The Second Set

My fingers closed around the handle. The wood was rough against my skin, the weight familiar and comforting.

"Okay," I said.

The word hung in the cold, still air of the basement. A simple word. A surrender. Or a challenge.

Dr. Lipman smiled. It was a professional smile, the kind she used to wear when I was twelve and refusing to talk about the man at the door. "Good. This will be quick, Elena. Just a little pinch."

She took a step forward. The syringe glinted in the dim light.

I didn't move. I let my shoulders slump, let my eyes widen in fear. I made myself small. I made myself the broken girl she remembered.

"Leo is upstairs," I whispered. "He'll hear you."

"Leo is... indisposed," she said, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Aris gave him something to help him sleep. He's been under a lot of stress, you know. Living with you."

She was five feet away.

"Why?" I asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because Aris asked me to," she said simply. "And because... well, you were always a fascinating case study, Elena. The girl who opened the door. The girl who let the monster in. I've always wondered... what would happen if we pushed you just a little bit further?"

Four feet.

"You're not a doctor," I said. "You're a predator."

"I'm a scientist," she corrected. "And you are data."

Three feet.

She raised the syringe.

I didn't swing the hammer. Not yet.

I dropped it.

It clattered to the concrete floor with a loud, metallic *clang*.

Dr. Lipman flinched. Her eyes darted down to the weapon.

That was all I needed.

I lunged.

I didn't go for the syringe. I went for her knees.

I tackled her. We hit the floor hard. The syringe flew from her hand, skittering across the concrete into the darkness.

She screamed. A high, thin sound of shock.

I scrambled on top of her. She clawed at my face, her nails digging into my cheek. I ignored the pain. I grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the floor.

"Where is he?" I hissed. "Where is Aris?"

"Get off me!" she shrieked. "You crazy bitch!"

"Where is he?" I slammed her wrists against the concrete.

"He's coming!" she spat. "He's coming for you!"

I looked around. The hammer was out of reach. The syringe was gone.

But the lighter fluid.

The bottle I had taken from the pantry. It was still in my pocket.

I let go of one of her wrists and grabbed the bottle.

I flipped the cap.

I squeezed.

A stream of clear liquid hit her face. Her eyes. Her mouth.

She sputtered, coughing, thrashing beneath me. The smell of petroleum filled the air.

"Tell me where he is," I said, holding up the lighter I had taken from the kitchen drawer. "Or I light you up."

Her eyes went wide with terror. She stopped struggling.

"The Folly," she gasped. "He's at the Folly. Waiting for you."

The Folly.

Of course.

The place where the boys became men. The place where the pact was made.

I stood up. I backed away, keeping the lighter held high.

"Stay here," I said. "Don't move."

She lay on the floor, soaked in lighter fluid, shivering. She looked small. Pathetic.

I turned and ran.

Up the stairs. Into the kitchen.

The house was silent.

I grabbed a knife from the block. A chef's knife. Eight inches of steel.

I walked to the back door.

It was open. The cold air rushed in.

I stepped out onto the patio.

The snow had stopped falling. The moon was out, casting long, blue shadows across the yard.

I looked toward the woods.

Toward the Folly.

I could see a light. A faint, flickering glow.

Fire.

I started walking.

The snow was deep here, untrodden. My boots sank in with every step.

I reached the tree line. I stopped.

I listened.

Silence.

No. Not silence.

A voice.

Singing.

Low. Off-key.

*Run, rabbit, run, rabbit, run, run, run...*

Aris.

I gripped the knife.

I moved through the trees. Silent. A ghost in my own backyard.

The Folly loomed ahead. Stone pillars rising from the snow like ancient teeth.

In the center, a fire was burning in an oil drum.

And sitting on a stone bench, warming his hands...

Was Aris.

He was alone.

He looked up as I stepped into the clearing.

He smiled.

"You made it," he said.

He stood up. He was wearing his tactical gear. The knife was sheathed at his belt.

"Where's Leo?" I asked.

"Leo is sleeping," Aris said. "He had a long day."

He took a step toward me.

"Did you bring the drive?"

"I burned it," I lied.

His smile faltered. "You burned it?"

"Yes. In the basement. With Dr. Lipman."

He stared at me. "You killed her?"

"Maybe," I said. "She was very flammable."

He laughed. A dry, rasping sound.

"You really are something, Elena. A true survivor."

He pulled the knife from his belt.

"But survivors have to be useful. And without the drive... you're just a loose end."

He walked toward me.

I backed away.

"You killed Ethan," I said.

"Ethan was a mistake," he said. "A calculation error. But you... you're the variable I can't solve."

He lunged.

I dodged. But the snow slowed me down.

He grabbed my arm. He twisted.

The chef's knife fell from my hand. It disappeared into the snow.

He pinned me against a stone pillar. His knife was at my throat.

"End of the line, Elena," he whispered.

I looked into his eyes. They were empty. Soul-dead.

"Not yet," I said.

I reached into my pocket.

Not for a weapon.

For the remote.

The one I had taken from Leo. The one for the cameras.

But it had other buttons.

Buttons I had programmed myself.

Buttons for the exterior lights. The floodlights.

And the siren.

I pressed the red button.

*WHOOP. WHOOP. WHOOP.*

The alarm siren exploded from the house. A deafening, ear-splitting shriek that echoed off the trees.

And then...

The floodlights.

Twelve of them. Mounted on the back of the house. Aimed at the woods.

They flared to life.

Blinding, white light flooded the clearing.

Aris flinched. He shielded his eyes.

"What the—"

I didn't wait.

I kneed him in the groin. Hard.

He groaned, doubling over.

I pushed him away. I ran.

Not toward the house.

Toward the hole in the fence.

"Get back here!" he screamed.

I heard him running behind me.

I scrambled through the rhododendrons. I squeezed through the gap in the iron bars.

I was in the nature preserve.

The woods were darker here. Denser.

I ran.

I didn't know where I was going. I just knew I had to get away.

I heard Aris crashing through the brush behind me.

"You can't run forever, Elena!" he shouted.

I saw a light ahead.

A road?

I ran toward it.

My foot caught on a root.

I fell.

Hard. My face hit the frozen ground.

I scrambled to get up.

But a boot slammed into my back, pinning me down.

"Gotcha," Aris panted.

He grabbed my hair. He pulled my head up.

He put the knife to my throat.

"Look at me," he hissed.

I looked at him. His face was scratched. Bleeding. His eyes were wild.

"You ruined everything," he said. "The Institute. The money. Everything."

He raised the knife.

I closed my eyes.

And then...

A sound.

A growl.

Low. Guttural.

Aris froze.

He looked up.

Standing ten feet away, in the beam of a flashlight...

Was the guard.

Number Three.

He was holding a shovel.

"Let her go," the guard said.

Aris laughed. "Number Three? You think you can stop me?"

"I'm not Number Three," the guard said. "My name is David."

He swung the shovel.

It hit Aris in the head with a sickening *thud*.

Aris collapsed. He fell off me. He lay in the snow, groaning.

I scrambled away.

David stood over him. He raised the shovel again.

"David, don't!" I screamed.

He looked at me. His eyes were haunted.

"He deserves it," he whispered.

"I know," I said. "But not like this. Not us."

David lowered the shovel.

He looked down at Aris.

"It's over," he said.

I stood up. I brushed the snow from my robe.

"Is it?" I asked.

I looked back toward the house.

The siren was still wailing. The lights were still blazing.

And in the distance...

Blue lights.

Police.

"They're coming," I said.

David nodded. "Go," he said. "I'll wait here."

"Come with me," I said.

"No," he said. "I have to finish my shift."

He sat down on a log. He took a flask from his pocket.

I looked at him one last time.

Then I turned and walked toward the road.

I reached the asphalt just as the first cruiser pulled up.

Mercer got out. He looked at me. At the blood on my face. At the white robe.

"Mrs. Rostova?" he asked.

"He's in the woods," I said, pointing. "With the guard."

Mercer nodded. He spoke into his radio.

Other cars arrived. Officers swarmed into the trees.

An ambulance pulled up. A paramedic draped a blanket over my shoulders.

"Are you hurt, ma'am?"

"No," I said. "I'm fine."

I looked back at the house.

My fortress.

It was lit up like a Christmas tree. Exposed. Vulnerable.

I saw a figure in the window.

The master bedroom window.

Leo.

He was watching.

He raised a hand. A wave? Or a plea?

I turned away.

I walked to the ambulance.

I sat on the bumper.

The paramedic checked my pulse.

"Strong," he said. "Steady."

I looked at the moon.

It was full. Bright.

I reached into my pocket.

I pulled out the lozenge wrapper.

I let it go.

The wind caught it. It danced away, disappearing into the night.

"Mrs. Rostova?"

Mercer was back. He looked grim.

"We found him," he said. "Aris Thorne. He's alive. barely."

"And the guard?"

"David," Mercer said. "He surrendered. He gave us a statement. A long one."

He looked at me.

"And your husband?"

"He's in the house," I said.

"We have a warrant," Mercer said. "For the cameras. For the files."

"Good," I said.

I stood up.

"Can I go now?"

"Go where?"

"Anywhere," I said. "Just not there."

Mercer nodded. "My partner will drive you. To the hospital. Or a hotel."

"A hotel," I said. "Somewhere with a good lock."

I got into the back of the cruiser.

As we drove away, I looked back one last time.

At the house on the hill.

The lights were still on. The siren was finally silent.

But the door...

The front door was open.

And for the first time...

It didn't matter.

Because the monster wasn't at the door anymore.

I was the one leaving.

And I wasn't coming back.