This is it. He's going to die, and I'll be free.
At the last second, he moved, and I was suddenly pinned up against the wall, the silver dagger now in his hand. He pressed the blade to my throat, a sadistic grin creeping across his face.
"Oh, Reese...
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Oh my god oh my god oh my god.
I ran up out of the subway tunnels and into the Toronto street. As late as it was - or early, depending on how you look at it - the area was still quite a bit busy. It wasn't just the supernatural beings walking about. There were humans, too, free humans who haven't been claimedby a supernatural.
The city never sleeps.
I wished with all my heart that the two werewolves - Oliver and Keith - hadn't actually recognized me. I hoped they'd waved me off as just another human absolutely terrified of the supernatural. That maybe it was just my imagination that they had been looking directly at me.
But Keith's final words rang through my head.
On second thought, you were right.
And he'd been talking to the Alpha.
So I bolted as fast as I could, cutting through alleyways, dodging pedestrians and nearly getting hit by no less than ten vehicles along the way.
Remember your plan, Reese.
Ah, yes. My brilliant plan.
I slowed to a walk, pulling my hood back up over my face so I wouldn't be recognized again. I stopped dashing across streets like a madwoman, sticking to the sidewalks, blending in as just another human. Plain, boring, not worthy of a second glance. Nothing.
I took a look at my surroundings as I walked, pulling up the mental map of the city I'd committed to memory two years ago. I was on Wellington Street West, in Toronto's Financial District. I was only a few blocks away from the Entertainment District, but the theaters and cinemas had been closed since the Takeover. It was a pity; I saw Come From Away at the Royal Alexandra Theatre when I was eleven, and it made my stomach clench to know that the beautiful theater was currently sitting idle, collecting dust and cobwebs.
No time for reminiscing, Reese. Not when you've got a pack of vengeful wolves hunting you down.
I needed to find a suitable location to hunker down until I made sure I wasn't followed. Fast-food places and coffee houses were usually busy, even at this time. There was a McDonalds close by, but the smell made me queasy. The Tim Horton's sitting next to it was no better - though the smell of freshly-baked donuts and hot coffee was soothing, it held too many memories.
Going to Tim's was one of the last things I did before the Takeover. The last thing Cedric and I did with Dad.
Like I said; too many memories. I needed to keep a clear head.
I consulted my mental map; There was a Starbucks close by, on the corner of Wellington Street and University Avenue. Though avenue led directly to the pack's headquarters-or-whatever-they-call-it - I'm pretty sure it's headquarters - it was still far enough away to keep me in the unnaturally calm state I'd managed to conjure up.
