Chapter 49 Run With Me
The footsteps behind us multiplied, heavy and urgent, echoing through the narrow halls like a warning we couldn’t ignore.
Kylen didn’t hesitate. His grip on my hand tightened as he pulled me out of the room and into the hallway, his movements quick and certain, like he had run this path before.
“Stay with me,” he said.
Not sharp this time.
Desperate.
Adrian was right behind us, keeping pace easily. “Left,” he called out. “There’s an opening.”
Kylen didn’t question it. He turned immediately, dragging me with him as we rushed down another corridor.
My heart was still racing from what just happened, my mind struggling to catch up. Everything felt sharper, louder, clearer.
Too clear.
“They’re splitting up,” I said suddenly.
Both of them glanced at me.
“How do you know that?” Adrian asked.
“I just do,” I replied, breathless. “Two are coming this way. The others are circling.”
Kylen’s jaw tightened. He didn’t question it.
“Then we don’t slow down,” he said.
We pushed forward, our footsteps echoing as the building seemed to close in around us. Doors blurred past. Shadows stretched across the walls.
The exit sign came into view at the end of the hall.
Relief hit too soon.
“Stop,” I said quickly.
Kylen froze instantly.
“What?”
“There’s someone there,” I whispered.
He narrowed his eyes, scanning ahead.
Then he saw it.
A figure stepping into view near the exit.
Waiting.
“They knew,” Adrian muttered.
Of course they did.
Kylen exhaled sharply, pulling me back slightly. “We’re not going through there.”
“Then where?” I asked.
He glanced behind us.
The footsteps were getting closer.
“No choice,” he said. “We go through.”
Before I could argue, he was already moving.
Fast.
The man near the exit stepped forward, blocking the way.
Kylen didn’t slow down.
At the last second, he shoved me slightly to the side.
“Stay back,” he said.
Then he collided with the man.
Hard.
The impact sent both of them stumbling, but Kylen recovered faster, pushing him aside with enough force to clear a path.
“Now!” he shouted.
Adrian grabbed my arm, pulling me forward.
We ran past them, the cool air outside hitting my face like a shock as we burst out of the building.
Freedom didn’t feel safe.
It felt temporary.
“Don’t stop,” Adrian said.
We didn’t.
We ran across the empty lot, gravel crunching under our feet, the sound of shouting behind us growing louder.
“They’re coming,” I said, my breath uneven.
Kylen reached his car first, yanking the door open.
“Get in.”
I didn’t hesitate.
Adrian slid in after me as Kylen jumped into the driver’s seat, starting the engine in one smooth motion.
The car roared to life just as two figures burst out of the building behind us.
“Go,” Adrian said.
Kylen didn’t need to be told twice.
The tires screeched as we sped off, leaving the building behind, shrinking in the distance but not in my mind.
No one spoke for a while.
The silence inside the car felt heavier than anything that had happened back there.
My hands were still shaking.
My breathing still uneven.
And my thoughts…
They wouldn’t slow down.
Finally, I broke.
“What was that?” I whispered.
Kylen’s grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
“You already know,” he said quietly.
“No,” I replied, shaking my head. “I don’t. I felt something, Kylen. I saw things before they happened. I moved before I even thought about it.”
He didn’t answer.
That silence again.
It pushed something in me over the edge.
“Stop doing that!” I snapped, my voice rising. “Stop acting like this is normal, like I’m supposed to just accept it without knowing what it means!”
The car slowed slightly.
Kylen pulled over abruptly, the engine still running as he turned to face me.
“It’s not normal,” he said.
The honesty in his voice caught me off guard.
“It’s not something you’re supposed to understand all at once,” he continued. “And it’s definitely not something you’re supposed to face alone.”
“Then why am I the only one who didn’t know?” I asked.
That question hit harder than anything else.
Kylen’s expression shifted, something breaking through the control he had been holding onto this entire time.
“Because I was trying to give you a normal life,” he said.
My chest tightened.
“A normal life?” I repeated. “While everyone else knew the truth?”
“I didn’t want you dragged back into it,” he said. “Not like this.”
“But I already am,” I whispered.
Silence followed.
Adrian shifted slightly beside me, his voice quieter now, less confrontational.
“What exactly are we dealing with here?” he asked.
Kylen hesitated.
Then, finally…
He spoke.
“They don’t just watch people like us,” he said.
My heart skipped.
“They track us.”
A chill ran through me.
“And when they think someone is… valuable,” he continued, his voice tightening slightly, “they don’t let them go easily.”
The weight of those words settled heavily in my chest.
Valuable.
That didn’t sound like something good.
“That’s why they’re after me,” I said quietly.
Kylen didn’t deny it.
“They’re not just after you,” he said. “They’re after what you can do.”
My hands clenched slightly in my lap.
“And what exactly is that?” I asked.
He looked at me.
Really looked this time.
And for a second…
It felt like he was finally going to tell me everything.
But then his gaze flickered away.
Not yet.
Not again.
I let out a slow breath, leaning back against the seat, exhaustion hitting me all at once.
Everything felt like too much.
Too fast.
Too real.
“I don’t even know who I am anymore,” I whispered.
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Kylen’s expression softened, just slightly.
“You’re still you,” he said.
I shook my head.
“No,” I said quietly. “I’m someone I don’t remember becoming.”
That truth settled between us, heavy and unshakable.
And for the first time since this all started…
I wasn’t just scared of the people chasing me.
I was scared of myself.