Page 72 of Hateful Games

I look down so my hair hides my face while smoothing my hand down the slit in my skirt. “How about you and I circle around the room separately to avoid drawing attention?”

“Yep.”

Flipping my hair over my shoulder, I adjust my mask and wander away. Drawn to the books once more, I stride toward them and run my fingers over the spines. The titles are foreign to me, but I can tell they’re all classics and historical books.

Suddenly the low music playing in the background stops altogether, causing the murmurs to die down and a sinister anticipation darkening the energy in the large room.

Whirling around, I no longer see Nova’s group in the corner.

In fact, they are nowhere to be seen.

None of the men are.

Miya and my eyes connect across the room a second before complete darkness descends. Fear seizes my bones as I look left and right, seeing nothing.

Suddenly, a noise cackles through what sounds like a speakerphone.

“Whoever catches you, you’re his for the night,” says a deep, distorted voice. “The only way to escape, ladies, is to run fast… not that it’ll work.”

The shelf behind me shifts and I’m yanked backward.

“Ahh… No!!” I scream.

It gets swallowed in the other screams that pierce the night. The secret door designed as a shelf shuts in my face, taking away my hope of escaping.

I’m left completely alone in a darkish hallway that doesn’t look well-kept. Abandoned and dirty.

Twisting around, I bang my fists on the wall with all my might but it doesn’t budge. Heart pounding in a scary drumbeat, I rest my forehead against it in defeat. Nightmares that took me years to marginally overcome and even more to keep buried resurface like cancer.

“Open! Open! Fucking open!” I hoarsely shout. “Please.”

No one replies and it remains quiet as a soulless night. The longer I stay still, holding myself against the brick wall, the quicker my present blurs with the past. The rancid smell of smoke, the rapid beating of my heart, and the terrifying pitch-black darkness.

Tears sting my eyes, while my lungs feel like caving in from the lack of oxygen.

I feel like the little me trapped in the room with him.

Behind my closed eyes, I see his hand reaching out and…

“No!” I whisper to myself and force my eyes open. “I’m not her anymore. I will get out of here.”

Maybe this is my chance to completely overcome my worst fear.

My limbs shake as I take deep, calming breaths until my vision adjusts to the darkness. Slowly. I turn around and search for a way out.

Without getting caught by anyone.

I’m not being any man’s plaything.

Neither am I sneaking out ever again. I’ve learned my lesson. Risqué getaways like these always go awry.

Of course, Nova and his friends would come up with these seedy games for their thrill. Leaving a girl helpless gets their rocks off. Sure, I’m intrigued by the fantasy of being taken by a masked man. The dirty danger of it arousing.

But only if it’s on my terms.

I trail my palm along the wall on my left to guide me forward. My heels click loudly on the floor. So, I pause and take my heels off because I don’t want to alert the predators running rampant in these halls.

Besides, my heels would make for a perfect weapon.

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