Page 57 of Against the Clock

Finally, he grabbed his keys from the table and left.

I closed my eyes and willed myself to stay awake, but they felt so heavy.I couldn’t remember the last time that I had slept so well, and my body desperately craved it.

I felt numb, like I was floating through the clouds, weightless and without any worries.A long, flowy white dress covered my body, twirling freely as I spun in circles, dancing to a song that only I could hear.Everything felt right as I kept spinning, laughing the faster I went.

Then suddenly, I hit something hard, and it jolted me out of my bliss.I looked around, trying to find what I had crashed into.There was bright light blinding me as I lifted my hand to try to shield it.Suddenly it went away and standing before me was Justin.

There was a cut on his forehead with blood dripping from it.Instinctively I reached up to wipe it away but pulled my hand back when it went right through him.He wasn’t really there.I reached for him again, disappointed when the same thing happened.Slowly he started to fade away, being pulled into a darkness that I couldn’t see.

“Justin!”I called out, picking up the bottom of my dress to run after him.

My feet hurt from stepping on the shards of broken glass.There were thick trees around me, casting the shadows that hid him.

“Justin!”I cried out again.My heart raced as I tried to run faster, desperate to find him.He needed help.He needed me.

I kept running, tripping over pieces of debris but not realizing what it was until I got to a single tree in the middle of nowhere.I looked around and gasped, covering my mouth as the tears dripped down my face.

A horn blared off in the distance, but I couldn’t see it.Instead, my eyes were fixated on the image of Justin hanging from one of the tree branches with a seat belt wrapped around his neck.

I jolted upright, nearly launching myself off the couch as I tried to shake the image out of my head.My palms were sweaty, and my heart was racing so loud that I could hear the blood pulsing through my ears.

I leaned forward, trying to catch my breath when I heard the doorknob turn.Relieved that Roman was home, I got up and started walking to the door, then stopped when I realized that it wasn’t Roman.

Twenty-Seven

Quinn

3 Days Ago

Iwatched the doorknobrattle a few times before I jumped up and pushed the coffee table across the room, forcing it in front of the door.It was heavy enough to stop whoever it was from getting in for a few seconds while I grabbed my gun.I glanced at Rosie, making sure she was still asleep before running down the hall to the bedroom.I stood on my tiptoes and retrieved my gun from the top shelf of Roman’s closet where I had been keeping it.

My footsteps were light but quick as I went back to the living room, gun aimed at the door and hands steady in front of me.I waited for a few seconds before I inched closer, wishing that I had brought my bulletproof vest home.There wasn’t time to worry about that right now.Someone was still on the other side of the door, trying to pick the lock.

Rosie snored loudly and rolled over, pulling my attention to her for a brief second.When I looked back at the door, it was being forced open as someone rammed their body into it.

A few seconds later, the wood splintered around the body that burst through the door.Whoever it was had a ski mask covering their face and was dressed in all black, making it impossible to see anything.

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