18
DAWN
I left the door unlocked; thank god I left the door unlocked. It reverberates through the room with a bright heavy thunk that I feel in my bones as much as the ache in my hips. But … my hips are better, aren’t they? And my knees … Yes, definitely better.
But even that won’t help me once I’m fighting monsters. I race for the stairs, tearing up toward the second story, gripping the banister hard — my palm is on fire with friction burns.
The front door crashes into the wall. “Come on, girl, we know you’re here!” His voice is a malevolent sing-song, the voice of someone who already thinks he’s won. Fucker. “You have something we want, just give it up, and we won’t hurt you.”
I leap over the top stair and take off down the hall. No time, no time, no time.
What do they want? I don
