Page 50 of Stalked

Blake's side-eyes me. “I’m barely seventeen, what do you want from me?”

Right on cue, the lights from inside go out. The heater from inside that you could hear outside goes out. I can’t see anything. Blake becomes a blur, and when I feel a hand grab at me, my body screams at me to fight.

“Come on,” Blake growls, tightening her grip on me.

“Uh, y–yeah.” I’m at a loss on what to do. Instead, I follow the child like I’m not a thirty-year-old man.

Blake drags us towards the house, ripping the door open just as the sound of bullets exploding near us goes off. Suddenly Blake is thrown back, screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Henry!” I yell, remembering her personal bodyguard is here.

“H–he–fuck,” Blake cries out. Taking a step forward, I reach out to where I think she fell, my foot knocking into something. “DON’T STEP ON ME!” she screams.

“Shit, sorry,” I whisper, getting to my knees. My eyes slowly adjust to the dark, taking in Blake's small frame lying on the ground holding her arm. “Ohmygod, ohmygod.” I’m full of panic, my heart beating too fast inside my chest. I can’t breathe.

“Gabriel…” Blake hisses. “Look at me!” she yells, forcing my eyes to snap to hers. Fuck if she doesn’t have the same attitude Tobias has. “Salem has guns everywhere in this house, find one.”

Nodding my head, I stand on shaky legs, my eyes glued to the ground. Blood seeps down Blake’s shoulder, down her arm onto the ground.

“Gabriel!”

Right, get a gun.

Backing away, I stumble into the kitchen, realizing I have no idea where to even look for a hidden gun.

“Check under the kitchen table, I know for sure she has one under there,” I faintly hear Blake say behind me. Nodding, even though she can’t see me, I trace the wall leading into the kitchen, when all of a sudden, a man stands directly in front of me. I don’t get a chance to scream, yell, or even blink before I’m punched in the face. My body knocks back, the air from my lungs escapes, and three kicks hit my side.

“S–stop,” Blake screams.

“Zatknis', suka,” The man above me spits at her, turning his attention back to me. “Glupaya chertova shlyukha. Chertov boss, dazhe ne mogu ponyat', chto on vidit v tvoyey kiske, zadnitse.”

I can’t understand what he’s saying. I try to wiggle away from him, but the kicks keep coming, men laughing in the distance, and worse of all this feels all too familiar.

“Dostatochno.” Another man steps into view, blocking Blake from my gaze.

“Boris, chto ty delayesh'?” Blake's voice breaking through.

Blinking up, it finally dawns on me that Henry is standing over me. And he’s not stopping the man from kicking me, nor is he making an attempt to do his job. He’s not helping Blake who's been shot.

“Something I should’ve done a long time ago.” He laughs, moments before something smashes into my head, darkness pulling me under.

24

Tobias

There'snothing here.

The words repeat in my head. The warehouse sits empty, no prisoner that Kyler said he had. And no Kyler. Absolutely nothing. I have the gut-wrenching feeling that something is obviously wrong, but I can’t put my finger on what it is.

“Tobias, there’s nothing here,” Zane’s monotone fills my head. He’s right, there's nothing here and I can’t figure out why Kyler would text me saying there was a problem at this warehouse.

Pulling my phone out, I dial Kyler, my foot tapping against the gravel in irritation that he isn’t going to answer when he finally does. Only it isn’t his voice. A female answers.

“Hello.”

“Who are you?” I growled. My eyes train on Zane who immediately picks up on my tone.

“Who are you?” she asks shyly.

---