Soulmate Run

Don’t look up

I forgot how to breathe.

The black combat boots stood motionless at the entrance of the aisle.

They didn't rush toward me.

They didn't move at all.

The silence was unbearable.

Every instinct screamed at me to run.

I couldn't.

My legs refused to listen.

I stared at the polished floor, terrified that if I looked any higher...

I'd see the face of the man whose voice had been haunting me.

One step.

The boots moved.

Slow.

Controlled.

Another step.

The sound echoed through the empty aisle.

Closer.

Closer.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Please...

Please don't let this be real.

The footsteps stopped.

Right in front of me.

I could feel someone standing there.

Watching me.

Waiting.

My hands shook so violently I had to grip the edge of the bookshelf to stop them.

The voice returned.

"Visual confirmed."

A tear slipped down my cheek.

So this was it.

This was how I died.

Seconds passed.

Nothing happened.

I frowned.

Why wasn't he moving?

My breathing slowed just enough for confusion to creep through the fear.

Very carefully...

I opened my eyes.

The boots were still there.

But something was wrong.

He wasn't looking at me.

He was looking...

past me.

Like he was checking every corner of the aisle.

Every shelf.

Every possible escape.

Methodical.

Professional.

Not angry.

Not emotional.

Just... working.

The thought somehow terrified me even more.

To him...

I wasn't a person.

I was an assignment.

Then another thought reached me.

"No witnesses."

My heart stopped.

No...

No, no, no.

There were students all over this library.

People studying.

Reading.

Talking.

If he was thinking about witnesses...

My stomach twisted.

Would he...

No.

He couldn't.

He wouldn't.

A chair scraped somewhere behind the shelves.

The sound was small.

Ordinary.

But his head turned instantly.

Every muscle in his body became still.

Listening.

A student laughed in the distance.

Another set of footsteps crossed the main aisle.

The moment stretched.

Then...

"Too public."

Relief crashed into me so suddenly it almost hurt.

He wasn't going to do it here.

Not because he couldn't.

Because he wouldn't.

Not with this many people around.

Hope flickered inside me.

Tiny.

Fragile.

Dangerous.

He took one slow step backward.

Then another.

Without a single word...

He turned.

The boots disappeared beyond the end of the aisle.

I stayed frozen against the bookshelf, afraid the second I moved he'd come back.

Five seconds.

Ten.

Nothing.

I let out the breath I'd been holding.

I was alive.

I actually...

I—

"Maintain surveillance."

The thought slammed into my head so hard I nearly cried out.

Surveillance?

He wasn't leaving.

He was handing me over.

Someone else was still here.

Watching.

Waiting.

My eyes darted across the rows of bookshelves.

Every student suddenly looked unfamiliar.

Every backpack.

Every phone.

Every face.

Someone in this library...

was helping him.

And I had absolutely no idea who.