Page 74 of Twist Me

It was just fucking nice.

Being…free.

Quinn looked over at me. We were both shamelessly spying on the sap-happy scene in front of us, and Tiffany was even softening a bit, well, as much as the ice queen could.

“Hey, Quinn, you think—” His beeper went off on his belt, the color flashing bright red.

“Oh fuck,” he yelled, reading the flashing words and taking off toward the squad car.

I jogged after him, confused, a sinking feeling in my gut.“What the fuck is going on, Micah?”

He turned and gave me a look that stopped my heart.

“It’s Hospital Twelve. An inmate has escaped, and there’s been a fatality. The entire facility is on red alert.”

I felt like lead poured into my veins. “Ezello. Is Ezello okay?”

Quinn looked at me and took a deep breath.“I can’t reach her.”

Emmy was braiding my hair, her dainty little hands playing with my curls like she would a doll. That was when we saw them. Guards were running and shouting, the nurses all shuffling around like startled sheep.

“What the fuck is going on?” Emmy said out loud after the fifth nurse ran from the hallway and closed a door with a click.

I looked around the study. All the rest of the patients were equally concerned as we were.

Betty spoke up, her usual quiet nature flipping with the chaos.“Ohhhh, he’s coming!”

I shielded my ears from her cackling and looked at Emmy again.Emmy was fussing with her hair, twisting her pigtails over and over.

“Emmy, we should see what’s happening!” I urged her, standing up and watching yet another guard shouting and running into the corridor.

Emmy stood up nervously. “I mean, or we could go hide in a closet and wait for whatever is happening to disappear?” she offered, smiling sweetly.

I rolled my eyes. “C’mon chicken. We have to go see for ourselves.”

Emmy groaned and walked behind me.Another guard smashed past us, knocking us into the wall and onto the floor.

“Go to your cells, inmates! We’re on red alert! Lockdown is effective immediately. Anyone outside the cells is in violation and will be punished.”

My eyes widened as the deafening alarm sounded. Lights flashed on the security cameras, and there was a flickering strobe going off at different intervals.Now, true chaos ensued. People from the study were trampling over us. Everyone was running and screaming, trying to escape this unknown threat.Emmy and I were short and smaller, and the stampede of frightened patients was crushing us.

I tried to cage Emmy with my arm, shielding my body and blocking the hard footfalls on our rib cages.The light flickered and then snuffed out like a candle. The darkness fell over us as I tripped on my feet, trying to get up. The strobe light alarm only made it harder to see—flashes of images that couldn’t be pieced together.

“Emmy,” I yelled, reaching blindly for her.She grabbed my hand and steadied herself by my side.

“I need to get my sister!” she hollered over the roar of madness.I didn’t know where Lenny was, but I would do the same if it were me. Goliath and Pharaoh were both gone. Micah had come through for me, and Goliath was acting as a mediator for a meeting with Pharoah and his long-lost daughter. It was selfish, but at this moment, I wished Goliath were here and holding me.

“Let’s find Lenny,” I called to Emmy, feeling the wall and following it with my hands.

We entered a new hallway, and more screaming and yelling were heard. Judging from the size of the room and the general direction we had gone, I thought we were in the cafeteria.

I listened, trying to hear Emmy, but all I could make out was crying. It sounded like it was Megan.

“Megan? Megan, where are you? It’s okay. I’m here,” I called, walking toward the sound.

“Ezello, no! Ru—“ her voice was cut off by a sickening squelching sound and deranged laughter followed by a loud thump in the darkness. “Tick-tock, another drop!”

My body went numb, the smell of iron hitting me in the darkness and the gurgling of a dying innocent woman.

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