Put Me Back Together(90)

“Hel—” I cried, but again my plea was cut off when he grabbed my entire face with the hand I’d just bitten, smearing his blood across my nose and mouth. He pressed his palm so hard into my face that for a moment I couldn’t breathe.

Then he said a single word into my ear before shoving me roughly to the side, releasing his hold on me. My hair whipped around my head as I backed away from him on wobbly legs, uncomprehending. His burning eyes bored into me as he repeated the word, louder this time, commanding me: “Run!” And this time I did as I was told.

He wasn’t letting me go. I knew this as I ran down the path with more speed than I’d ever imagined my body could muster. This was what he’d done to Tommy. He hadn’t killed him right away, that wasn’t his style. He’d made his first cut and then he’d made him run. He’d even given him a head start. He’d made Tommy run for his life and now he was doing the same to me, knowing he would catch me, knowing he was faster. But that wasn’t the point. The running was the point.

Because Brandon loved the chase.

Think, I urged myself, think of a plan. Lucas says you’re clever, so think. You’re smarter than he is. You can do this. Think!

Already I could hear him coming after me, though he was grunting and his steps were uneven. Maybe I’d injured one of his legs when I’d kicked him.

Get to people, I thought frantically. Get to safety. Call for help!

I ran up the stone steps onto the landing behind the library and threw myself at the wooden doors, but they were locked. Going back down the stairs would have brought me back toward Brandon, so instead I climbed over the balustrade and leaped the four feet to the ground. In front of me was the side of Ontario Hall, the light falling through the windows of the corner classroom where Lucas was taking his exam on the second floor. Lucas. But I remembered now that those back doors locked when they closed, too. I’d have to go around the front.


Adrenaline pumped through my veins as I shot toward the street. I couldn’t hear Brandon behind me, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think that I’d lost him this quickly. He was stalking me. He was watching. As I rounded the side of the building I looked up and down University Avenue, desperately searching for someone, anyone who could help me, but the street was empty and silent as the grave. Where was campus security when you needed them? Then I remembered—my phone!

Luckily, I hadn’t dropped my bag because it was strapped across my body. As I continued toward the stairs leading into Ontario Hall, I reached into my bag and rustled through my junk, searching for my cell phone. I could call campus security myself. They’d be here in minutes. And Lucas was right upstairs. I wasn’t going to die. Not today. Not now.

But where was it? Panting as I reached the bottom of the stairs, I plunged both hands into my messenger bag, emptying my wallet, an umbrella, paintbrushes, and my sketchbook onto the ground, but I couldn’t find my phone anywhere. Had Lucas taken it when we’d left the apartment? Had I left it behind?

“You’ve sure gotten an awful lot of texts from an unknown number,” Brandon said.

My head snapped up as he rounded the low wrought-iron fence and stepped toward me, my cell phone in his hand. He must have slipped it out of my bag when he was holding me. He paged through the messages, his face contorted with mock concern.

“Some of these are absolutely appalling! You really should be careful who you give your number out to,” Brandon warned. “There are all kinds of crazies out there.”

“You don’t say,” I shot back then turned and began to run up the stairs. I thought I could make it. The beckoning light of the front doors was only a few feet away, but he was on me before I’d even made it to the top. In a blink I was dragged backwards down the steps and thrown down onto the cement. I landed hard onto of my bag, momentarily glad I’d just emptied it. Then he yanked my head up by my hair and I screeched as pain seared through my hairline.

“I have to say I expected more from you, Katie,” Brandon said, his lips against my ear. “Is this all the fight you have in you? Haven’t you been anticipating this moment for the past six years? Is this really the best you can do?”

You can do this, Katie. You’re strong. You’re smart. Don’t let him do this to you twice. You can think your way out of this.

“Isn’t that how you like them?” I said. “Weak and small? Just like Tommy. I’m just trying to give you what you want.”

Baiting him had seemed like a good idea until he yanked on my hair with a growl and I regretted it with every fibre of my being. Grabbing me by my collar with his other hand, he pulled me up to my feet then kicked me in the back, causing me to fall forward onto my knees again. In desperation I began to crawl forward and I heard him chuckling at me. He thought I was easy prey, a weak and cowardly girl he could stalk and torture and kill, taking my life just as he’d taken Tommy’s, without much hassle, without even breaking a sweat. Listening to him laughing at my fear, I decided I had to get back at him for what he’d done to me. Even if he was going to kill me, he would pay first. I’d make him pay even if it was the last thing I did. I had to do this. For the little girl I had been, now lost forever. For all the people whose lives he’d ruined.

For Tommy.

Scrambling to my feet, I spun around to face him. The knife was in his hand again. He was getting ready to finish things off. To finish me.