I waited a bit, then quietly slipped out of the room and headed towards the bathroom. I didn’t see her anywhere.

  So, I passed the bathroom, got into the elevator, and rode it to the ground floor.

  No sign of her.

  I walked to the ATM and withdrew ten grand from the corporate card. I stuffed the cash into my pockets.

  On the way out of the bank, I called my grandma.

  She picked up after a few rings. “Hey, Pete, how are you doing?”

  “Hi, Grandma, you wouldn’t happen to be at the cottage, would you?”

  “No, Peete, not yet, it’s too cold for that now. Why?”

  “I need somewhere to hide, and I thought of it.”

  “Of course, you can go there. The key’s behind the right window ledge… or the left one. I don’t remember. You’ll find it anyways. Is everything all right?”

  “It is. Thanks, Grandma.” I hung up and tossed my phone in the trash.

  Then I picked it back up, sent a text to my mom: ‘I need help. I’m in serious trouble.’

  I activated the silent mode and tossed it back in the trash.

  Isabella could probably track my phone. I headed for the garage.

  Yesterday, I came in with my Hyundai and left with the Mercedes. So, my i30 still parked in the garage. And I did have the key in my pocket.

  I descended into the garages, and under the flickering, fluorescent lights, I found my car.

  Salvation. I unlocked it, slid inside, and rode out.

  Isabella could probably track my car as well, but grandma’s cottage was in central Delaware, in the middle of nowhere. With a bit of luck, she would lose track of me the moment I left the main road.

  The traffic didn’t help, but I did make it out of Philly and even got through Wilmington.

  I drove towards Dover, but took an exit before it. The forests swallowed me, and I stopped at a small town to do a little shopping.

  I raided a little shop for bread, sausages, and a few beers. With enough food for a few days, I continued and drove to Hartly.

  In there, I left the car by a patch of trees, and continued on foot across fields towards grandma’s cottage. She had it nicely hidden in the woods, which suited me perfectly right now.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  It was dusk by the time I arrived. The cottage stood alone on the side of a forest. The nearest neighbor was about half a mile away, just visible on the horizon.

  The cottage looked just as I remembered it, fully wooden, with ivy crawling up its stone chimney, paint peeling off on the windward side.

  I circled the cottage to reach the back entrance and found the key.

  Thanks, Grandma.

  I unlocked the door and turned on the lights. The cottage lit up.

  Nice, they had still paid the bill, and I didn’t need to look for the main switch.

  The cottage was small, dusty, but cozy. It smelled of the forest and of freshly painted wood, so Grandpa had most likely come here to paint for the next season.

  Though he either didn’t bother with the windward side, or the paint started peeling off the day after he finished.

  I could hide out here until the demon chihuahua disappeared from my life.

  I cracked a beer and decided to roast some sausages, as I had not eaten a single thing today. Since I needed firewood first, I went to chop some. In the storage room, I found my grandpa’s old axe and took it outside to chop some wood.

  I cleaned off the chopping block, grabbed the axe, and started splitting logs.

  My whole body ached from Isabella’s whipping, but hunger was stronger.

  I placed a small log on the chopping block, raised the axe, and brought it down on a log.

  Lightning flashed.

  The lights in the cottage went out.

  I looked around. The other nearby cottage was dark too. Though there were no clouds in the sky, only the moon waning high above, as if trying to hide.

  Some tires skid to a stop on the other side of the house.

  I froze.

  No. No. No!

  The sound of high heels clicked rhythmically on the gravel, approaching.

  In a panic, I remembered the pistol. I still had it in the holster under my jacket.

  I drew it, hand shaking.

  Isabella came around the corner, heading for me. Her glowing blue eyes pierced the darkness, likely a side effect of some spell. She smiled demonically. “Come on, Coward. Shoot me.”

  My hand trembled so badly I wouldn’t hit the cottage, let alone her. In desperation, I turned the pistol around and shoved it into my mouth.

  With a few blurring steps, Isabella closed the gap between us. She lunged, grabbed the gun, and forced it deeper, so the nuzzle touched the back of my mouth. “If you’re going to do it, aim up toward the brain.” She tilted my hand to correct the aim.

  I trembled all over, eyes filled with tears.

  “What’s the holdup?” Isabella let go of the pistol and straightened. “I don’t have all night.”

  My shaking intensified, and the gun fell from my hands, and I dropped to my knees.

  Her hair picked it up and handed it to her. “Not so easy, is it? Life’s hard. Life’s cruel. And Isabella’s the cruelest of them all. But you still don’t want to die.” She put the barrel to her own head and pulled the trigger.

  The gun fired. The bullet sparked off her shields.

  “Ha, it’s loaded.” She pointed the gun at my face. “Now this is how you shoot someone.” She grinned and fired.

  The shot roared, and pain lanced through my ear as the bullet grazed it.

  “Why?” I shouted. “Why are you doing this?”

  She laughed. “Because I enjoy it.” Her hair grabbed me, bound me, and hoisted me so my face was level with hers. “Deep down inside you, somewhere really, really deep, there’s a man. You can’t see it, can’t feel it, but somewhere underneath all the doubt and fear and weakness, there’s strength. Your father had it. Your grandfather had it. And I will beat my way to it. Literally.”

  She licked the sweat from my face.

  It felt like Death itself had licked me.

  “With every lash I bless you with,” she continued, “I’ll whip out another piece of your weakness. Until one day, I strike you with a chain, and you won’t even feel it, because there’ll be no weakness left inside of you.”

  She hurled me to the ground. I didn’t make a sound. It hurt, but I was past pain.

  She straightened her suit. “Get in the car. We’re returning to civilization.”

  I tried to stand up, but the world spun, and I passed out.