“Just let me kill you and get this over with,” Percy said casually, like it was the most reasonable thing in the world.

If someone told me an hour ago that I’d be fighting for my life right now, I’d have laughed in their face. But here I was on Halloween night, being chased on the outskirts of town by a knife-wielding maniac who also happened to be the most popular guy in school. I tried to rationalize this as some twisted Halloween prank, but the blood dripping down my left arm was all too real.

Thanks to an unplanned dip in the pool and somehow misplacing my phone in the ensuing chaos, I’d ended up losing sight of my friends and missed my ride home. As far as I could tell, this Halloween party had been nothing but one terrible thing after another.

Percy had apologized more times than I could count, and even offered to drive me home after the party was over. While I’d accepted the towel he gave me to dry off best I could, I’d declined the ride and quietly slipped out the back when he wasn’t looking, opting to walk home instead.

By all accounts, Percy was a nice guy that everyone enjoyed being around, but for some reason he gave me the creeps. Something about his presence felt wrong, and whenever he was nearby a sense of dread settled into the pit of my stomach. So when he suddenly lunged at me from the dark with a knife, my first thought was vindication.

Now, I understand you might want to disagree with what I’m about to say considering how many things have gone wrong so far, but I’m lucky. Strangely lucky. Which I’m pretty sure is the only reason that when Percy proceeded to stab his knife towards my throat, he suddenly tripped and went stumbling past me into Thornton lake below. If that’s not luck, I don’t know what is.

Before realizing it, I was more than a hundred yards down the street, my feet moving on their own as my mind raced to catch up. In the distance I could hear swears and splashing water, but the further I got it became drowned out by my own footsteps pounding against the pavement. I tried to scream, make some kind of noise in the hope that somebody would hear me, but the words stuck in my throat.

To my left was an open field, plenty of briar bushes I could probably hide in, but I knew that if I kept running directly ahead that I’d eventually reach the twenty-four-hour gas station down the road. That is, if Percy didn’t catch up to me first, and while something told me he was probably a fast runner, I had one thing going for me: I’m on the track team.

Coming up on my right now was a house, dark and quiet, it’s inhabitants most likely tucked safe and warm in bed, blissfully unaware of the nightmare I was living just outside. If I asked for their help, would I be endangering them too, putting them in Percy’s murderous path? Part of me thought that wasn’t fair, but fear won out.

After a split second of hesitation I barged up the wooden steps, banging on the door with all the energy I could manage. Just then the dam in my throat seemed to collapse and words began tumbling out of my mouth.

“Help! Please, I need help!” Seconds felt like hours as my words hung in the air, waiting for a sound, a sign, anything to confirm that someone inside might’ve heard me. But I was only met with silence.

Even if someone did hear my cries, I couldn’t blame them for not answering. It was past midnight now, and for all they knew it could be a prank or something even more sinister.

“Please,” I said, banging against the door even harder, “he’s not far behind—”

“Found you.”

A shiver went up my spine, not caused by my wet clothes and the brisk autumn air, and I slowly turned to see Percy barely twenty feet away, dripping wet, his knife dancing easily between both hands.

“Honestly, it’s nothing personal,” he said gently, taking a step forward as he met my eyes. “This is an inconvenience for both of us.”

Fear and panic sent my heart thundering away in my chest, so loud I thought he might hear it too, but despite all my terror, I was struck dumb. Was he actually stupid or something? How was this inconveniencing both of us? It was one thing to get murdered, but it was another if your would-be murderer was an idiot.

A muffled giggle spilled out of me before I even realized it.

“Are you kidding me right now?” I found myself saying, incredulousness dripping with every word. “You’re the one trying to kill me last I checked, but I’m the nuisance?”

“Hey, don’t put words in my mouth,” Percy responded, looking somewhat offended. “I clearly said inconvenience, but if we’re being honest, yeah, you’re a bit of a nuisance too. This would’ve gone a lot smoother if you’d just accepted my offer to take you home.”

I found myself shrugging as I took a few wary steps down the porch, and despite the fear I felt, my voice sounded more confident than I’d expected.

“Well, sorry I don’t get into cars with guys I barely know, which I might add, has clearly proven to be the right choice tonight.”

“Point taken,” he conceded.

We were ten feet apart now, and I couldn’t help but think his irises looked iridescent behind his heart-shaped sunglasses; if the circumstances weren’t so ridiculous, I’d be tempted to ask why he wore them at all times, even at night. Percy let out a defeated sigh and ran a hand through his sandy blond hair, knocking away mud and leaves he’d collected from his trip into the lake.

“What if I make you a deal?” he asked hesitantly.

“I’m listening.”

“I promise,” he continued, sounding somewhat sympathetic. “To make your death as quick and painless as I possibly can.”

“What the hell kind of deal is that?” I sputtered, unable to stop my jaw from dropping. Before I had a chance to ask if he was actually stupid, a lone headlight came into view from the direction we’d come, illuminating us and everything else in its path.

My options were limited, which is why I lurched forward the moment Percy turned to glance towards the source of light, closing the distance between us and shoving him to the ground. His look of surprise must have mirrored my own, especially when I proceeded to kick the knife free of his hands. Without a second thought I was running for my life again, clinging to a new spark of hope.

My first mistake?

Assuming the driver of the motorcycle barreling towards us would see me.

My second mistake was turning my back on Percy.

It was as if he materialized right in front of me, one second he wasn’t there, and the next he was. The problem with his sudden appearance was that he didn’t just frighten me, but also the motorcyclist. Maybe it was Percy’s red leather jacket that caught their attention, or the fact that a person just suddenly appeared out of thin air.

What followed next was the ear piercing sound of tires squealing against pavement, and I watched in horror as the bike lost control, screeching past us with just inches to spare. It would’ve kept going if not for the curb, which proceeded to send bike and driver flying through the air into a hedge, narrowly missing a telephone pole.

I was about to scream when a hand clamped tightly over my mouth, the cool metal of Percy’s blade at my throat. Seeing someone crash right in front of me had thrown all other thoughts out the window, and I’d momentarily forgotten I was about to be murdered.

“Great, now I’ve gotta clean that up too,” Percy complained, frustration in his voice.

He appeared lost in thought for a moment, then began dragging me forward with him in the direction of the crash. It looked like a scene from an action movie; the bike was on its side in a mangled mess, smoke beginning to pour off it, the shattered headlight flickering erratically. But that felt like child's play when I finally saw the driver, slumped over on their side and eerily still.

It made my stomach drop, despair overwhelming me as my eyes began to sting. Not only was I going to die, but I’d gotten someone else killed too.

“Are they dead?”