Page 11 of Boys Who Hunt
He couldn’t possibly kno—
The door slams open, and my eyes burst open along with it. I hold my breath as someone steps into the bathroom and closes the door behind them. I immediately pull both feet up on the toilet seat and make myself as tiny as possible.
“Ivy …”
It’s him.
“Oh, Ivy …”
His unsettling, dark voice brings chills to my spine.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are …”
WHAM!
A door two down from me is knocked open so harshly I nearly squeal, and I cover my mouth with my hand to stop him from hearing anything.
“I’m going to fucking find you, one way or another.”
WHAM!
The next door is kicked open, and when I peer through the tiny slit between the two stalls, a shoe retracts. My door is next.
“And when I do, you’re gonna bemine.”
I have to find something, anything, to defend myself with when he gets ahold of me. This guy is insane.
I turn around, gripping the old, nonfunctional water pipe behind me that’s bound to break eventually, and the moment his shoe lands against the door, I rip off the piece. The door flies open, and his unhinged smile makes my veins burst with fear and disgust.
“Found you.”
The second he lunges at me, I swing the pipe at his face, but he blocks and grips the metal.
“Can’t hit me, twig. I’m quicker than you,” he taunts, and he tries to pry the pipe right out of my hand.
“What the fuck do you want from me?”
“What do I want?” He laughs maniacally. “Your life.”
“Get away from me!” With the pipe between us, I push him out of the stall, forcing him back against the sink, but all it does is make him smile and laugh even harder.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with me?” he mocks. “Maybe you should ask yourself that question.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I say.
I know I’m lying, but I’m not going to admit the truth to the likes of him.
Clutching the pipe hard, he leans in with a tilted head as he stares at me. “You missing a hearing aid, thief?”
He looks me dead in the eyes, and the toxic smirk on his face makes me gulp.
Suddenly, he inches forward and bites the air right in front of my nose, making me jolt back. Another sadistic laugh follows.
“You don’t know who you’re messing with.”
He pushes me back with ease as if all this time he was letting me believe I could take him, that I was in control of the pipe that separates his hungry teeth from my skin.