CHAPTER ONE (Page One)
The night was still. Cold and dark, save for the thin trickle of moonlight through the thick canopy of trees. If it weren't for Bethany Lawton's notorious ability for sticking her nose where it did not belong, she wouldn't be in the situation that she's found herself in. For someone who had taken to looking over her shoulder, she still managed to get entangled in the spider's web-and now she had no way out.
I'm so stupid.
SO fucking stupid.
These thoughts plagued her mind relentlessly as she ran. The mangled flesh of her right thigh burned as though someone had rubbed salt into a fresh papercut. Her dark hair, matted with dirt and blood. The strap of her thin, dirty cami was ripped from the hem, hanging limply down her bloodied left shoulder. Three jagged marks ran from said shoulder down her side, the pieces of her tattered shirt and flesh long gone. Her heart felt like it was going to burst and she wanted desperately to be at home, safe and sound. But, then again, she should consider herself lucky to have lived this long.
I won't be for much longer. Her heart picked up even more as that dark thought entered her mind. Her leg muscles burned, the wound on her thigh pulsating with every step. She had lost so much blood. Even if Demetrius Thornton didn't catch her, she wasn't going to last for very long without first aid. And in the dark shadows of Crimson Edge's largest forest, there would be none of that. Muscles shaking with exertion, Bethany slowed her pace, dark eyes darting around, trying to see any sign of her pursuer. Humans were bad enough on their own; but her pursuer was anything but. He was a zombie. More specifically, the leader. And he was relentless.
Bethany knew she was prolonging the inevitable. She knew she couldn't keep trying to outrun him. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. Her foot caught on the gnarled branch of a large oak tree, and she fell, hitting the ground hard. Tears streaked her grimy face. Mucous-or blood, she wasn't sure which-leaked from her nostrils. Her breaths came in shallow pants, the pain she felt only making it worse.
"I knew I should have quit smoking," she whispered to herself. Then, she heard a chuckle that made her blood turn cold.
"Pathetic human. The cigarettes aren't going to kill you, sweetheart." And then, he pounced.
Nobody would hear her screams as Demetrius Thornton tore into her, ripping flesh from bone.
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