Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas

folded them, and re-applied them to my leg, leaning back on
the mirror and closing my eyes.
What the hell was I going to do? I was twenty-one, no job
prospects, and I was scared. I would never be free while he
was alive, and there was still so much he could take from me.
He was already heavily at work on my peace of mind.
He’d been out of prison for over a year before he made
contact, and two years before he set his plan into motion. I’d
gotten complacent in my sense of security, thinking he
might’ve moved on. I was wrong.
My eyelids grew heavy, and my head started to float as the
pain in my leg subsided. I yawned, letting the sleepiness take
over. At least when I was tired, I couldn’t worry.
Just as I was about to nod off, propped up against the
mirror, I heard the whine of the unoiled hinges on the
bathroom door. That was quick.
“Did you get it?” I asked, keeping my eyes closed and
breaking into another yawn.
He didn’t answer me, though, and I opened my eyes,
blinking. Someone had just opened the door, right?
“Ethan?” I called, sitting up straight.
The theater was about to close, and other than the front
desk attendant, I didn’t think anyone else was in the building
anymore.
And then…he was there.
He rested his hand on top of mine where it laid on my
thighs, his chilled fingers making me suck in a breath and
laugh. “Hey, you scared me,” I said. “Did you get the Band-
Aids?”
Fingertips came up to my face, brushing a strand of hair
out of my eye, and I recoiled at the icicles on my skin. What
was he doing? I took his hand off my face and held it in mine,
reassuring him.
“I’m okay.”