Pitch (15 page)

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Newton said that. A smart guy, Newton. My piss poor idea was the action that brought me here. What better reaction could there be than to face the dark? Chances are they won’t kill me outright. For some strange, unfathomable reason they seem to like me. My strong survival instinct amuses them. Or so I assume.

“Wait ten minutes,” I tell Vivi and the rest. “Then go out the back door and run like hell. It’s your best shot.”

Vivi’s strange colored eyes, one blue and one green, narrow to slits, reminding me of a viper. And reminding me that despite her diminutive size and tender years, this little viper will rip you open head to toe as soon as look at you. “No,” she says stubbornly.

“Fine.” I shrug again. “Do what you want.” There will be no heralding speeches from me. I am not a go out and get ‘em kind of gal. I am not a leader. Not anymore. I lost that title when I brought us here to die.  

“Don’t scream,” Vivi whispers before she melts into the shadows and disappears behind an overturned display of potato chips.

Don’t scream
. Maybe it is the one promise I will be able to keep.

I crack my knuckles. Roll my neck until I hear it pop. Pluck the dagger out of my belt and hold it lightly in my right hand. Without looking back, I step out to meet my fate.