Page 27 of The Reaper

She moved towards the door, opened it, and stepped straight outside into the corridor, closing the door behind her.

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

HANNAH

And the next day,Hannah got up and went into work. Just like normal, like a normal day. There was no way she was heeding Jack’s warning. If something was going to happen, there was no way she was going to let Jack face it alone.

In the car park, she saw Roper, standing there, nonchalantly. He was standing by a big, black van. She saw others, in black police riot gear.

Jack had been right then. Something was going to go down. She gulped, and hurried into the building.

She hadn’t been in the building for two minutes before the fire alarm sounded. She hadn’t finished checking in properly.

And suddenly it was chaos. The evacuation protocol came into effect. People everywhere. Loud noises, tension.

The Prison Governor literally walked right into her. “Hannah! What are you doing, your shift doesn’t start until later-”

“I was just-”

“Get yourself out, fire alarm-”

“Well, alright, I’ll find Jack and then-”

“There’s no time Hannah, you know protocol, evacuation plans mean don’t wait for anyone, let alone one of the inmates-”

“He’s not-”

“Anyway, Jack’s not in his bed.”

“What?”

“He’s missing. He wasn’t in his bed for the morning rounds. We searched but couldn’t find him, and now this alarm…” Her director let it hang in the air, thick with suspicion.

She felt the hairs on her neck rise. She felt a wave of fear. She was reminded of that little thought she had had about him at the very beginning. Dangerous. He was a strong, mysterious, dangerous man. The Doctor had said there might be mental changes, whether permanent or temporary, they said paranoia was likely at this stage, but knowing what she knew now about him… there was no doubt in her mind, Jack was dangerous.

She hurried back, the corridor was empty now, people had left, rushed out of the building. As she turned the corner, she went face first into a hard, familiar chest.

“Jack!” She breathed a sigh of relief. There he was, barefoot, wearing the checked blue pyjamas she’d got him. She looked up into Jack’s eyes. But it was not his eyes. Instead of the warmth of recognition, she saw anger, danger, a steely coldness.

Her breath became an anguished shriek.

He wasn’t that familiar after all. A hand came out and clamped around her mouth, stifling a scream. A hand so familiar and yet totally strange to her. Another hand came and held her close, too close, too tightly. He dragged her round the corner of the corridor roughly and spun her round, holding her too tight.

“Jack…” she breathed.

He looked down at her, such a foreign look. He loosened his tight grip, but kept holding on.

“Hannah.” His voice was deep, but silky smooth, the same and yet different. His eyes roved up and down her body, over her face. She felt naked.

They both stared at each other. Seeing him talk, move, blink even, was so strange. He was so like the Jack she had known, yet there were such subtle differences, this close. Extra tenseness in his jaw, slightly tighter lips.

She felt herself falling into icy air, howling, empty, whistling air. “You’ve remembered-”

“-everything.” He finished the sentence for her.

Before she knew what was happening, she felt a thud on the side of her head. Something had hit her, hard. Her ears rang, the world went grey. She passed out.

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