Page 148 of Made for Sinners

After what felt like forever, the tunnel began to slope upward. The air changed—less stale, more alive. I quickened my pace, heart pounding with anticipation, and finally, finally, I saw it.

The exit.

Camouflaged by thick ivy and overgrown brambles, the stone outcropping was barely visible from the outside. I pushed through the brush, the leaves scratching at my arms, and stepped out into the night.

Cool air hit my face like a slap.

I breathed in deep—fresh, wild, unfiltered air that didn’t carry the weight of a thousand expectations. The woods stretched out around me, dark and quiet, the trees swaying gently in the breeze.

I was free.

For the first time in months, I was truly free.

I tilted my head back and looked up at the stars, scattered across the sky like diamonds thrown by a careless god. I laughed—quiet and breathless and a little unhinged—and took a step forward.

Then another.

I didn’t have a destination.

I just wanted to walk.

To feel the earth beneath my feet and the sky above my head and know that, for this one moment, I belonged to no one.

Not even him.

I don’t know how long I walked.

Long enough for the adrenaline to fade. Long enough for the silence to settle.

And then I heard it.

Crunch.

A footstep.

Behind me.

I froze.

Every instinct screamed at me to run.

My legs felt like lead, frozen in place, even as my chest heaved and my vision blurred with panic. Slowly—so slowly—I turned, flashlight raised, the beam trembling as it sliced through the trees.

Nothing.

The silence pressed in, heavy and suffocating, broken only by the frantic pounding of my own heartbeat. I took a step back, then another, my breath coming in short, sharp bursts.

Crunch.

Closer this time.

I spun around so fast I nearly lost my balance—and that’s when they stepped out of the shadows.

Three of them.

No—four.

All masked. All dressed in black. Their faces were hidden, but their eyes… their eyes were locked on me, cold and unfeeling, like I was prey.

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