Following Me (12 page)

Hightailing it out of there,
Devon broke through the trees onto the narrow trail.  It wasn’t a long walk
from there, but she increased her pace anyway.  She had a terrible feeling
about all of this. 
Why hadn’t she just stayed home?  Why couldn’t she
listen to anything anyone told her?

She definitely heard footsteps
behind her.  They weren’t exactly close, but they didn’t have to be to freak
her out.  She was alone after all, and all things considered, she was a small
person.  There was no way she could fend off someone purposefully chasing her. 
Her only hope would be for her to make it out of the tree line.

Fear pushed at her pores, and she
felt panic hitting her like a ton of bricks. 
What kind of person would
chase after her in the middle of the woods?  Would she be one of those news
stories—pieces of
a dead body from a young woman found buried in the
woods near her house? 
Bile rose in her throat, and she swallowed it down. 
She was only freaking herself out more.

Taking off at a sprint, Devon
pushed forward as fast as she could go.  She had never been a runner, and the
last beer she’d had was sloshing around in her stomach, slowing her down. 
Why
had she done that?  If she hadn’t, would she be faster?  She couldn’t think
about it.

Her boots slowed her down even
more.  They weren’t meant for running distances.  They were meant for horseback
riding, and more importantly, they looked good.

Her feet pounded the dirt as she
tried to hold her pace.  The end of the trail was approaching, but she could
feel her pursuer gaining on her.  On a straight stretch in the trail, she
looked over her shoulder, and her long hair flew out in every direction around
her face.  She could definitely see a figure, but with a quick look, she
couldn’t tell who it was or if she even recognized the person.

Hadn’t her mother told her
that 95 percent of reported cases were people that the victim knew firsthand?

Finally reaching the road, she
looked both ways before crossing.  She ran straight across the lawn between the
double oak trees and up the creaking wooden stairs.  She yanked open the screen
door and banged on the front door.  Devon heard a familiar answering call, and
she pushed into the house without another thought.

It was a small run-down one
bedroom shack that hadn’t been inhabited for as long as Devon had known about
it.  She had been sneaking away here to have sex with her boyfriend for nearly
as long. 
He should already be here.  He would protect her.
 
Would
the person following her try to get into the house?
  It wasn’t secure by
any means.  Her pursuer wouldn’t have a hard time breaking in.

Devon slammed the door shut and
slid the lock into place, hoping that it would help.

“Mason!” she called out
frantically.

No answer.

“Mason!” she yelled again,
rushing to the closed bedroom door.

He had knocked back when she came
to the door.  It was their signal.  She hadn’t made up the fact that he had
knocked back. 
Where the hell was he?

Devon pushed open the bedroom
door and found the room transformed.  It was stark white everywhere from the
walls to the four-poster bed to the carpet and curtains.  The room was
unbelievably bright, like she had entered another world.

She looked around, taking a few
hesitant steps into the room.  When she heard the door close behind her, she
jumped and glanced over her shoulder.  Her exit had been sealed off, and as far
as she could tell, there wasn’t another exit.

“Mason?” she whispered, the words
lodging in her throat.  Her heart hammered in her chest as tears welled in her
eyes.

How do I get out of this?
she
thought.

She felt
eyes on her again, and she turned around to meet her pursuer.  Before she had a
chance to scream, the person grabbed her arm, wrenched it painfully behind her
back, and planted her face-first into the mattress.

DEVON AWOKE WITH a scream erupting
out of her throat, the one she hadn’t been able to let loose in her dream.  She
sat straight-up on the couch, her breathing heavy and her skin clammy.  Pushing
her hands up into her hair, she let the tears fall freely.  She cried there
helplessly until she had no more tears left, until her eyes were red and puffy,
and until her throat was sore.

She moved the covers off her body
and pushed herself off the couch, standing up on shaky legs.  The door to
Brennan’s bedroom remained closed.  She wondered if he had heard her screams or
if he had slept through them.  Either way, he hadn’t opened the door, making
his position very clear.

Stumbling forward into the
kitchen, she poured herself a glass of water and downed it.  Her clothes were
wrinkled, and she didn’t even want to think about how rumpled her hair was. 
Knocking on the bathroom door, she waited for an answer, and when she didn’t
hear one, she entered.

Her reflection stared back at her
from the mirror over the sink, and she tried not to cringe away.  She looked
like a wreck—pale and gaunt with dark circles under her eyes.  At least Brennan
hadn’t seen her like this.  It wouldn’t have mattered after what had happened
last night, but still, it was better this way.

She scrubbed her face and tied
her hair back into a ponytail, trying to make herself look presentable.  It
wasn’t much use, not after crying so hard.  She was an ugly crier; she always
had been.  Now that the blood was rushing back to her face, she was all red and
splotchy.  At least it would go away eventually.

Bending forward at the waist, she
cradled her body against herself and begged and pleaded to whoever would listen
for the nightmares to stop.  This was the first time she had dreamed of home. 
It had felt so nice to be back in the Tennessee woods, and then the same thing had
happened all over again. 
How many more times could she be chased?  How many
more times could she get caught?  How many more times before she didn’t wake up
in time?

Her heart ached for home, and she
pulled out her phone.  She really wanted to call her mom, but in her condition,
her mom would know how messed up she was.  Instead, she tried calling Dustin’s
phone.  He had just finished his third year of pharmacy school at the
University of Michigan, and he was sticking around Ann Arbor to be close to his
girlfriend, Kelly.  They were in the same program and had only been dating for
one semester.

“Hey, Dev,” Dustin said,
answering the phone.

“Hey,” she said.  “How have you
been?”

“Better than you, it sounds,” he
said, knowing as quickly as her mom would that something was wrong.

“Well, I’ve been better,” she
admitted honestly.

She had a hard time lying to
Dustin.  Growing up, he had been her rock.  They’d had their differences, but
he was her big brother, and he had always been there for her.

“What kind of trouble are you
getting in?  Does this have anything to do with Mom badgering you about New
York?” he asked.

“Has she been doing that to you
as well?” Devon asked, thinking about how she had avoided her mom’s calls the
past week.  She would rather talk about New York than her real issues.

“Hounding me like a dog, but she
doesn’t want me to bring Kelly.  Said she wanted it to be a family thing.”  He
sounded irritated.

“She said the same thing to me.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Dev. 
I don’t think I’m going to go, but if you have a better suggestion for your
birthday, let me know.  I’d rather get wasted in St. Louis with you than spend
quality time with the fam.”

“Seems a bit unfair to Dani,”
Devon said.

“Oh no, it doesn’t.  Mom wants
her to bring her boyfriend.  Personally, I don’t think Mom trusts Dani enough
not to sleep with every guy she meets there. But who knows Mom’s reasoning?”
Dustin told her.

Devon laughed lightly.  It felt
good to laugh after everything else that had happened.  She didn’t feel healed,
but Dustin certainly had a calming effect upon her.

“I never know her reasoning.”

“So, you going to tell me what’s
wrong?” Dustin asked, changing the topic.

She sighed, wishing she knew how
to tell Dustin.  The more removed she got from what had happened, the more she
wondered if it had happened at all.  Maybe she had just blown it out of
proportion.  Maybe she had simply overreacted, and there was no need for her to
run away.  Maybe a conversation could have changed it all, and then she
wouldn’t have had to leave.  Maybe she just hadn’t tried hard enough.

What if she told him and it
all became a reality?
  Then, she couldn’t take it back.  It would be out in
the open.

“Do you remember when we used to
go through that shortcut in the woods off the road that led to the abandoned
house?” she asked tentatively.

“Yeah, we used to go there all
the time,” he said.

“I had a dream about that place,
and it really freaked me out,” she told him lamely.

“A dream about the old abandoned
house?  That’s random, Dev.”

“Yeah,” she said softly, “really
random.  Someone seemed to be chasing me.  Seriously, Dustin, it was really
scary.”

Dustin laughed in a mocking way
that Devon had become so accustomed to.  “It was just a dream, Dev.  I have
dreams about zombie attacks and getting chased up trees by a Tyrannosaurus
rex.  They’re pretty scary, too.  I wouldn’t let these dreams mess you up too
badly.”

“True,” she said disbelievingly.

“Oh, hey, Kelly just woke up. 
I’ve gotta run.  I’ll talk to you later.  Let me know about your birthday.”

After Dustin hung up, Devon
dropped her head in front of the sink.  He hadn’t given her the opportunity to
say anything more.  It was reason enough for her to stay silent for a bit
longer.  She needed to figure out what she was doing and where she was going. 
She couldn’t stay in Chicago because she didn’t have the funds to remain, but
she couldn’t go back.  Her life was in limbo as she teetered between staying
and leaving.  She had a decision to make, and it had to be made today.

Straightening, Devon exited the
bathroom, smoothing out her clothes along the way.  She didn’t know if she
should knock on Brennan’s bedroom door and say good-bye or not.  She nearly did
three times, and then she decided against it.

When she reached the front door,
she saw a note taped to it.

Went to the gym.  Food in the
fridge if you’re hungry.  Just lock the door on your way out. —Brennan

Ugh!
 
How could he even
want to go to the gym after the amount of alcohol he had consumed last night? 
Or was that just a cover so he could leave the house and avoid her?

She shook her head, lost in her
own frustration.  She grabbed her things, left the apartment, and walked to the
nearest train station.  She took the train back to Marina City.  She wanted the
embarrassment of what had happened with Brennan to be as far from her mind as
possible.

Instead, Devon focused on
something else she couldn’t control.  She needed to talk to Hadley before she
packed up and left.  Last night had ended poorly, and Devon didn’t want to
leave on these terms.  Hadley was her best friend.  Devon was pissed at her, no
doubt, but she didn’t want to see Hadley devolve any more.  Devon couldn’t
leave and wonder if her friend was on a further downward spiral than she,
herself was.

Lunch? We need to talk,
Devon texted Hadley.

Devon received her response as
she took the elevator up to the apartment. 
Fine.  Jenn’s?
Hadley
responded

I’ll just meet you at that
place across from your work.  This is going to be quick.

I’m off at noon.

Devon
changed into fresh clothes and brushed her teeth.  She was glad Garrett wasn’t
there.  She didn’t want to face him this morning.  He was always so bright and
cheerful, and while he did tend to make her feel like a better person, she
wasn’t ready for that right now.  Plus, he might know how pissed she was at
Hadley.  He might somehow see it, and she wasn’t going to be the one to tell
him that his girlfriend was a coke addict, at least not until Devon knew if it
was necessary.

DEVON HOPPED ON another train to
Hadley’s building.  Arriving at the restaurant across the street, she took over
a booth in the back.  It appeared to be nicer than Jenn’s with fancy
tablecloths, classical music playing in the background, and expensive artwork
hanging on the walls.  Devon wasn’t a big fan, but it would be better to meet
here than somewhere comfortable…somewhere near Brennan.

Hadley walked in, looking worse
than Devon had expected. 
Had she been looking like this all week and Devon
just hadn’t noticed?  Had Devon been so lost in herself that she hadn’t seen
her own friend’s problems? 
She hadn’t seen a lot of Hadley this week
because of her job, but Devon didn’t think Hadley had seemed that different.

“Hey.”  Hadley took a seat across
from her and opened the menu, not making eye contact.

“Hey,” Devon responded.

Hadley clearly wasn’t going to
throw her a line or anything.  She stared stock-still at her menu.  Devon was
sure Hadley wasn’t reading it.

“Hadley, come on,” Devon pleaded.

“Don’t act like you’ve been
forthright the whole time you’ve been here,” Hadley snapped, still not looking
at her.

“Fair,” Devon said, trying to
bite back her retort.  “I’ll give you that, but I also wasn’t flaunting my
problems in everyone’s faces in a public place.”

Hadley dropped her menu down on
the table.  “I wasn’t
flaunting
anything, Devon!”

Devon sighed, seeing how this was
all going to go.  “Fine.  You weren’t doing that either.  I just happened to
see it.  But how long has this been going on?  And how long are you going to
keep it up?”