a's

rner at the end of t

e wall and peer

e he was gone before

eaned against the wall swiftly. My hand shook

m. I wanted

and he was b

s door-he clearly doe

ot knowing what his

icing I was not there,

y tense. He walked back to the store owner and mumbled

ain, now carefully-he probably thought I

tions I couldn't hear, he couldn't

h I'm not used to hiding, this could cos

against the wall a

he shook her head. He thanked her anyway. Even from here, I

," I thought.

he d

checked the alley across the street. He stood at the corn

hey hunted with numbers and orders. This was different.

s just good at his job

ppeared around the nex

enough to make anyone look twice. I kept my head down, my cap low, my arms w

didn't have a plan. I only knew I

. I walked until my feet ached, until my legs felt like they might give out, until

ad by a row of dumpsters. I slipped into it, pressed m

s al

as

wa

o

, driving rain that soaked through my coat in seconds. I pulled my cap lower, but it did nothi

slid down the wall, my legs folding beneath me, and sat in

f. Just rest for a minute.

. Evan's face floated behind my eyes. His voice. The last time I saw him-t

knew what was coming,

. Long enough for my shivering to stop, which I knew, somewhere in th

d foot

pen. I hadn't mea

ouetted against the dim streetlight. Broad sho

o

hands slipping in the mud

Didn't lunge.

looking at me like I was something he

he sa

s back against the opposite wall. He di

fell be

p, waiting for the mask to crack. It didn't. He sat there

The man fr

know how long-

hy

e dim light, his eyes

asked me to

. I pressed my hand to my chest, fee

did yo

e a prayer. " he asked

rain kept falling.

this nightmare began, I fel

possibili

shivered at the same time-th

eady. Knowing too much truth at a time

somehow, I stood and he

t's

silent, like hearing more fro

door and I e

too and sta

closed

e, to watch him, to figure out who he was an

on was heavi

one breath and the nex