Chapter 222 222
Sabine POV
I spent the first night in a cheap hotel, but the moment they asked for payment again, I knew I couldn’t stay. If I did, I wouldn’t have enough money to survive the week.
Now here I am one week later with barely any cash left and no hotel room at all.
At least I managed to dye my hair while I still had the privacy of that room. I’d grown paranoid after learning that mobile phones could track people. And the CCTV cameras lining every street those things watched people when I was little. God only knew what they could do now.
I chose brown.
Why not? I’d always wanted to be a brunette. Mum had been one. The blonde came from Father.
“It’s temporary,” the shop girl had told me. “Should last about a month.”
Perfect. If all goes well, I’ll be in another country by then.
After checking out, I caught a bus that dropped me somewhere on the edge of an industrial business estate. Warehouses stretched out in every direction silent, boxy giants made of concrete and steel.
I found a map on the bus and spent the ride studying routes out of the country, watching lorries rumble in and out of the area. That’s when the idea formed. If I could hitch a ride in one of those trucks, I could get straight to the port free passage out.
I found a warehouse marked For Sale. Empty during the day. Empty at night.
Perfect.
That became my hideaway.
Yes, I smell. Yes, the night noises from the wooded area outside are terrifying in a way that makes my skin crawl but at least I’m saving money.
Sleep doesn’t come easily, especially at night. Strangely, the only thing that calms me is stepping outside under the moon. Odd, really. I’d never craved that before.
Still, I never stay out there long. Every rustle, every scurry from the woods sends my imagination spiralling. Small animals, I tell myself but fear has a way of lying convincingly.
I think I’m getting sick.
I’m freezing, my muscles trembling uncontrollably, yet my skin burns when I touch it. Sweat beads on my forehead as my body fights off whatever’s taken hold of me.
I need painkillers. Flu tablets. Something.
But cash is running dangerously low. I’ve reduced myself to clearance shelves at small supermarkets, one sometimes two meals a day. I can already feel my curves disappearing.
Maybe I didn’t need that boob reduction after all.
Wrapped in a blanket I scavenged, I curl in on myself, but the shivering doesn’t stop. I haven’t been this ill in a long time. My eyes burn, grateful for the late hour giving them an excuse to close.
My ears stay sharp, straining for the familiar animal noises outside sounds that now only worsen my headache. Tomorrow, I have to get up and find painkillers. No excuses.
I’m drifting toward sleep when a loud bang snaps me awake.
Instantly, every nerve is on edge.
I grab the metal bar I found upstairs in one of the abandoned offices and creep toward the fire exit. My grip tightens as I raise it, heart hammering violently in my chest ready to beat the shit out of any pervert stupid enough to attack me.
My heart is already working overtime fighting this infection. Now I’m pushing it even harder.
Come on, Sabine. Don’t be chicken shit.
I force myself to breathe, to stand taller, to find some courage before pulling the door open.
Attack or be attacked. You’ve got this.
I shove the fire exit open
and instantly feel like a royal idiot.
A dog.
Just a dog sniffing around the place.
A huge dog.
I start to retreat, but my foot crunches down on broken glass. The sound slices through the quiet, and the dog snaps its head toward me, growling low.
Get back, my inner voice orders.
I try.
But one huge, terrifying dog quickly becomes two.
“It’s okay,” I whisper, hands raised. “I’m nobody. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m just… very… slowly… going to walk away…”
Dogs can understand humans, right?
The second dog sniffs the air, then joins the first, both of them stalking toward me with deliberate steps.
Run!
My body reacts before my mind can argue. I turn and sprint back into the warehouse, heading for another emergency exit. The plan forms as I run lock them inside, get out, don’t look back.
But shit they’re fast.
Of course they are, Bee. They’re dogs.
I burst outside, but they’re already snapping at my heels, so close I don’t even get the chance to slam the door shut like I planned.
And just like that, my escape turns into a chase.