Page 66 of Twist Me

I tapped the door for the guards, waiting for them to open it, my unease at Joe’s intensity growing by the minute.

The mechanism of the door clicked, and the timer sounded.

Walking out of the insane man’s cell, I saw his eyes and head moving in that eerie swinging motion, a song being played repeatedly even when the door was shutting. The melody rang chills into my bones.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock, toy. Sleeping toy, tick-tock, Joe. Tick-tock, Joe. Tick-tock, Joe. Sleeping toy, tick-tock, you. You tick-tock sleeping, too.”

As I walked with the ass pokers back to the main cells, I saw inside the little windows of the others’ rooms here. Vetty had hardly ever been let out since I’d been here, and as he was squeezing the life out of some bug in his room, it was not a huge shock why.

The one I always questioned was the dark-haired guy at the very end. He just sat there, staring at nothing with a wicked smile that promised his resume had a fuck ton of dead peeps on it. I didn’t know his story.

Finally, there was Christian. He hadn’t been let out a single time since I had been put in here. I’d heard all the ramblings of the others in this cell, but that dude seemed sane enough. Why was he even here was beyond me.

“What’s with that dude?” I said.

The guard ignored me, of course, and kept pushing my ass with that fucking baton. Even as I got further away, Joe’s melody stuck in my head. A fucked up lullaby, but what did it mean? Whatever it was, I fucked up this impromptu mission, and thiswas my reminder that I wasn’t a good-guy hero that could save shit.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock, toy. Sleeping toy, tick-tock, Joe. Tick-tock, Joe. Tick-tock, Joe. Sleeping toy, tick-tock, you. You tick-tock sleeping, too.”

Fear was something I experienced my entire life, but the fear that rushed through my veins in that instant was probably more intense than anything I’d ever felt. I’d kept my hiding place in the smelly cell area, the guard’s jacket dwarfing me like a baby doll. Inching forward, I could see Goliath was visibly sweating. He looked rattled, and theshrieking melody coming from the cell door was enough to make anyone cringe.

Tick-Tock and a sleeping toy? What on earth did that mean?

Confusion swarming my mind, I continued sneaking up behind Goliath. If I fell behind a bit, it was because I was trying to listen to that insane man scream the same song up to the rooftops. Even behind the mechanical door, his muffled voice was audible enough for the horrible song to continue.

Taking a corner, I tried to hustle to keep up. I couldn’t see the guards or Goliath any longer and worried I’d lost them. That was until I was picked up into the air by the oversized jacket like I was a piece of luggage.

“No one informed me we were playing follow the leader,” a deep, grumbling voice said.

I looked up, and sure enough, Goliath was the one holding me by the jacket and swinging me over the ground.

I kept my mouth closed defiantly and swatted at his hand. He released his one-finger hold, and my butt fell onto the cement ground.

“Ow…” I said and rubbed my tailbone. It took the brunt of the fall. “Was that necessary?”

He shrugged and leaned on a locker. We were now in the guard’s dormitory and possibly their break area. It was quiet with dim lighting, so I doubted anyone was here.

“When someone is tailing me, they usually leave with their nosey eyeballs in their asshole. So consider an ass pat lucky.”

I glared at him harder, dusting myself off and straightening the stolen jacket.

“Why were you talking jibberish with that creepy guy?”

He chuckled, playful intent swirling in his icy eyes.

“I need to teach you a lesson in interrogation techniques, Little Lamb.”

“My skill as an interrogator is superb, thank you. I passed all tests—what are you doing now?” He picked me up again by the coat, but this time hung the huge jacket onto a coat hook attached to the wall with me still in the freaking coat!

“First rule,” he purred, pushing against me, our heights for once the same at this angle. His face was so close that it gave me pause. “Immobilize your opponent.”

His palm crashed down onto my chest, and his knee came up to rest at the juncture of my thighs.

“Second rule,” he continued, running his wicked hands over my breasts, down my stomach, across my thighs, and to the pocket of the jacket. “Unarm your enemy.”

I scoffed, knowing he’d find nothing but my phone and a flashlight.

“Ha! Well, too bad for you, Mister Giant. I don’t have any weapons—” He ground his knee into me, ripping a gasp from my lungs.

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