I bolted down the corridor, the sound of my own frantic footsteps echoing in my ears as I chose the opposite path to the others. My heart pounded, every instinct urging me forward, away from the group, away from safety. I couldn't let them find us all—I had to draw their attention away.
Behind me, I barely registered Zichen's voice as he called my name, desperation lacing his words. I didn't turn back, the adrenaline coursing through me drowning out everything else. I had one purpose: to lead the strangers away.
But Zichen wasn't one to stand idly by. As Yike grabbed his arm and hissed, "Follow me!" Zichen shook him off, his jaw tightening with resolve.
"I'm not leaving her!" Zichen snapped, already breaking away from the group. His hesitation cost him precious seconds, and when he sprinted after me, I had already disappeared around a corner.
One of the strangers appeared at the far end of the hallway, their head tilting in that unnervingly robotic way. My breath hitched, and I ducked into a side room, pressing myself against the wall as I fought to steady my breathing. I couldn't let them find me—not yet.
Meanwhile, Zichen was hot on my trail, his pulse racing as he navigated the maze of hallways. He didn't care about the danger or the odds stacked against him. He only knew that leaving me behind wasn't an option.
"Idiot," Yike muttered under his breath as he led the rest of the group away. But there was a flicker of something else in his gaze—something like grudging respect.
when Zichen rounded a corner and nearly collided with one of the strangers. Startled but determined, he veered sharply into an adjacent corridor, his mind racing as he tried to think of a way to evade them while still catching up to me. His foot caught on a loose tile, and he stumbled, crashing to the ground with a loud thud.
The sound reverberated through the halls, drawing the stranger's attention. Zichen scrambled to his feet, fear and determination warring within him as the figure moved closer.
Unaware of his plight, I continued to weave through the halls, my mind a whirlwind of fear and strategy. I burst into what appeared to be an old music room, instruments covered in dust and disuse.
I realized too late that I wasn't alone—the faint sound of a piano key being pressed sent a shiver down my spine. Slowly I turned.
Before I could react, Zichen's voice rang out, distant but clear. "Taryn!" The sound startled me, breaking the oppressive silence of the room. It was a mistake—now they knew where he was.
My eyes widened as I realized the danger he was putting himself in. "Zichen, no!" I shouted, my voice cracking with panic.
I didn't realize we had left the campus grounds.
Zichen's hand gripped mine tightly, his fingers trembling as we ran, the adrenaline propelling us forward even though our legs burned and our breaths came in ragged gasps.
The distant hum of the strangers' pursuit had faded, but my fear lingered like a shadow, clinging to every thought. I glanced over at Zichen, his face pale and streaked with sweat under the faint light of the moon. He looked as shaken as I felt, yet his grip on my hand never faltered.
"Where—where are the others?" I managed to gasp, my voice barely above a whisper. Each word felt like it was being dragged from the depths of my chest, the exertion making it hard to speak.
Zichen's dark eyes met mine for a fleeting moment, filled with something akin to reassurance. "They're safe," he said, his voice rough but steady. "Yike took them another way. I saw them get out."
Relief washed over me like a wave, cooling the fire of panic that had been raging inside me. I nodded quickly, not trusting myself to speak again as the lump in my throat threatened to choke me.
We kept moving, our pace slowing as the reality of our escape began to sink in. The campus behind us was eerily quiet now, but I couldn't shake the feeling that we weren't entirely free of danger. The strangers had moved unnaturally fast, and their unrelenting pursuit left me questioning whether they could track us beyond the school grounds.
Our footsteps pounded against the dirt path that stretched out before us.
Zichen tugged at my hand, pulling me out of my daze. "Taryn, we need to go," he said, urgency etched into his voice.
I nodded reluctantly, allowing him to lead me forward once more.
Zichen stayed close, his presence steady and grounding as he guided me through the dark streets. We moved quickly but cautiously, always glancing over our shoulders, half-expecting the strangers to materialize out of the shadows.
By the time we reached my neighborhood, the suffocating fear that had gripped me earlier began to ease, replaced by a bone-deep weariness. The faint glow of the streetlights illuminated the familiar houses, their windows dark and silent. It was almost surreal—like stepping into an entirely different world, one untouched by the horrors of the near evening.
Zichen stopped just outside my gate, his chest rising and falling with uneven breaths. "You're safe now," he said, his voice hoarse from the effort of running.
I nodded, my fingers brushing against the cool metal of the gate as I hesitated. The adrenaline was fading, leaving a hollow ache in its wake. "What about you?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. "Are you going to be okay?"
He offered a small, reassuring smile, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Don't worry about me. I'll head back home now and make sure my little sister is safe."
Guilt twisted in my stomach at the thought of him returning to that chaos, but I didn't have the strength to argue. "Be careful," I said softly, my hand lingering on the gate as I looked at him one last time.
"I will," he replied firmly. He hesitated for a moment, as if he wanted to say something else, but instead, he simply turned and jogged off into the night.