Page 99 of Hollow

I scream, my jaw slamming shut as my head makes contact, and the world starts to go black. But then Brom’s grabbing me and flipping me over onto my back, pinning my hands above my head.

“Bitch,” he growls at me, and his voice is inhuman, matching the soullessness of his eyes. “I’m going to make you pay for being a whore.”

This isn’t the same as it was before. This isn’t Brom. This creature means it.

He moves above me, his body seeming both larger and harder to see, like shadows are taking over his skin. His hand goes to his cock. “I will give you pain.”

“No!” I scream at him. “Brom, don’t do this!”

But he reaches forward and grabs me by the throat. Unlike earlier, he now means to crush my windpipe between his fingers, and I can’t get a breath in.

I’m going to die here. He’s going to kill me.

He squeezes harder, leaning in until I see a malevolent spark in his glassy black eyes.

“If I can’t have you to myself, then no one else can.” He grinds out. “I will put you in the grave.”

I struggle, panicked, trying to rip my hands free from his grip. But I’m helpless, just as I was with the horseman before.

Except…I wasn’t.

I close my eyes and try to conjure that same energy inside me, bringing it out of me like I would to the flames of a fire.

Brom. Please. It’s me, I think. It’s Kat. Let me go.

I let that energy build until it explodes out of me. I feel fire flow, reaching for him.

I open my eyes to see Brom go still above me. His head tilts, mouth dropping open for a moment.

Then his eyes go wide with clarity.

Shock.

Horror.

It’s Brom.

“Run,” he whispers to me in anguish. A desperate plea. “Run!”

I don’t hesitate.

He lets go of my wrists, and I scramble to my feet while he stays on the bed, his head in his hands. “Get away from me, get away from me!” he cries out, and I run to the door, expecting to fling it open. But the door won’t open. It doesn’t even have a lock on it, but it won’t budge.

“Help me!” I scream, pounding on the door. “Mother! Famke!” They have to be home by now, don’t they? Did they bar the door shut? Did they lock me in here?

“Go!” Brom yells. “I can’t hold it off much longer!”

I whip around to see him getting to his feet, but it’s like he’s fighting a war with himself, part of him wanting to come toward me, the other part trying to hold him back.

I meet his eyes, see the pain in them, the battle, and then I run to the window and scramble out of it, dropping to the damp earth.

“Run,” I hear him say again from inside my bedroom. “Please.”

I run.

Chapter 30

Brom