pace I was moving, it was going to take a heck of a lot of time for me to make it anywhere.
I spun around as quickly as my legs would allow me to. I lost my balance for a split second and almost ended up face planting it. Almost though, but not quite. Keeping my hand pressed to the wall, I glided across the icy floor, making my way back down the hall.
The front door wasn’t that far off, but when I turned to check on the Death Walker, it was darting effortlessly toward me, and I knew there was a slim to none chance I was going make it to the front door. Panicking, I made a hasty decision to go back inside the room I’d just come out of. I slammed the door behind me and locked it, knowing full well that locking it wasn’t going to do much to stop the monstrous beast. All I could hope for was that it would slow it down enough for 505/695
me to make it out the window and to the garage.
But I only made it halfway across the room when the door came crashing in. I took off, running as fast as I could. I made it to the window and started to climb out, but then I heard a crackling sound float up from underneath me. I knew what that sound belonged to. Ice. And it was crawling up from beneath me and webbing its way to window.
I had to jump back or else I’d have been frozen over with ice myself.
Seconds later, the window was completely sealed off by a thick wall of ice. I tried chipping away at the ice with my knife, but it was useless. The wall was way too thick. I was trapped.
A cold chill shot up my spine, and I slowly turned around. The Death Walker towered ominously in front of me. My breathing faltered out as I stared my death in 506/695
the eyes—its yellow, soulless eyes that held the passion to kill.
My death was coming.
No.I couldn’t give up. Not with the fate of the world resting in my hands. Or inside me I should say. I had to save myself in order to save the world.
I could feel the cold handle of the knife pressing into the palm of my hand, and without a glitch of hesitation, I swung it forward, aiming the blade straight at the Death Walker’s heart, just like Laylen had told me to do. Now I’m not going to lie and say that I wasn’t the least bit surprised when the knife actually dove into the monsters chest.
The Death Walker let out an ear clawing shriek, and its eyes fired up beneath its black cloak before burning out into to black holes I’d done it. I’d freaking done the impossible. I’d been able to take one of them down.
Or at least that’s what I thought.
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Moments later, I learned a very important lesson. Never assume anything because, in the snap of a finger, the Death Walker lunged at me, huffing out a fog of frost-bitten air that hit me directly in the chest. Every ounce of my oxygen was sucked out of me.
Struggling to breathe, I collapsed to the floor, my body paralyzed with cold and fear.
Lightheaded and unable to move, I waited for it to attack again, this time finishing me off.
The monster staggered toward me, swaying like a drunken man as it tipped backwards, then forwards, before finally losing its balance altogether and toppling to the ground, landing only inches away from me.
I let out a wheeze. Was it dead? Had I killed it? No, don’t assume anything. Laylen said that stabbing a Death Walker would only slow it down. I needed to get my butt off the floor and make a run for the car while I still could. Problem was my legs and arms 508/695
weren’t having any part of it. They wouldn’t budge. What on earth had the thing breathed on me? Was that what was causing me to be paralyzed? Or was I just freezing to death from the cold?
I needed help.
I opened my mouth to scream but only a croak escaped. I tried to get to my feet again, but it was useless. Every ounce of my strength had slipped away. I was so sleepy.
My eyelids drifted shut.
“This was not part of the plan,” a man’s voice snarled. “We were supposed to keep her secluded from humanity. That was the deal.”
What the…My eyes shot open. I was no longer at Laylen’s but curled up in a ball behind a chair in an unfamiliar, dark room.
The walls were carved of stone, and underneath where I lay was a Persian rug. Fear skyrocketed through me. I’d been sucked 509/695
away again, just like I had during the telescope incident. And like the telescope incident, I hadn’t touched a Foreseer’s ball, which had me wondering if I might possess the ability to conjure up visions without one.
I slowly sat up and strained my ears to listen to the voices on the other side of the chair.
“I understand what the plan is, Demetrius.” It was a different man’s voice from the first one I’d heard, deep and low. It was a voice that I could almost recognize. “But you need to understand that there are obstacles I have to work around. Some of the other Keepers are becoming suspicious of me.” Huh? Demetrius? Keepers? From what Alex had told me, these two were like complete enemies with one another. Demetrius was the one who wanted me dead, and the one who controlled the Death Walkers. So why was someone who was a Keeper talking to him?
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“Yes, the Keeper’s,” The first man, who I now knew had to be Demetrius, replied. “So what is it you’ve done to make them suspicious of you, my good friend?”
“Well, it seems that the girl’s mother has disappeared,” the other man, which I assumed was a Keeper, said. “And there’s been some speculation that I might have had something to do with her disappearance.”
“Has there,” Demetrius replied thought-fully. “Well, isn’t that interesting.”
“Very,” the Keeper replied with laughter in his voice.
Something dawned on me, and every part
of
my
body
tightened.
Could
they…Could they be talking about my mother and me?
No. There was no way. Was there?
If they were talking about her, I had to know. I had to know what this Keeper looked like.
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In all the other vision-like things I’d been sucked into, no one had been able to see me. I was hoping it was the same here.
Very carefully, I peeked around the side of the chair.
Standing in front of a fireplace were two men. One significantly taller than the other one, with dark hair that brushed his shoulder tops. He had on a long, black cloak that looked a lot like the ones the Death Walkers wore. The other man—the shorter one—was dressed head to toe in black, and his black hair was slicked backed. The fire casted an orange glow on to their faces, which, of course, were blurred over by a sheet of haze.
I should have known.
“I need you to be patient, Demetrius,” said the shorter man—the Keeper whose name I didn’t know. “I’ll make sure the girl stay’s safe until the time is right.” 512/695
“You better.” The man wearing the cloak—Demetrius—warned.
“Otherwise
you’re out.”
“Watch who you’re threatening.” Mr. No Name Keeper replied, pointing his finger sharply at Demetrius. “You’re walking a very thin line right now.”
A sudden snap of light blazed across the Keeper man’s face. The haze covering his face momentarily flickered away before returning to a blur again. But the flicker lasted just long enough for me to see a faint white scar scuffing his cheek. I gasped. It was the man from my nightmares. The one who always stepped out of the shadows of the forest right after the Death Walker captured me.
“Did you hear that?” The man with the scar asked.
Demetrius shook his head. “Hear what?” Scar man held up his hand, and his head turned in my direction
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I threw my trembling hand over my mouth and sank back behind the chair. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to be able to see me.
Heavy footsteps treaded toward where I hid. My body shook with fear. If he caught me, I knew he’d kill me, just like he did in my nightmares.