I Hope You Find Me by Trish Marie Dawson Page B

aren’t doing the walk
of shame are you?”
    My mouth dropped open, and he smiled at me. I
saw that his eyes were full of mischief and something else…desire,
maybe? I snapped my mouth shut so hard that I bit the tip of my
tongue.
    “What? No, no…it’s not like that.” The words
tumbled out of my mouth. I had to straighten my spine, and shake my
head to regain my composure.
    I yanked my arms from his grasp and took two
full steps backwards. “Connor and I just met a few days ago,
besides, even if we were…whatever, it’s none of your business.” I shifted on my feet and pointed behind him. “Do you
mind, I was on my way downstairs.” I said it even as I moved past
him.
    “Whatever. I mean, it is what it is, right?”
He said from behind me. I didn’t bother to look at him but I could
tell he was following close behind me.
    “What does that mean?” I challenged him.
    “You and Connor,” he said simply.
    “What about me and Connor?” I asked, a little
too innocently.
    “Like I said - whatever.”
    We had reached the end of the hall and I
pushed open the stairwell door. I turned to face him, and put my
arm up to block his passage.
    “What’s downstairs?” He asked as he peered
past my shoulder into the empty stairwell as if the answer would be
hovering in the air behind me.
    “My dog.” I didn’t like how close he was
leaning towards me. I gave him a blank look. “Look, I’m not a
morning person, and I just got up. How about we meet up with the
others, in say, half an hour?” I hoped this would keep him from
following me down the next twenty flights of stairs.
    He didn’t answer me right away, but he backed
off and nodded. “Okay, whatever you say Boss Lady.” He winked at me
and I rolled my eyes in response as I moved away from the door and
let it slam hard in his face. I jogged down the stairs, pausing
every few landings to listen to the hotel around me. Twice I risked
leaning over the rail to look above me and make sure Matt wasn’t in
silent pursuit.
    When I opened the door to the lobby, I
whistled for Zoey. I pushed the heavy glass doors open and walked
over to the grassy spot that I had been taking Zoey to and it was
empty. I frowned and turned around, whistling. I called out for
Connor but got no response. The horizon was dark to the north, but
thankfully the wind was still pushing the smoke away from us. The
grey clouds above the distant skyscrapers gave me an ominous
feeling and I tried to rub the chill from my arms. The sky seemed
to be teasing the earth with the prospect of a storm, for days I
thought it would rain, but the clouds always ended up parting and
allowing the sunlight to filter through. This day was different
though, the static in the air ran through my hair and along my
skin, and the clouds looked heavy enough to dump a year’s worth of
rain onto me at any moment. I felt exposed, standing in the front
of the hotel, alone, and though it made no sense at the time, I was
certain I was being watched from the apartment complexes and
businesses across the street.
    I headed back the way I came and reached out
to open the doors once again but a reflection in the glass moved
just above my head, stopping me. I looked up, startled, and saw my
face but also a man, standing behind me. The view I had of him was
murky, almost cloudy in the glass, but it was easy to see that he
was tall, shirtless and had blood dripping from his nose. He
reached out to me with his hand and I spun around, flattening
myself against the door. The air twirled around me furiously,
lifting my hair from my shoulders and whipping across my face,
nearly blinding me and I shrank back from the man in horror. Where
his eyes should have been were only empty holes, and the sick color
of old blood covered his face from the nose down. His mouth was
moving but I heard nothing he said, because my own screams were so
loud they vibrated through the glass behind me and echoed down the
street. Just before his outstretched