Prey Read Online Free PDF

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rage. She surged forward. Half way. She filled her lungs and choked as the rank air
raped her senses.
    A guttural,
gurgling screech reverberated between the walls. Using every last
ounce of strength she had, and some she didn't know about, she
jammed the bulky dresser against the door.
    She collapsed
in a heap. Her eyes blinked to retain consciousness. Her breath
rasped in her throat, and tearful spittle foamed from the corners
of her mouth.
    Her eyes refused to budge from the bulk of the dresser. She
watched for any movement. Any sound. Any... one . Her fingers clenched into fists
and she pushed herself up onto her knees.
    She ground her
teeth and attempted to pull herself to her feet. It failed. She
flopped back down and seethed in agony, as lactic acid burned in
her muscles and joints. Sweat bled from her hairline and drenched
red-hot flesh of her face. It mingled with the salinity which
flowed from her eyes.
    The door and
dresser remained still. Like the body on the bed. Dead.
    Susan's breasts
jiggled. Her heart hammered like a pneumatic drill within the
prison of her ribcage. The towel lay around her waist and thighs.
She squeezed and scrunched the thick material against her palms for
better grip. A hard gulp racked her throat and she pinched her
shoulders to aid the gesture. She coughed and the remainder of the
tears in her mouth sprayed from her lips in a mist.
    With meticulous
movements, she crawled her fingers up over the top of the chest of
drawers, until her palms spanned out across the hard surface. The
muscles in her forearms flinched. She struggled to her feet. They
faltered. Her torso hugged at the cabinet, giving her legs time to
acclimatize.
    The door, and
hall outside, loomed in silence.
     
    The young woman
managed to stand. Tears streamed from the taut lids of her eyes.
She reached down to the floor and gathered up the mass of the towel
from around her ankles. Swiping its dry folds over her face, she
removed the moist hindrance from her vision and blinked hard. A
loud snort rang out from her nostrils.
    She fumbled her
way back to the window, pushing it as wide-open as her arms could
stretch. Her eyes squinted to make out the ground below. She dabbed
at them again with the towel and shook her head from side to side.
Her teeth bit into the fragile flesh of her bottom lip, as if in
rebuke, and as the coppery taste of blood trickled over her tongue,
the tears stopped. She gave one last wipe and returned her gaze to
the world outside.
    A smattering of rain still pierced the night sky. Clouds
blocked out the glow of the moon, making most of the surroundings
fade into shadows and nothingness. No movement. No other houses
within shouting distance. Or screaming
distance. She appraised the distance to the
ground and her fingers fidgeted on the sill, as she rolled her eyes
back to the heavens, as if searching for inspiration.
    Her tongue flitted across the back of her teeth as she
pondered the possibilities. She returned her gaze to the darkness
below. Her fingers worked their way up over the sides of the window
frame, testing the grip. She paused. Her features darkened as she
pictured herself laying on the dark, wet grass below. Injured.
Crippled. Vulnerable to an attacker. Dead? She ripped back her hands as if
from the flames of a fire, and the tears returned.
    She turned around and scanned the room again. A flicker of
light caught her eye, from the floor just beyond the nearest edge
of the dresser. She leapt the short distance and clamped the handle
between her fingers so tight, they ached. Her gaze continued to
search. Anything.
    Her eyes sprang
to life. A single thought pierced the young woman's mind. She
pinched her nostrils and edged toward the body. Using the blade of
the knife, she checked his dressing gown pockets. Nothing. She
moved to the bottom of the bed and spotted the clothing. Her toes
flicked at the pile of material. She peered into the bundle.
Something hard nudged at the sole of one foot.
    She