DIRTY BULLETS

chapter twenty four

I WAS RUNNING on nothing but electrocuting adrenaline that shot through my veins like heroin. My feet carried me through the grass, kissing the ground with each step as I grinned through chapped lips and hysteria. The late-night wind glided its icy fingers through my hair while my own were stretched out wide either side of me as I embraced freedom, greeting it as an old friend.

Glancing over my shoulder at the disturbing building I'd been trapped in for too long, my head grew light as my distance from it increased the further my legs took me.

I'd done it. I was out.

My mind didn't believe it and yet it held no explanation for how my body raced through the dark field and headed towards the forest that entwined with its outskirts.

I'd escaped. I was going home.

After the tiff with Harry, I didn't waste any more time in putting together a plan. My mind was still raging, having reached its final straw after the ridiculous build-up of everything that had happened. I was overwhelmed with distress and I was convinced the only option now was to get out. I wasn't going to stand for this anymore. I needed my freedom, and it wasn't going to be granted to me. So, I needed to get it myself.

I hadn't made any attempts at escaping, only minor effort to scope out the area of the floor I was on. But now, I didn't care about planning it, step by step and ensuring it was well executed. I didn't have the time or the fucking patience.

Sometimes the best plans were unprepared and spontaneous.

God, I sounded like a quote that a fourteen-year-old would save to their Pinterest board. But that was what I was going with, nonetheless.

Waiting a short while, I had sat in my room, my ear pressed to my door as I listened out for any noise from the corridor. I couldn't risk crossing paths with anyone, not with what my strategy was – run and hope for the best.

I had been waiting a while, bustle and movement evident and constant. It wasn't until the sun had well and truly set, and the moon had taken over the sky before a consistent silence was met.

And then I acted impulsively, not having room to second guess my actions.

Clambering to my feet, I had opened the door and poked my head out into the corridor, the sight of no one tugging a small smile to my lips.

My heart pounded, feeling as though it was about to rip through my chest as my body seemed to shake at the anxiousness of what may await me.

Then, I didn't think twice before I was turning left down the hallway, my feet working light and quick as I ensured I made no noise while I crept to the door of the stairwell.

No one heard me, no one came.

I was very grateful in that moment, that Will's room was so close to the stairwell as I didn't have far to travel before I was shutting the door of the stairway behind me, an exasperated breath leaving my lips as the first hurdle was overcome. But I hadn't allowed myself to dwell on the triumph. Not yet, not when there was still so many more to go.

Wasting no more time, I hurriedly rushed down the steps, taking two, sometimes three at a time out of eagerness, and surprisingly not tripping, before I was greeted with that secured door. My fingers pressed the pin that I had sneakily observed from Will during our walk around the courtyard.

I was surprised he hadn't picked up on that earlier today when he found me sat outside. He didn't question or confront me about how I had managed to get to the courtyard, knowing that the door needed a passkey to open. Maybe he was being considerate, not wanting to challenge me about it when I was clearly in an unstable place. Or maybe he hadn't even noticed or acknowledge that there was anything peculiar of how I got outdoors. Nonetheless, I was grateful when the red light turned green after I entered the pin, the door unlocking, and I tugged it open.