"ELENA, RUN!"

The girl shut her eyes tight, turned around, and her legs carried her away as quickly as possible. Sport was not among her strengths. But at the moment, she was running like never before in her life. Just don't stop, run, someone's voice was whispering inside her head.

The ground, covered with a layer of snow, burned her bare feet with icy cold. The dark midnight forest resembled the open jaws of a huge monster preparing to devour her fragile figure. The girl crossed the open field and disappeared into the darkness of tall trees, densely standing together like ancient giants.

The howling of a pack of dogs and the sounds of a siren overtook her from behind. The pursuit began after her.

A pale moon peeped out treacherously from behind the clouds, illuminating the forest. Its cold light penetrated the bare branches of old oak trees, depriving the girl of her only chance of shelter.

Even this lifeless forest was taking the last remnants of hope from her.

Elena stumbled over an old snag and fell face down into the snow. Two breaths of cold air, she got up and ran on.

She no longer felt the frost, it seemed to her that she no longer felt anything, only a loud heartbeat in her chest confirmed that the girl was still alive.

The howling of the dogs gradually faded, but Elena increased her pace. She knew that man was not generous enough to let her go.

My little kitten, that's what he called her, but the words spoken with fake affection only made her shiver.

The girl deftly jumped over the trunk of a fallen tree, but instead of solid ground, there was emptiness under her feet.

Flakes of snow covered the face and, like sharp needles, dug into the skin. Elena brushed them away and tried to get up, but immediately fell again. The pain in the leg, as if someone had run a knife over the skin, spread from ankle to knee.

Elena looked around and found herself in a deep pit, littered with old branches, the gnarled outlines of which showed through the loose snow like tentacles reaching for the girl.

She straightened up and, trying not to think about the pain, grabbed the nearest branch, as a voice from above made the girl freeze.

"Oh, who's hiding here? A little mouse decided to play tag with a big cat? Honey, you can't hide from me. Neither in this life, nor in the next one."

The man's voice was mesmerizingly calm, like the rumbling of a noble beast that went out to hunt at night. Not one extra movement, not an ounce of perturbation.

Elena looked up, and her heart skipped a beat.

The man was standing on the edge of the pit, which became an insidious trap for the girl. In the moonlight, his charming, and at the same time, devilish smile, turned the pursuer into a kind of angel of death.

He came for her.

The man snapped his fingers, and now she was already standing next to him.

Elena did not even have time to get scared, as his hand wrapped around the girl's waist, and he pulled her to him.

Cold fingers slid down her neck and dug hard into her skin, "Got you! My little kitten, it's not good to run away from your Master."

It darkened in Elena's eyes, and the girl fell into a deep abyss.

She has just lost her last chance to escape.

. . .

Screaming, the girl jumped up on the bed and grabbed her neck. Such nightmares were a normal thing to her, but lately, they have become too realistic. Even now, she was sure that she still felt the icy fingers of a stranger on her neck. His face remained blurred in her memory.

Elena let out a slow breath, soothing the pounding heart in her chest.

Blackout curtains securely covered the window from the persistent penetration of light. The darkness in the room seemed alive, and the indistinct silhouettes of objects made the consequences of an already unpleasant awakening even worse.

Beeep, beeep, beeep.

Elena fumbled on the bedside table for a cell phone, its screen was down. She turned it over to check the caller's name and immediately blinked at the blue light that hit her eyes.

"Hello," she replied in a hoarse voice without opening her eyes.

"Elena!! Where are you??? Come shopping with me!!" a ringing female voice sounded on the other end of the line no worse than an alarm clock, depriving the girl of the last remnants of sleepiness.

"Oh, shoot, Corey. Have you looked at the time? Stores are opening at 10." As much as Elena loved her best friend, shopping with her in the morning was not part of her plans. Especially in this condition.

"Honey, it's you who have to look at the time. It's already 11," Corey laughed back.

Elena pushed the phone away from her ear and looked at the display. 11:15 A.M. Heck. Half a day down the drain. It seems that she just fell asleep, and it was almost noon already.

"Hey, what's with the voice? Didn't you sleep again? Was it an erotic dream this time? Or a Hitchcock-style horror movie? Hopefully the first one."

Elena smiled, Corey was her usual self. "The second one."

"Damn, I was so hoping to find out the details of the first option," the girl sighed into the phone as if she had missed another episode of her favorite series. "Look, you have to do something about your nightmares. Oh, I've got an idea! Let's call the exorcist! I saw one program here on TV-"

Elena could no longer contain a fit of laughter and burst out laughing. Only Corey could improve her mood in a matter of seconds.

"There you go! That's more like it! A seductive dress should be chosen with appropriate emotions," Elena's friend added busily.

"It seems that you are going shopping, not me."

There was silence on the phone for a moment. "No way... Don't tell me that you've already got everything for the party."

"What do you mean, everything?" Elena asked, not quite understanding Corey's tone, which suddenly became serious.

"Don't tell me you're going to go to Jason's party in one of your dresses?! They're no good! Elena, this is such a chance! His father gathers the whole creme de la creme of our city in honor of the 25th anniversary of his beloved son. Do you have any idea how many desirable guys will be there?!"

"What do I have to do with this?" Elena was ready to swear that at this moment Corey rolled her eyes and mentally weighed out a couple of hot 'compliments' for her friend.

"Everything! I know you are not a fan of these events, but as the only daughter of the head of Lee Pharmaceuticals, you should be a star there! If this fool Melinda is at the banquet, she will definitely decide to attract attention to herself. And then my grandiose plan may not work out!"

Well, well, well. So we got to the most interesting thing. "And what kind of grandiose plan has ripened in your bright head?" Elena grinned. She drew back the curtain and barely held back a sneeze from the bright light streaming through the glass into the room.

"I got the guest list from Jason, and there will be someone very interesting. My goal is to catch this goldfish in my nets. Yours is to catch everyone else, and then you will choose who you like best," Corey finished with undisguised triumph in her voice as if she had already hoisted the victory flag over the conquered guest of the party, who did not even know about it.

"After all, Lee Pharmaceuticals' eligible heiress must have a boyfriend! Let him torment you at night, and not some incomprehensible imaginary man!"

"Okay, I'll help you only for the sake of your plan. But getting to know someone is not going to happen. Everyone knows perfectly well that I am an adopted daughter, so the term 'enviable heiress' is definitely not about me. And also, I'm kind of not interested."

"Oh my God, Elena, don't start this topic! Adopted, not adopted - who cares?!" protested Corey, not embarrassed by her vivid emotions, "Mister Lee does not take his eyes off you and protects you like the dragon is protecting its princess. This alone is enough for the guy to have a desire to grab such a treasure for himself. Our task is to choose the most worthy one. The birthday boy doesn't count."

It's a good thing Jason doesn't hear this, Elena thought. The fate of a childhood friend is an eternal friend zone. She felt a little sorry for the guy. But feelings are such a thing that are not a subject to control. In her case, they don't exist at all.

She and Corey were like ice and fire. The best friend easily caught fire, and among her crush could be a famous sportsman and a gardener from a neighbor's yard. True, it did not go further than pink unicorns in the eyes. Elena didn't even have unicorns. Her heart remained calm and indifferent, despite the long line of people who wanted to get to know the girl better.

"Okay, I'll pick you up in half an hour! Be ready," Corey notified in a commanding tone that left no chance to refuse and hung up.

Elena put down the phone and with a slight smile on her lips stared out the window. The sunlight caressed her cheeks with delight, glad that the girl finally allowed it to get inside.

She got out of bed and flung open the window to let in fresh air. The breeze played with hair, ran over her face and slipped on, rustling papers on the work table.

Father's car was not there. It looks like he decided to go to the office in the morning, Elena thought. Although in the evening he said that he would be at home. Busy as always.

Chen Lee was the head of Lee Pharmaceuticals, the country's leading pharmaceutical company. As the third generation of Chinese immigrants, he was well versed in the country's current affairs and had good connections with both leading American companies and the Eastern market. Which allowed him to take a leading position in his niche. And he was also the man who took the girl out of the orphanage when she was six years old and became her adoptive father.

Elena was surprised when she counted how many years had passed since that day. Time flies fast.

5475 days, or 131,400 hours, or 13468500 minutes. 501 minutes. 502...

Sometimes it seemed to her that she could feel its movement with her body as if time were a living being with whom she could make friends.

It is better not to dwell on such oddities of perception.

Elena glanced at her watch. Corey was supposed to come in twenty minutes already. More than enough.

The girl pulled off her night shirt, her skin covered with goosebumps from the cool air. Elena slipped into the bathroom and was already reaching for the shower when, with a peripheral vision, she noticed her reflection in the mirror.

She slowly turned her head, hoping that what she saw was just her imagination.

But no. Joy faded away from her face as if the girl had been doused with ice water. Her lips became pale, her eyes were frightened.

But Elena did not notice her shocked face.

Her gaze froze on her neck.

Her skin was covered in red spots. They were the marks from long fingers gripping the throat of their victim.