The figure falls back as well, disappearing, and I blink several times before I realize there’s a mirror. I clutch my chest, trying to ease the terror-fueled pain. When I stand back up I see my reflection, hunched and small, my hair spiked short and wild around the bright band of the hat Catcher gave me.

My eyes are fierce and determined. Almost feral. And in the mirror I see another door behind me, intricately carved, with raised paneling. I spin around and race to it. This one opens smoothly, easily, to another stairwell. My heart pounds with each step and the air grows thicker as I descend.

Shouts and the sound of feet hammering against stairs chase me. I propel myself faster, stumbling and sliding over the steps until I hit the landing and slam into another door. I’m panting, not even caring that the sound of my choked breathing echoes loudly, giving me away.

I’m trapped.

My heart screams as I wrap sweaty fingers around the knob, the metal of the door freezing cold. It rattles uselessly and I jerk at it, trying to force the lock to catch, and finally it clicks. The door swings open. A blast of frozen air hits me in the face along with a darkness so pure it seems as if it’s never known light.

Taking a deep breath, I push the lantern through the opening and am greeted with the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen: blackness that goes on forever.

Escape.

I jump out onto the subway platform, the chasm of two long black tunnels stretching out to either side. The desire to cry with relief is so strong that I have to swallow again and again, pushing the stinging fear back into my stomach.

I feel rather than hear the footsteps of someone chasing after me and I throw the door closed, banging at the knob with my machete, hoping to bend it out of place. Someone slams against it from the other side and I leap back.

He pounds and screams for me, shouting my name over and over again like a howl and I recognize the fury of Ox’s voice.

For a moment I’m still, my breath clouding around me. Of course it would be Ox coming to claim me and drag me back to the Sanctuary to lure Catcher. He would never let me go that easily. Which makes my escape that much more desperate.

In ten steps I’m at the edge of the platform and I shimmy over, dropping to the tracks below. The darkness spreads to either side of me and I don’t know which way to go.

I close my eyes, trying to concentrate. Trying to think. Softly, I feel the trace of dank air along the left side of my body, skimming over my scars. The draft has to be from somewhere—there has to be an opening in that direction.