Free His Every Move by Kelly Favor Page B

posters along the outside walls. Most of them portrayed older films she remembered from her high school days.
    Nicole was right, Kallie thought. It’s not open anymore.
    To be sure, she decided to get close and see whether there were any notices taped to the glass doors in front.
    She parked, got out of the car and locked it.
    The car made its familiar bleeping noise and the lights flashed once in response.
    Walking through the small, nearly empty lot, Kallie looked around for signs of life. There were some other buildings and stores nearby, but most of them seemed to be closed. Perhaps this was an area of town that received more traffic during normal business hours, and so it tended to shut down at night.
    Either way, she was getting the creeps. Annoyed that Levi had invited her to such a strange, remote location for a first date, she considered just getting right back in her car again and leaving.
    But she still wasn’t even sure that the movie theater was closed. As a second-run place, it might just get less customers than a normal movie house.
    Why couldn’t he have invited me to some Loews Cinema Multiplex in Hartford?
    She asked herself. Why did it always have to be something unique, special, and weird?
    What was it about every guy she met lately, that nothing could ever be straightforward?
    Finally she arrived at the doors. Peering inside, it was clear that this place hadn’t been open for a while. It was dark and empty inside, and it looked as if it had been stripped down to the studs.
    There was a plain white sheet of paper affixed to one door that read: CLOSED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE and dated a month ago.
    It didn’t appear that it would be open again anytime soon. Kallie sighed, frustrated. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. It was 8:56 P.M. Where was Levi? She looked around and didn’t see anyone at all in the vicinity.
    Nearby, about ten feet to the left of the theater, was a narrow alleyway. She sniffed, smelling trash and probably a dumpster.
    Maybe even a rat or two.
    And it was dark. For the first time since Levi had invited her on this date, she allowed herself to feel relieved that the place was shutdown and he hadn’t arrived. This just wasn’t meant to be.
    I tried, she thought. I was going to give it my best shot, but this is not happening and I’m not waiting around anymore.
    I’ll text him when I get in the car and out of this dark, creepy old lot.
    Turning, she checked her phone once more as she began walking back to her car.
    In the far distance, she heard a siren wailing and a dog barking.
    “Kallie?” a familiar voice called, so close behind her that she started to scream as she turned around.
    And then there was an explosion of pain in her head and blackness.

    ***
    She awoke to a woman’s voice.
    “…hear me?”
    It was difficult to swim out of the blackness. It wasn’t even as if Kallie were submerged under water, but more that she’d been thrown into a pool of mud. It was thick and black and getting out of it was such an effort.
    “Kallie?” the voice called, more insistently. “Are you awake? Open your eyes.”
    I can’t do it, she thought. It’s too hard and I’m so tired.
    She fell back into unconsciousness for an unknown period of time.
    When her eyes fluttered open again, there was a man staring down at her. He was bald, with a long, thin face and a large mole on one cheek. The man wore a white coat and he smiled as she looked at him. “Kallie, do you know where you are?”
    She shook her head no.
    “You’re at Manchester Memorial Hospital,” he said slowly and loudly.
    “Did I get sick?” she said weakly, trying to sit up. As she did so, Kallie felt a tremendous pain in her head. She lay back weakly in the bed.
    “You received some trauma to your head last night,” he told her. “My name is Doctor Scofield and I’m the attending physician. I’ve been looking after you since you were brought here.”
    Kallie listened but found that she didn’t