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The shadows descend and I stumble backward off the curb My heart pounds as I free s slide farther up s My feet I’ve been trained to kick The instinct to run battles ht

A horn blares My head jerks to the right Lights blind me My hand flies to my face to act as a shield as my stomach shoots up A scream tears out of my throat

Chapter 4

West

"Jesus Christ!" I slah the floor as I will my SUV to stop My tires squeal and hts spotlight a girl Her arms protect her face and I try to process that she’s still standing

Standing As in not on the ground

Not dead

One thing went right today

The relief flooding through er She ju one look Juht of wide dark eyes Her wild ht brown hair whips across her face as the wind picks up She blinks and so do I

She glances over her shoulder and I follow her line of sight into the shadows Panic sweeps over her face and she stu disoriented Shit on it all damn day, what if I did hit her?

I throw the SUV in Park and, as I open the door, she points at me "Watch it!"

Watch it? She’s the one who stepped out in front of me, then froze like a damn deer I launch myself out of the car "Sidewalks, chick That’s where you stop Not in the middle of a street!"

With a shake of her head, she tosses her hair over her shoulder and actually steps into e from the tip of my toes to my fists, but instead I smirk and cross my arms over my chest She , and for the first time today, I find a in people’s eyes a irl, and never in eyes so hauntingly gorgeous

"You were the one not paying attention!" the girl shouts "And besides, this is a parking lot, you , what? Fifty?"

The word hten But she has"Are you hurt?" I ask

"What?"

"Did my car hit you?"

The fire within her wavers and she peers into the dark again "No"