The Academy's Twisted Enemies | Dark Romance

Chapter 10 - Feeling Tingly

His grip tightened as I attempted to jerk away from him.

"You being here at the same time as us can't be a coincidence," I whispered, the accusation heavy in my tone.

"It's not," he agreed. "You've been on our radar the moment you stepped into this city, but you haven't been getting involved in any of our operations. Dr. Zerenith let you guys wander to see what the Academy was up to."

He brought his face back to mine, his dark blue eyes holding my gaze as he continued. "And you guys were clearly up to nothing, just here to mess around." His hand trailed over the crown of my head and gently through the length of my hair. "The Academy must be getting too comfortable, though."

"How?" I asked softly.

"By sending you out into this city... you, whose parents are the sole people preventing us from overtaking the Academy by force."

I trembled at the stark realization of what he was implying. "Suppose they had a clear motivation for submitting to our rule," he said gravely, "by needing to keep you alive? I guess we'll find out all in due time."

My throat felt dry. "What are you planning?" I didn't even mean to ask. The question slipped out from the shock of it all.

"I think that's pretty obvious, is it not?" he asked coldly. His other hand released my wrists, relieving my aching shoulders and triceps.

"This is where you run." It wasn't a suggestion. It was a command. My eyes widened. "You won't get far, but I love a good chase."

"What are you going to do if you catch me?" I asked, horrified.

He didn't answer; he just started advancing toward me. I didn't want to find out what was about to happen. I tore away from him and through the quickly thickening crowd until I found Jeran and Cecily laughing with the man they had been chatting with earlier at the bar at the other end of the dancefloor.

She was the first to spot me and grinned. "Hey, you looked like you were having fun–!" she started.

"He's here. We have to go!"

Neither of them protested as I dragged them out of the speakeasy. We ran up the stairs and booked it down the street, past groups of people giving us dirty looks.

"Who?!" Jeran called, trying to keep pace with me. I could tell he and Cecily were more intoxicated than I was at this point.

I turned around and saw Scar in the near distance following us. His pace was steady, not rushed, and not too relaxed either—confident. He knew what he was doing, and I did not, which scared me even more.

"Scar," I whispered, staring past them. "He's following us."

They spun around, and Cecily whipped her head back towards me. "Run!"

We took off once more, them having sobered up from the realization that it was either a getaway from him or all three of us taking him on at once. It would mean trouble for The Academy and Director Penn.

We ran past annoyed pedestrians until we saw an electronic sign above a subway station saying the train was coming in a minute. We ran down the stairs and through the turnstile.

Our shoes slapped against the smooth, tiled floors towards the back of the train station, as far away as possible from him, but we didn't see him anymore. The train thankfully pulled in when it said it would. We piled aboard until I felt a firm but gentle grip around my neck.

"No!" Cecily screamed as he pulled me off the train right as the doors shut. She and Jeran banged against the doors, shouting incoherently, as the train rolled out of the station, leaving me behind with Scar.