Meet Me by Dawn (By Dawn series book 1) ✓

Chapter 11

Branches whipped at my face and body as I ran through the wet and sunken forest. Flashlights cut through the darkness between the trees as the police came hurtling after me, guns loaded and dogs on leashes. They weren't many, but enough. I had only forty minutes until sunset. If I didn't find a good place to hide or get back to my house unseen by then, it would be over before it began. I wouldn't end up in prison; the Madame would just get me out again, but my cover would be ruined.

"Just keep going in that direction. You're not far from the road to your house," Julie said.

"Okay," I hissed. I was furious. She lost focus and didn't pay attention to the guard, and now – I was here. The forest stopped abruptly, and I stumbled over something, flying forward and face-planting into a puddle of mud.

"Agent 048?" Julie asked, and I wanted to scream at her to be silent. I crawled forward, got to my feet, but hunched down. I was no longer hidden by trees but sitting in what looked like a glade of flowers.

"I'm in a bloody meadow," I whispered, getting a chuckle in return. Wiping the mud off my face, I tried to move forward but ducked again as the flashlights came closer. I lay flat on my back and looked up at the star-specked sky, hidden by wildflowers – some pink, others yellow... yellow? I looked closer and pulled at one branch, studying the petals. Rue flowers; dogs hated those. I lay still, listening to the police rushing through the woods, their silent whispers, and the dogs' rapid breathing.

"What did she look like?" one of them asked, a woman.

"Couldn't get a good look at her."

She gave a low chuckle. "You will never be on guard duty again, and besides, how did she get in?"

"I have no idea," he let out a breath. They had probably never faced a skilled agent before; this was nothing compared to what I had managed before. If Julie had done her end of the job properly, none of this would have happened. I heard them move on, and the dogs ran straight past the meadow, and I let out a breath of relief.

"I think I'm good," I said to Julie, who was silently waiting on the other end. I pulled mud out of my hair. What a disaster. I had to move; the wind was cold, and I was drenched. I brushed off my hands and stalked to the place I had fallen, surprised that the police hadn't noticed the evident mark of my hand in the mud. I kicked at it to make it go away. I searched through the tall grass. My finger hooked on something; I pulled—a thread. Pushing the grass apart, I saw a nearly invisible string.

"I stumbled on a string," I said to Julie. I followed it to the tree it was tied to, then cut it. I followed it to another tree further away.

"Strange," Julie hummed. "Maybe hunters set it up?"

"Do they do that?" I asked.

"I don't know, but I can find out."

I heard a rustling, then froze in place. I could have sworn I saw something, but as I blinked, it was gone. A chill went down my spine. I cut off the other end of the thread, put it in my pocket, and began making my way home, avoiding the path the police took.

When I got home after that horrible night, I cleaned the mud off me, dirt staining the floors and my door. I spent a good hour getting it all off before I went to bed, freshly out of the shower. But as I closed my eyes, I couldn't shake the eerie feeling that Atticus might have been right – that there was something lurking around in Dark Falls still.

"That fast?" Jenny muttered, sitting in her room in the institution – or, what used to be our room. I had her on a video call. Her blonde hair was braided back, and she had just finished training with her team.

"Yes," I replied, going through my newly added material on my computer. There was a lot to examine. I had barely escaped last night. I could still feel the fall on my body; I had gotten a few bruises.

"Can't believe Julie got so sloppy she didn't see the policeman coming," Jenny said with a slight disdain in her tone, rolling her crystal blue eyes.

"Everything was calm; neither of us expected him to get up and check the cellar. That man must have had incredible intuition or something," I said, defending Julie. "Besides, since it was so quiet, she was working on something else when I began to pack up, and in the end, I got out, and nobody saw me."

"Still," Jenny said. "And besides, you should have just waited for me or Andrew."

"You guys were busy, and honestly, I was bored."

"That's what you get for moving to nowhere; what's even the population there?"

"Five thousand, plus new students coming in every year. This is a very popular study place, and it gained more popularity after the disappearances stopped."

"Alright, alright..." Jenny sighed. "What are you wearing tonight?" I hadn't thought of it. It was Friday, and I was going to dinner with strangers – if I could still classify Atticus as a stranger. He didn't feel like a stranger anymore. We spent almost two hours in the garage together after he fixed the scratch on my car. I stayed and helped him with a car that came in as soon as he was finished. He tried to teach me, but it was hard to focus when something of a god stood beside you smelling like summer.

"Emilia?" Jenny sang, and I snapped back to reality. "What are you wearing?"

"I don't know, little black one, or do you think I should go for casual? It's just dinner."

"No, little black one. Never underdress," Jenny said. "Julie is on chip duty as well tonight." Chip duty was different from what she had done the night before. All agents in the institution were chipped, in case anything happened they were able to find us. Like that one agent who was found in a dumpster.

I hoped that wouldn't be me tonight.

"It's going to be fine," I replied as I read through one of the animal attacks, then noted down the location on my map. Most of them happened in different places and didn't seem to have any connection. I would have to get up close and personal to see anything.

"What do you make of this new friend of yours?" Jenny asked, with a funny grin.

"I don't know," she asked about Atticus. "Nice enough," I lied. He was more than nice, more like breathtaking and annoyingly attractive. A part of me wanted to delve into him and let him kiss me all over, but it would be a bad idea. One hot moment with him and I would forget everything else. I learned from the first time I fell in love, if I could call it love at age sixteen, but I was never going to do that ever again. Besides, I liked being on my own, taking care of myself. I didn't need anyone.

"When do you leave for Paris?" I asked.

"We don't know yet, but the apartment is awesome," Jenny grinned into her phone, I stuck my face up in the camera and gave her one back.

"It will be good for you guys. Paris will be amazing, and remember no jumping the sheets," I teased and arched a brow. Her eyes widened, peeking over her shoulder.

"Stop it," she whispered and looked over the edge of her phone. Oh, shit. I let out a laugh I was unable to hold back when I realized Andrew was in the room with her. Either he didn't overhear, or he ignored it to keep the peace. Everyone knew they were in love with each other; it tinged each room they were in. She switched the camera and showed him sprawled in my old bed, a computer on his lap, but it looked as if he was asleep.

"What do you do if they try to kidnap you tonight?" Jenny asked, turning the camera back to her face.

"I don't know; I'm all for dark romances," I gave her a wink, which earned me an eyeroll. But I was indeed bait.

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