Page 171 of Callan

Most people are someplace else. Getting ready for the New Year’s Party.

I try to calm down.

There’s nothing to worry about. I’m close to the sidewalk. If anything looks suspicious, I just turn around and leave.

Frankly, I shouldn’t be here, but I’m caught in an overwhelming battle of conflicting feelings.

On the one hand, I want to be here, reliving the moments I had with him.On the other hand, something tells me to go home.

I do the opposite.

After carefully scanning the area and finding nothing that could trigger a flight or fight response, I walk down the alley.

A bench nearby makes me flirt with the idea of spending a few moments there. I inch closer and check the wooden bench.

It’s covered in ice, so that’s a no for me.

Finally, I decide to turn around, exit the park, and go straight home.

There’s nothing for me here.

I won’t find him here.

And nor will I find anything connected to him.

Zipping my eyes away from the bench, something catches my attention. I freeze and look away.

A few good feet from where I stand, a group of trees blocks the access to a clearing.

You have to go around to reach that open area. And just as I’m getting ready to leave, something dark––it looks like a man’s silhouette––slips from behind the trees and walks to the clearing. I peer into the distance, struggling to catch sight of that man again.

If indeed it was a man, the way he moved as if he was hiding was positively strange.

No longer interested in trying to locate him and absolutely determined to get the hell out, I spin around and rush away.

The branches crackle in the wind, and the snow crunches a little louder than it should have, and I’m no longer sure it’s only the sound of my frantic steps.

The thought rattles me to my core.

I move quickly as the exit seems to pull farther away from me with every step I take when a random thought prompts me to glance over my shoulder.

My hair stands on end as two burly men make a beeline for me.

I take off running while they close in on me, coming from two opposite corners of the park as if rounding me up, and my worst fear materializes when I finally reach the exit.

Two cars await in front of the park, and two more men bark orders at each other, getting ready to block my escape and grab me.

For a moment, the scenic view of the park becomes my worst nightmare.

I can’t believe that feet away from where I struggle to maintain my calm and not lose my mind while looking for a way to save myself, I spent my first night with Callan.

Right behind these men, there is the spot where he had parked his car, opened my thighs and made me come while setting the first rule we both broke later.

I was never supposed to touch him, and then I did.

And now I’m running for my life.

Suddenly, everything clicks in my head.

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