldn’t be a damn thing I could do to take it down a notch.
Best keep moving.
It was the only thing I could think as I lurched on, trying to stay as close to the wall as possible.I wasn’t entirely sure why, but dragging my free palm along the fading paintwork centered me somehow, as though the wall was going to absorb me in any worst-case scenario.I seemed to have conveniently forgotten that it was the black weapon in my other hand that was likely to be my savior, the gun hanging toward the floor as my journey progressed.
The passageway seemed endless, meter after meter of faded paint, all part of the same never-ending labyrinth sent to torment me.Glad to be away from the morons sent to supervise me, I was still far from safety and no closer to finding the man who’d smashed into my world and turned everything on its head.
Without Eli, I’d never have found myself in the grim destination, would never have encountered Hawkins or have ended up tied-up in his hideous office, but that was mainly because without Eli, I’d have probably frozen to death in the wilderness.
Eli was both the bane and the solution, the poison and the remedy.For everything he’d put me through and all the trauma he’d inspired, I should have despised him, but a part of me recognized I was desperate to see him, to know he was okay and see where our fated alignment could lead.
“Keep going, little girl.”His voice burst into my mind, its timbre consoling.“You should be proud of how far you’ve come.”
The thought emboldened me, reminding me to raise the gun,just in case,and hold my head up.Eli was right.Why should I hide and feel anxious?I’d done nothing wrong.Armed with a weapon and a purpose, I had every chance of succeeding.
Smiling, I skimmed my fingertips over the edge of the gun.I might not know much, but I knew the thing was loaded and I knew where the trigger was.
The next guy on Hawkins’ payroll who came strutting along to play was going to get a lot more than he bargained for.
