Trouvaille – (adj.) a chance encounter with something wonderful.

PREFACE
Bait

I never imagined how I would die.

You never really think about death when you are sixteen and careless, and your body is healthy and strong. Why should you? There are so many things for you to do—so many adventures to be had—and you still have so much time to do it all.

…Until you don't.

Until suddenly, you are bound and gagged in the middle of an old ballet studio, held hostage somewhere in Phoenix. Alone with the hunter, you realize you are his bait. He is using you to lure out his main course, and there is nothing you can do otherwise.

That was, at least, the story of my life… and potentially my end. I hoped that no one else would ever be as unfortunate.

Through my drug-induced haze, I watched the hunter pace the length of the studio. I could see in his gait, in his eyes, the methodical calculation as he thought through every possible outcome of the situation he created. Through blurry eyes and a cloudy mind, I watched him saunter back towards me with a malicious grin on his face.

"Don't fall asleep, Gracie," the hunter said, spitting my name out as though it was something disgusting. "You'll miss out on all the fun."

I was too drowsy to do nothing more than glare at him weakly.

You cannot die here, I told myself as my eyelids grew heavy and my body weak.