Page 83 of Monster

26

Charlotte

A thud offin the distance made me jolt as my eyes ripped open in bed. I shot up and held my breath, wondering if Teo heard the same thing. I didn't feel him move, though, so I eased myself back down into bed to try and get some sleep.

Until I heard a door creaking downstairs.

“Teo. Wake up,” I whispered.

Silence followed my request, so I scooted closer to him in bed.

“Teo, I think there’s someone—”

The second I reached out to shake him, my hand fell against the cool sheets of the bed. My brow furrowed tightly as another thud sounded in the distance before I heard a very distinct sound. I couldn't place it, but my brain kept firing off at the start. Racking my memory stores and backtracking through memories to try and figure out what the hell that pointed sound was.

“Teo?” I asked softly.

Yet another thud sounded, only this time it was closer. I slid out of bed and softened my footsteps as I made my way for the bathroom. I slid my robe from behind the door and wrapped it around my naked body, hoping and praying that Teo was somewhere nearby.

Or maybe, that the sounds were him.

“Teo?” I asked again.

This time, I was greeted by a thunderous crack that my mind had no issues placing. And the sound made me yelp. A gunshot rang out before two more followed, then I heard people shouting.

“Over there! Now!”

“The corner! In the corner!”

“Upstairs. She has to be upstairs. Let’s move!”

My eyes bulged as I scrambled to get into my closet. Me. They were coming for me. And I knew the second I threw open my closet door that Lorenzo was coming after me. I mean, who else could it have been? He had finally come back for me and Teo was nowhere to be found.

“Where the hell are you?” I hissed.

I threw my closet door closed as that distinct sound continued to creep closer. My mind was still nowhere even close to placing it, yet as I searched around my closet I found no hiding spot for me to slink into. There wasn’t a shadowed corner, or a hidden door. There wasn’t even a window to access getting out to the rooftop.

Wait, the rooftop.

More gunfire reined down onto the property as I bolted out of the closet. If I could get downstairs and across the hallway quickly enough, I could make my way out onto the roof. Only there did I stand a chance of hiding from these people and actually getting away with it.

“Upstairs. She can’t be far.”

It wasn’t until I heard the footsteps coming up that concrete staircase that I knew I was too late. And as my eyes fell to the floor for something to defend myself with, I came across a pair of my heels. The black ones from the party I attended with Teo that had the bow on the back of them. Somehow, they’d gotten kicked into a corner and forgotten about. Kind of like myself.

And that’s when it clicked.

Heels.

The distinct sound I heard were heels on a hardened surface.

There was no way in hell Lorenzo would send a woman to do his bidding. If he was the one coming after me, he would’ve done it himself. No no, something was really off. I felt an unevenness in my gut as I reached for the heels and held them over my head, ready to defend myself with their sharpness. After all, it was the only weapon I was afforded.

“Come on. Make my day,” I murmured to myself.

I heard the footsteps pause and the house fell silent. Just as quickly as the firefight and chaos rose from the darkness of the night, it dissipated into nothingness. So, I drew in a deep, silent breath and trudged toward the bedroom door. I reached for the doorknob and attempted to ease it open, but I found it locked. So, I jiggled it a bit to see if maybe it was just stuck.

It wasn’t, though.

---