I had to get off the street. Get somewhere safe. Somewhere with a million lights I could turn on to block out the nightmare.
But I barely made it half a block before something hard and heavy hit me from behind. I went down like a rock, and a second later, the monster had his thick, gnarled fingers wrapped around my ankle. I was yanked upward just like the blonde girl had been, flipped upside down so quickly the world spun in my vision.
A scream ripped through my throat, but it did nothing to stop the monster as I was dragged over several roofs. My palms scraped against rough surfaces as I scrabbled for a handhold—something, anything, to keep myself from being sucked away into the pitch darkness of the night.
“Let go of me! Let. Fucking. Go!”
Adrenaline pumped through my system, giving me the strength I needed to fight back. My backpack had ended up dangling off one shoulder, and I swung it hard, over and over again—but the beast, the monster, the creature of nightmares didn’t stop. I screamed helplessly into the night again.
My energy was fading fast, and my grip loosened on the backpack strap. The heavy bag crashed into the alley down below as the creature tightened its grip on my ankle. Pain coursed through my bones, radiating up my leg like an electric shock, and I closed my eyes tight. I didn’t open them again.
I heard something… but it was muffled, like I was a hundred feet underwater.
The girl, maybe?
No. Something monstrous. A howl—a call for reinforcements.
Thwack!
Pain exploded through my skull and down my neck, crippling me.
Thwack!
This time, the blow didn’t hurt.
It just turned my world to complete and utter nothingness.
Chapter Two
Consciousness crept in slowly, like a tide creeping up a beach, washing over me in waves.
Every inch of my body felt like it had been tenderized by a butcher, and not in a good way. Despite the heaviness of my lids, I forced them open and was greeted by blaring sunlight. Its brightness gave me an instant headache.
“Ugh.” My arms felt like they were made of spaghetti as I tried to push myself up to sitting.
I finally managed it, pressing hard against rough pavement as white spots danced in my vision.
Fuck. What happened last night? What the hell did I do?
For a second, it occurred to me that maybe I had partied too hard. In my attempt to forget about Colin and the betrayal he had dealt, maybe I had downed one too many consolation cocktails.
I blinked away the sunlight, my eyes finally adjusting to the brightness of it. But as the world around me came into focus, I sort of wished it hadn’t. Nothing about my surroundings made me feel any better.
I was in an alley.
Trash littered the ground around me, and the whole place smelled vaguely of old food and wet asphalt. Something was stuck to my face, and my hand flew up to pat at my cheek. Dear sweet baby Jesus, please don’t let it be a condom wrapper. I tore it off my face and was relieved to find it was just a Milky Way wrapper—which was still totally disgusting, but given the other possibilities, I was relieved.
Using the brick wall as a support, I forced myself to stand. The tops of my boots were scuffed and my knees felt bruised, like I’d spent all night giving some dude a blowjob. And now that I thought about it, my mouth did taste a little funny.
My stomach churned. What on earth had I gotten up to last night? This wasn’t like me at all; I honestly hadn’t partied that hard in years. And despite being pissed as hell at Colin, I hadn’t meant for the previous night to turn into a major bender. The fucking asshole wasn’t worth it.
That’s the last time I get trashed out of my mind, I promised myself. But while it was logical to assume I’d ended up in a grungy alley based on a series of poor decisions, something about the whole thing just didn’t feel right to me. There was something I was missing here.
But what?
I stumbled out of the alley and onto the street, glancing around to get my bearings. I thought I recognized the street name to my left, so I walked that way, my footsteps still unsteady. It must’ve been late morning, or maybe even early afternoon—lots of people were out and about. Despite my daze, I couldn’t miss the fact that several of them gave me odd looks. One woman looked at me, did a double take, then dragged her young daughter across the street.
Fucking Jesus. She probably thinks I’m some prostitute dragging herself back home after taking it in the ass all night. Damn you, Colin, you piece of shit.