Page 9 of Twist Me

Micah laughed, and I realized I must have asked that out loud.

“You are ready, Ezello. I think you may have more strength than you even realize.”

That was meant to comfort me but only made me feel the wrongness of his words.

“Yeah, we’ll see…”

“Once we get to?—”

The lights flipped off, and my vision was gone—a complete blanket of darkness surrounded me. My hands were still cuffed behind my back, and I didn’t recall how far Quinn had walked in front of me.

“Quinn,” I called out, but there was no response.

Had he kept walking while I was still trying to figure out what the heck happened to the lights?

“Ezello, there must be a power outage,” Quinn’s voice echoed down the hall, then faded like he was farther away than I realized.

All I could really hear was my erratic heartbeat screaming in my ears.

Could I go back the way I came?

I remembered seeing a wooden sign leading into a hallway.

What did it say? The locked-down nurse’s wing, library, and…cafeteria.

I definitely didn’t want to bump into a bookshelf and get myself pancaked under that or go to the locked-down area where the real wackadoodles were. So, my only option really was to go back. I reached out, and my fingertips found the closest wall. If I could follow the line of the wall, I should be able to find my way back to the canteen.

Unfortunately, that was the only place that would work because I wasn’t venturing into unknown territory with my new “company” lurking around these dark corners.

I heard a thump in the darkness, a faded grunt following it. Squeaking in surprise, I spun around, losing my sense of direction. Now, I had no idea where I actually was.

“Ah, crap,” I cursed, my arms reaching up again to find the wall.

I gasped as strong arms coiled around me like a snake. They were caging me in, and I heard a rumbling chuckle next to my ear.

“Awe, I’m disappointed. Based on what was said in your delicious news article, I thought you’d be more fun to chase, Little Lamb.”

I swallowed my scream, recognizing the male voice behind me.

“What did you do to Quinn, Goliath?” I forced my voice to remain calm and authoritative, but I feared my heart pumping as hard as it was against his arms would give me away.

How did he find me? What did he want? Was Quinn okay?

He moaned in my ear, jostling me from my thoughts, and his hot breath made me shiver. “I do love my name on a pretty girl’s lips. Though, I prefer those lips on my?—”

I had to get this creep away from me. If I got free, maybe I could go to the spot where I heard that thump. It had to be Quinn. Had Goliath hurt him?

Anger at this man for treating me like prey twisted my gut. After all, I was supposed to be some ruthless murderer, yet he assumed I was meek-natured. Jabbing my elbow into his ribs, he chuckled darkly, and I felt him shrug.

“Awe, that was just a much-needed knock off his pedestal. Do you know little Quinny pie?” I didn’t know what that meant, but I hoped Quinn was still alive. “Why do you care? What is he to you?”

Did he sound jealous?Didn’t want someone else to get to me first?

I scoffed. His grip tightened to a bruising level, and I struggled to breathe.

“Let go of me,” I fumed, my anger growing by the minute.

It took a second, but then, I felt his arms loosen until his touch was only a lingering warmth. It left me wondering if I had imagined this whole scenario.

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