Page 34 of Raw & Vulnerable

Gage smirks and hoists her up onto his hips, surprising a yelp out of Minnie at the sudden upward mobility. “Good, cuz neither am I.”

She’s about to object, to tell himthis is a libraryin a scandalized voice, but she doesn’t get a chance. With a playful growl, he presses his lips to hers as her arms wrap around his neck, the best feeling in the world.

“I adore you,” he breathes against her mouth, voice hoarse with emotion. “Stay with me, next time?”

Running her fingers through his short hair, Minnie feels her heart nearly burst with joy as she replies softly, “Yes. I’ll stay.”

Chapter 15

They don’t just drive off to make a getaway like Minnie figured they would. No.

These men are on a tight, extreme schedule, with no room for mistake.

They have another stop, all the way on the opposite side of town. The cops are busy with the place they came from, busy trying to figure out where they disappeared to, so it seems no one notices them skirting quickly through back alleys. These robbers are quick, efficient. They didn’t just wake up this morning with the idea to go rob a bank; they’ve been planning.

“Time,” the Creepy Clown demands from the front, wheel sliding through his gloved fingers as he smoothly turns left.

The Wolf in the back checks the watch on his wrist. “Ten oh eight.”

Creepy Clown rides up beside another building, moving closer to the front. “Seven minutes until guard shift change. You have ten inside. Our guy can only stall for so long or he’s busted.” Creepy Clown turns in his seat and points at the grey Ghoul, his deep voice thunderous. “No dicking around. Got it?”

The Ghoul’s body tenses, holding his shotgun. “…whatever…” he mutters venomously.

They idle, as if counting down the seconds, the air becoming thick and suffocating. Minnie sniffles, trembling. Is she a criminal now? She’s in a car with a bunch of professional criminals, riding along while they commit crimes. Isn’t she supposed to stop them? Will she be blamed?

“Time,” the Wolf announces, slamming his door wide open, leaping out.

The Ghoul pushes himself out of the far back, making a grab at Minnie’s hair, trying to yank her out with him. She opens her mouth to wail in terror and pain, but he gets in her face and snarls for her to shut up.

The third man, just behind Minnie, kicks at him. “Get. I’ll bring her.”

“…w-why? I want to stay h-here…” Minnie trembles, not understanding. They want to bring her inside while they rob the bank? She changes her mind; these men are insane.

“No dice, princess,” he says, pulling her out with him, following quickly after the lean form of the Ghoul and the bulky Wolf. “You’re goin’ to earn your keep.”

When they bust into the bank, all hell breaks loose.

People scream, the robbers yell, and Minnie goes silent, petrified by this unholy dimension she’s been thrown into.

“Get down on the motherfucking ground before I blow your stupid heads off!” The Ghoul wastes no time terrorizing the population, getting the majority of the people to lie on their stomachs in the middle of the lobby, hands behind their heads.

The Wolf locks the frosted front doors, making sure no one can just walk in. Then, he grabs two of the bank employees from the middle of the floor and drags them to the registers. Two women, less likely to try something stupid. “Get the money out now.”

The two cashiers refuse, sweat pouring down their faces, eyes wide and horrified. They look as awful as Minnie feels. Wild, afraid for their lives.

“Do it!” The Ghoul’s voice is like nails on a chalkboard.

That’s when something cold and hard is pressed against Minnie’s temple. She’s marched forward, close to the women refusing to empty the registers. Realizing she has a gun to her head, Minnie’s vision blurs violently, tears streaming down her face. This is it; she’s going to die.

The man behind her isn’t fooling around, the hand holding her around her throat tightening. “I’ll blow her fuckin’ brains out,” he snarls at the women, who look positively horrified, their eyes now zoned in on Minnie. The robber’s voice is like a hurricane in Minnie’s eardrums. He’s got a strong voice, aggressive with intent, body frame intimidating as he towers over her from behind. There’s no use in struggling with him; he’s much stronger than Minnie. “You want that on your head? You want a girl to die because you wouldn’t open the registers? It’s not even your fuckin’ dough. Now empty the fuckin’ registers, you fuckin’ sluts!”

That gets them to move, sobs tearing from their throats. They open up the registers, one by one, the Ghoul trying to make them move faster as the Wolf starts gathering up the money.

Minnie’s shaking in the criminal’s arms, staring helplessly at the people looking at her in horror and pity. She wants to curl in on herself, withering inside. It’s like witnessing hell as the Ghoul saunters around on tables and desks, laying waste, causing endless destruction, hitting the more slowly moving woman over her head with the butt of his shotgun.

Blood, red blood on white marble floors.

Minnie should be glad; at least no one has been shot. Especially not her.

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