Page 18 of Hell's Fear

Ben straightened. “Don’t insult me!”

My heart hurt for him as he swung over the last few and landed safely.

He slid down the wall, pressing on his injured shoulder, which had begun to bleed again. Celt ripped the bottom of his tee off and re-wrapped the wound. Ben nodded his thanks.

Kele went next and managed it easily, followed by Mina, who touched the ground. A red bar shone on the wall.

Strike one.

Finally, Hunter and I were last. Hunter nudged me out, and I reached the first one. But my legs were flailing like mad.

“Moving that ribbon isn’t easy,” I said.

“Keep going, Phoe,” Celt called out, encouraging me. I made it halfway across before I slipped and hit the floor. I immediately jumped onto the stepping stone, but a red light came up.

“Phoe, hang on, I’m coming,” Hunter said.

I moved to the edge as Hunter swung across to me.

“Hold on to me,” Hunter said as he arrived next to me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and locked my hands tightly. Hunter stretched and threw the ribbon to the middle of the pipe and leapt. I squealed as we landed safely, and Hunter chuckled.

Relief washed over me as we reached the other side. The door flashed green and slid open.

We piled through and entered a completely black room that was well lit and had chairs.

“There’s a timer still counting down,” Mina said.

“The remainder of the four hours? I’d hoped we’d end up waiting with the other teams. Shit!” Ben snapped.

“I hate to point out the obvious. But with only ten minutes left, if Fangs have invaded the other team’s escape rooms, then they’ve already attacked,” Mouse informed us.

It was a sobering feeling. We had no idea if any of our people were injured—or dead. We were locked in.

Hunter attempted to forcefully open the door. But I knew it was pointless. Even if Hunter succeeded, we’d enter the next room alone. Mina walked over and spoke to him quietly, and Hunter stopped and reached out and held her.

Arms wrapped around me too, and I leaned into my brother’s embrace. Chatter hugged me close as we all watched the timer countdown to find out what had happened to our family.

Chapter Four.

Team Three:Tiny, Diesel and Alice(Hellfire).Blaze and Ali-kat(Rage).Nando(RCPD).Booth(Hawthorne’s).Razor(Unwanted Bastards).

Ali-Kat

Ibounced on my toes with excitement. I’d heard so many fun facts about escape rooms and had been trying to book one for ages, but the timing had always been off. Now we were here, and from what I’d overheard, Marissa’s was a masterpiece.

Blaze kept rubbing his hands up and down my arms to calm me down, but I was chomping at the bit. We listened to the guide re-iterate the rules, and then we were through the door, and I froze.

“No!” I gasped as my eyes widened at the brightly coloured red and white striped walls.

“Ali-kat?” my husband asked as I backed straight into his embrace. “It’s a circus theme,” I moaned.

Blaze looked down at me, puzzled.

“I’m terrified of them,” I muttered.

Layers of cloth looking like a big top in red and white covered the ceiling. Rope of lights were tacked to them and brightly lit the room. Dotted on the walls were circus posters, and there was a podium with a ticket booth on it. Next to that, strangely, was a bowl of water. Opposite were some juggling batons, a popcorn machine, and a long trunk. Another wall contained a line of boxes with a hole in the top.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Razor muttered.

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