11:59 p.m.
I DUCK DOWN and pull my hoodie close around my face. Ahead of me the girl with red hair is picking up speed; she knows she’s being followed. I pick up my speed to match hers. I only want to talk to her, but I can tell from the way she’s moving that she’s terrified. I slow down at the sound of muffled footsteps behind me. I turn and see a figure coming after us.
I don’t need to see their face to know who it is.
It’s him.
My heart starts pounding beneath my ribs, pumping blood through my body so hard and fast that I can feel the cut on my leg begin to throb. I pull back, into the shadows, and wait for the man to pass. He turns the corner, and I see his body language change as he sees the woman ahead. I recognize the shape of him, the angles of his body, and I know exactly what he is planning to do.
I move from my hiding place in the shadows. I stride out, toward the man, toward danger, my actions my own but my fate left wide-open.