Chapter 2The 2 AM Takeout That Cost My Sister Her Life

I bit down hard, my teeth grinding together. Before I could say a word, she hung up, probably terrified of what I was about to scream at her.

So Ava knew everything. She was deliberately sending me to my death.

The comments were even more furious than I was.

【Is Ava even human? How can she say that with a straight face?】

【The audacity. He's an unstable maniac with a knife, and she tricked Zoey into facing him alone. That's not just messed up, that's attempted murder!】

【She’s a monster. Zoey, if you make it out of this alive, you have to disown her. For good.】

I took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing myself to calm down. Panicking wouldn't help. The only way to survive was to get out of the building as fast as possible. If I stayed here, Mark would find me eventually.

Steeling myself, I started to creep silently down the stairs.

But just as I took the first step, the stairwell light flickered on without warning, blinding me.

My first thought was: I'm screwed.

The light from the stairwell would bleed through the door's window, creating a bright rectangle in the otherwise pitch-black hallway. It was like painting a target on my back.

A second later, I heard it. The sound of footsteps in the hall, slow and deliberate, like death itself approaching.

I didn't think twice. I flew down the stairs, taking them two, three at a time.

Behind me, the stairwell door slammed shut.

Mark was coming after me.

While running, I managed to dial my mom, my voice trembling.

"Mom, you have to come help me! Ava… Ava is trying to get me killed!"

My mom's voice was sharp with annoyance. "Don't you start with that attitude, Zoey. I ask you to do one simple thing—watch out for your sister—and this is how you behave?"

"Ava has always been a good girl. You're the one who’s always causing trouble. How dare you say something like that about her? Stop calling me in the middle of the night with this nonsense!"

She hung up. I tried calling back, but it went straight to voicemail.

A wave of despair washed over me. It was always like this. If Ava said it, it was gospel. My words meant nothing. They still meant nothing.

Our apartment was on the eighth floor. The ceilings were high, making the stairs long and steep. But I couldn't stop, I just ran, my lungs burning, the metallic taste of blood filling my throat. I stumbled several times, nearly tumbling head over heels.

The sound of his footsteps was a death knell behind me. I couldn't stop. I wouldn't stop.

Only when I reached the ground floor did I dare to glance at the comments again.

My heart plummeted.

【ZOEY, DON'T GO DOWN!!!】

【Mark padlocked the main entrance when he came in! You can't get out that way!】

I skidded to a halt, my legs turning to jelly. The sound from the stairwell behind me was a terrifying promise. A dead end. I was trapped.

The footsteps grew closer, closer. In my mind's eye, I could already see the cold glint of the knife in his hand.

In a panic, I burst out of the stairwell and into the lobby. The main door was just as the comments had said—a heavy padlock gleamed on the handles. No way out.

My eyes darted to the elevator. It was a long shot. I sprinted inside, frantically mashing the buttons for every floor.

But I knew I couldn't actually take the elevator. Mark was right behind me. He'd catch me before the doors could even close. It would be a steel coffin.

Just as the doors began to slide shut, I slipped back out and dove headfirst into one of the large trash bins in the lobby.

The comments seemed to hold their breath with me, the stream of text freezing for a moment.

A minute later, Mark emerged from the stairwell.

Through a crack in the lid, I saw him standing in front of the elevator, his head tilted back, his eyes fixed on the floor numbers lighting up above the door.

He was watching it, trying to figure out which floor I’d gone to.

My heart hammered against my ribs, but a wave of relief washed over me. Thank god I hadn't taken the elevator.

It looked like he’d bought it. He thought I'd gone back up.

This building had another exit. The elevator went down to the underground parking garage. If I could just get back to it, I could escape.

But just as Mark seemed ready to head back up the stairs, my phone—my goddamn phone—started ringing at full volume.