Prescient

Chapter 8

Still almost bursting at the seams, yet composed enough to appear sain, Kaylah pushed herself away from the wall she leaned on.

Brushing her hands down her shirt to wipe away the sweat, and giving her hair a desultory toss, she took a couple of steps away from the loading dock exit door, intending to go to the pharmacy.

She shouldn't take any longer than she already had as Camden was waiting for her, and she didn't want him thinking she was one of those girls who took forever to do anything—who spent ten minutes for every one she said she'd be.

Behind her, she heard the sound of the door open, then close again. Spinning around she expected to see someone right behind her but there was no one. Whoever had opened the door must have gone outside through it. They must have been right behind her and she hadn't even noticed.

Dismissing it with the most minute shrug, she turned back towards the pharmacy and only took one more step before the sound of her name being uttered from behind her, made her stop.

She turned around and seeing that still, no one was there, Kaylah went to move on.

"Hey, Kaylah."

There it was again, coming from the other side of the Emergency Exit door.

She paused for a moment, considering her options. Go into the pharmacy, get her lip-gloss, and leave, or see who was on the other side of that door. Who had slipped out from right behind her?

"Kaylah, come out here."

The voice sounded familiar to her, although it also sounded strange. Like whoever was behind the door was putting on a different tone to mask the true sound of their voice. To hide their identity.

Who would want to do that?

And why?

The urge to just ignore them, and head next door to do what she came to do was strong, yet curiosity got the better of that kitten, and she opened her mouth about to ask, "Who is that?"

She decided not to. Anyone passing by would see her there talking to a door and think she was mental.

How embarrassing.

Instead, she took a step forward and grasped the metal bar across the door. Hesitating for only the briefest of moments, she pushed it open.

There was no need for concern, was there?

But why did she feel so uneasy?

More so when she walked outside into a quiet loading dock and not a soul was in sight.

To her left were two large skips. One with its lid down, the other with its lid up and packed to capacity with cardboard boxes.

To her right, a door leads to the back of some shop—probably the supermarket—and the large roller doors were closed and locked.

Just ahead of her, several cars were parked in a row up against a wall, but she didn't pay any attention to those. They probably belonged to people employed in the shopping centre. It also stank back here. A nasty melange of old garbage wafting off the skip and dead cigarette butts buried in the ash of an overflowing tray tin nearby.

A cool breeze picked up, dragging a stray bit of paper across the cement with a scratching sound that made her turn, jumping slightly at the sound.

Why was she on edge?

Why did she feel something was wrong and that she should never have come out through that door? It may have had something to do with the fact she was in a type of alleyway and if she'd learned anything from the movies and shows she'd watched, bad things happened to girls in alleyways.