Chapter 26

• Turning, I darted down the hall and reached the door. I wanted to look behind me to see if he followed, but I was afraid to know. Shoving the door, I ran out into the alley and kept my legs moving as fast as I could. My new boots were very good, my feet didn’t slip at all. I was almost to the end, where I knew I could vanish when something hit my back. It was so forceful I stumbled several steps and almost fell. My back burned like it was on fire, but I kept running, I had to keep going until I could hide.
• My legs hurt, and I was shaking by the time I reached the building site. Stopping, I gasped to breathe and looked behind me. No one was there. My body was shaking and the pain was getting worse. I should check why, but I didn’t feel safe, so I turned and looked up at the beams that were like the building’s skeleton. I needed to go higher.
• As I climbed up the ladder, and went across a beam, my knees started to shake more. The burning was so bad I needed to stop. If I fell, Victor would be very upset with me. Crawling across the last few feet, I looked down. No one would look up here. Taking the strap off my pack, I looked around and saw a small metal bar I could clip on to. My hands were vibrating, and it took a lot of talking to myself to get it hooked on. I leaned over the bar and put my head down, trying to catch my breath.