HERE (On the Otherside Series, Book One)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Chapter Fifteen

Evan grabs my hand and we run. The mist has turned to rain and it seeps through my hat and into my hair.

Car doors slam behind us as Evan boosts me over the short fence in the back of the cemetery. He vaults over with little effort and grabs my hand again. We sprint toward the woods, crashing through the brush. I look over my shoulder, expecting the police to be directly behind us, but their flashlight beams are sweeping around the church. At least we have a head start.

Evan leads the way, pushing deeper into the woods. Several minutes in, I’m out of breath. My leg aches from the cold and the rain, and the continual pounding from running makes it worse.

He glances over his shoulder, past me. The anxious look on his face makes me turn around. Flashlight beams dance in the distance. They’re searching the woods.

“Do you have a plan?” I gasp as he runs faster. I struggle to keep up and not slip on the wet leaves coating the forest floor.

“Yes, we’re getting close.”

I have no idea what we’re getting close to, but I hope we make it.

He angles toward the road. We’re deep enough in the forest that it’s several minutes before I see asphalt through the trees. I expect to see a car parked on the street, something to help us escape, but there’s only the road and the trees. Then it hits me where we’ll emerge.

I dig in my heels. “No.”

He tugs on my arm. “Jules, come on, we’re almost there. We’re going to make it.”

I shake my head, panicked. “No! I can’t.”

He stops and cups my face with both hands, his breath coming in pants. “Julia, it’s the only way. If we don’t go out there, they’re going to catch us. I’ll go to jail, and you might get arrested, too.”

I know he’s right. I’m in too deep to back out, but the thought of going to the scene of Monica’s death makes my heart race. “Why here? Can’t we go somewhere else?”

He shakes his head. “I’m sorry. It’s go out there while we still can, or stay here and we’ll both get caught. I’ll let you decide.”

My chest tightens. “If I don’t go, you’ll stay here and let them find us?”

He thrusts out his jaw, determination in his eyes. “Yes.”

When I look back, the flashlights are closer. I inhale a deep breath, hoping it will appease my growing anxiety. Instead, it rages in protest that I even consider going out to the road. I study Evan’s face and wonder why he would give up everything for me. His shoulders are tense, his lips pressed into a thin line. Everything in him screams run, yet he’s still standing here.

I bite my lip. “Okay. I trust you.”

Relief washes over his face before he kisses me. “I love you,” he murmurs against my lips then snatches my hand, now slick from the rain.

My mind trips, bewildered by Evan’s declaration, but I have no time to dwell on it as we race toward the street.

Torn between checking the flashlights and looking toward the approaching road, I settle for staring at the ground. Evan stops at the edge of the woods, and I clutch his arm in a death grip, terrified to look across the street. My traitorous eyes glance up, finding the tree with a deep gouge, a raw, open wound. I fight my rising nausea. I can do this. I have to do this.

I turn my gaze from the tree and look up and down the road. There’s no traffic in sight but neither is there any means of escape.

“Evan, how are we getting out of here?”