MICHAEL
There has never been a time in my life where I've been so afraid. All of my instincts are flaring up at once, some telling me to fight, others telling me to run. They are all conflicting in my brain and instead of acting on any of them, I stand rooted to the spot, clutching Kate's shaking fingers. Finally snapping into it, I push her gently against the wall and back up against her. I can feel her shaking body against mine and I squeeze her fingers, a meaningless and unsure reassurance.
"Stay here," I whisper, stepping away from her as quietly as I can manage.
"No!" Kate hisses, lunging forward and clutching to my back with all of her strength. "No Michael, please, let's just go."
"Kate," I whisper, prying her arms from me and turning around to face her. "We can't just leave, okay? Whoever's up there knows that we're here by now. There's no one around for miles, and I'm not about to find out how fast you can run."
"Please," Kate whispers, clutching onto my fingers. "Please don't go." In the dim light of the moon that shines through the dusty downstairs window, I can see that her eyes are shining silver with tears.
"It'll be fine," I say gently, pulling her to my chest. "Hey, shh, don't worry. Just stay here, okay? I'll be right back."
Kate doesn't let go of me and I fight to break from her grasp. The pure fear in her eyes is enough to stop me in my tracks, but I don't have another choice but to check. We can't just leave, who knows who would follow us?
I rest one of my hands on Kate's neck and press a soft kiss to her forehead. She finally unwinds her arms and I take her hand, leading her to the darkest, farthest corner.
"Stay here," I instruct. "I'll be right back. And if anything happens, I want you to run. Do you hear me? Listen to me Kate, the first sign of trouble and you get out of here. Get as far away as you can and then get help." She is just staring at me with big, glassy, terrified eyes. I shake her shoulders a little bit. "Kate! Do this for me, baby. Do you understand? Promise me." Kate nods frantically, gripping onto my arms with a force so great that I'm sure it's cutting off my circulation. "Promise me," I repeat, forcing her to look into my eyes.
"I promise," she whimpers.
"Okay. Okay, Kate, you gotta let go of me. You're going to be fine. Everything's going to be okay."
"Please be careful," she whispers, releasing one of my arms. "Please."
"I will. Don't worry about me. Don't-"
I am cut off when Kate catches me completely off guard by pressing her lips almost frantically against mine, her hands on either side of my face. The kiss is over almost as quickly as it started, but it takes me a few more seconds to recover from the shock of holding her like that again.
"Be careful," she whispers again, looking away from me almost as if she is embarrassed. I grab her chin gently and bring her lips back to mine for a millisecond before releasing her and pushing her gently back into the corner.
The small building is silent again but I can sense the person on the upper floor, sense their hesitation and tension. Unknown materials make soft crunching sounds under my feet as I walk to the staircase. The sounds are muffled but in the dead silence they ring out like firecrackers.
At the stairs I turn around to glance back at Kate but her hiding spot is doing too good a job of concealing her; I see nothing. Slowly I take the stairs one at a time. Whoever is up there, they will expect me to come through the door at any moment. There is only one room, one place where they could be. It doesn't seem like it could possibly work out in my favor if it turned violent; my only chance is to attack first if I can't keep the element of surprise.
