Darkest Dawn by Katlyn Duncan Read Free Book Online Page A

leaving through the back door of the building and following the parking lot to the annex building.
    ***
    I entered the one-floor faded brown brick structure. I vigorously wiped my wet sneakers on one of the thick mats inside the main entrance. I didn’t want to slip on them again in case I ran into that guy.
    Across the hall was an open door and as I neared it, the sounds of sneakers and dribbling basketballs grew louder. A man shouted something. I couldn’t make out his words among the other sounds. I peered into the gym, watching the dozen or so guys move across the court. Half of them wore netted vests and were doing drills in pairs. An otherwise conventional practice session.
    My gaze fell on a familiar face. Jake, from the diner, knocked the ball away from one of his teammates and he dribbled the ball at breakneck speed up the court. Toward me.
    I cleared the doorway and pressed my back against the wall, my heart hammering in my chest. A ragged breath parted my dry lips. If I didn’t know any better I’d think he was stalking me.
    Even though you’re at his school.
    I headed in the opposite direction. I didn’t want to pass by the open doors for fear of being recognized so I traveled along the corridor until I reached the empty outer hallway of the building. The dribbling basketballs faded as I traveled further from the gym. I tested the bottom of my shoes; they were dry enough. I jogged down the hallway until I reached another corridor. This time I peered down it to make sure there weren’t any other openings to the gym. One close call had been enough.
    A placard for the natatorium was plastered to the wall in front of me next to a windowless door.
    I strode up to the door and placed a clammy hand on the surface. A whooshing sound in my ears stopped me and I stumbled backward. The same sick feeling rolled around in my stomach as earlier. My vision blurred momentarily before catching a sign for the girls’ locker room. I staggered down the hall and pushed through the doors. A large windowless room opened up around me with rows of lockers against the walls. I shuffled past the benches covered with strewn clothes and bags across the room to a small enclave with a bank of sinks and toilets.
    I turned on the closest sink and cupped my hands under the cold water. Immediately the frigid temperature shocked me back to reality and I splashed water on my face. I drew in deep breaths until my racing heart calmed to a somewhat normal rhythm. I stared at my pale face in the mirror, resembling a drowned rat more than a girl. My stomach revolted, growling at me from deep within my abdomen. I swallowed a few times. The last thing I needed was to get sick when I was so close.
    I opened one of the stalls and sat on the toilet, giving my jelly legs a moment to get back to their normal strength. The porcelain seat was the cleanest I’d ever seen at a school. The residual dizziness faded. I pulled my damp hair away from my flushed skin and into a bun at the top of my head. I’d come here with a specific goal and I needed to get back on track. After a few more minutes of calm breathing, I tested my legs.
    The echo of a door slamming made my already fragile heart skip a beat. Girls’ voices floated across the space, bouncing off the empty locker room. It wouldn’t be empty for long.
    I didn’t have a chance at getting out of there without someone seeing me, so I closed the stall door and locked it before standing on the toilet. After five minutes of keeping still while listening to the girls talk about dates to some event and gossip about other girls in school, I wondered if I should have risked leaving when I had the chance. One girl even tried the stall I was in, pushing it hard enough to almost move the flimsy lock from its place before giving up. I counted the seconds through my quickening breaths and soon enough the pack of girls left in one noisy group.
    I gave the stragglers a few seconds to clear out before I stepped down