Prologue
Riley
There comes a time in your life when you remember your past regrets, the decisions that led you into the bad situation and you wish you lived long enough to remember this moment as yet another bad memory. I hoped and prayed that I lived through this.
My breathing intensified as I ducked down below the office desk to stay hidden. My heart beats increased when I heard the footsteps coming closer.
"Its okay, Riley. I won't hurt you." I heard him say, "It's a promise. Cross my heart and hope to die."
I stayed put without making a sound. I couldn't trust him, not after what I'd witnessed a few minutes ago.
"You can come out now. I said I won't hurt you. You have my word." Seconds later when I didn't do what he'd asked, he continued, "Don't you trust me, baby?"
I covered my mouth with my hand and watched from the surveillance footage on the screens mounted on the wall as he prowled around the room far from my hidden space. He couldn't see me. During the little time that I'd known him, I knew that he was smarter and more intelligent than what he usually let on.
"You wanna play hide and seek? That's fine with me. You know, when I was little...I always managed to find the other kids; grown-ups even." He chuckled softly, the same masculine voice with a boyish charm that I'd fallen in love with, but now the same voice ran a chill down my body.
Something crashed loudly. He'd damaged the emergency lights, pulling the room in pitch-black darkness. He was getting closer to where I was hiding. It was a good thing I could still see him through the screens above from the little moonlight that was streaming from the window.
As if he'd heard my mind he reached for a broomstick and smashed camera one, followed by camera two and three. "That should solve the problem, I guess. Now, you wouldn't be able to know even if I'm right behind you."
The screens went static and then turned black. From the corner of my eye, I watched his shoes walk past me. I held my breath and a shiver ran down my body as I wondered what would happen if I were caught. Seconds ticked by, and then I heard the door open and close. I waited for a minute longer, listening to any other sound in the room but all I could concentrate on was my pounding head and my racing heart. Cautiously, I crawled from beneath the desk to check around myself and thankfully he was no-where in sight.
I let out a sigh of relief and climbed to my feet, taking a few steps towards the door. Once I was out of the room, I would make a run down the hallway and get help from someone, I decided.
I stepped out to find the lights switched off. I'd seen a number of slasher horror movies and had always laughed at the victims for being too gullible or stupid, never realizing that I would be in that situation someday.
My life was no better than a horror movie.
The lights flickered as I tiptoed, the sounds of my canvas shoes echoed through the empty hallway. I heard soft footsteps behind me so I picked up the pace and turned around the corner when a pair of strong arms seized me. The familiar scent of his soap entered my nostrils.
He whispered, "Gotcha! Playtime's over, Riley."
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