Page 37 of Stardusted
Human.
Mechanical and deep, it spoke again, each syllable guttural and foreign. Another crash followed, this one accompanied by the pinging of smashing glass. I caught my breath, dizzy with fear. My pulse thudded in my throat, my limbs, everywhere.
What the hell was that? And what was I supposed to donow?
I backed another step into the shadows and checked my phone again. Still no signal.
Then, as I watched, the battery drained in real time. The screen went black. Not even the charge symbol flashed.
The air vibrated, buzzing along my skin like a live wire, stinging enough I sucked in a sharp breath.
I knew that feeling. It was the same thing I’d felt on the side of the road.
Overhead, the bulbs flickered once, twice, then the one by the doorway sizzled and popped, going out. I barely bit back my yelp as—one by one—the rest followed, plunging everything into pitch-black.
Only the light from the propped-open lab doors glowed like a beacon in the dark, still within running distance.
But could I make it?
Someone—something—had taken out three armed guards. I’d seen the blood on that guy’s forehead. Whatever was tearing through the shelves behind me…I didn’t want to meet it in a dark alley. Or anywhere, really.
Even if I made it inside, the lab doors stood wide open. One of those things could already be in there.
I had to think. I was trapped. The destruction grew louder, each crash marching closer, like it was working its way down the rows.
Any hope I’d held that this was just Professor Stern, bumbling around was long dead. Professor Stern had a soothing, NPR-on-decaf voice. This thing sounded like a blender and a V8 engine had produced a baby, and that baby waspissed.
I shoved my useless phone into my pocket and crouched low, shuffling along the shelving. I couldn’t make out much in the inky dark, but I kept moving, feeling my way along the metal frame.
Another crunch sounded, right on the other side of the shelf.
Way too close.
My legs shook with every step, but I slid along the racks, eyes on the end of the row. Almost there. Another few steps, and I was free.
Even better, I could see it now. There was a clear path.
The open lab doors waited. I wasn’t a sprinter, but I could hustle. I waitressed doubles on Saturdays. I had stamina. I could do this.
As quietly as possible, I jogged to the next set of shelves and flattened against the end cap. Holding my breath, I listened. More rustling. Then?—
Silence.
For just a split second before a motorized whine shattered the quiet, followed by metal striking stone. Once. Twice. Three times.
Shit.Footsteps.Those werefootsteps.
The garbled voice returned, and something primal clenched in my gut. Closer now. The shelf at my back shook with each thudding step. My legs shook along with it.
Screw this.
I broke and ran.
Chapter 11
THE WORST LAB PARTNER EVER
Iran like my life depended on it. Odds were, it did.
