Page 5 of Haunt

And his too, judging by the way he kneels down, rocking forward on his heels to peer at my phone as well. “Well, you’re certainly welcome to message them back,” I mutter with surprise, theatrically holding up my phone to the masked man.

Unexpectedly, he takes it out of my hand, plucking it from my palm with his skeletal gloves and turning it so he can read the texts, too.

I watch him scroll through the conversation, and finally his eyes find mine through the eyeholes of his mask. Slowly he tips his head to one side, then the other, before tugging off his glove to type out a message on my phone, hit send, and hand it back to me.

But not before his fingers brush against mine, a movement that makes my little, hopeless romantic heart twist in excitement. My eyes fall to the message he’s sent in response to my friends’ promises that they’re about to pull into the parking lot.

YOU’LL BE TOO LATE.

The message makes me glance up at him, and I swear I can see the flicker of excitement in his eyes. “That’s a little dramatic,” I murmur. “Don’t you think?”

This time IknowI hear his chuckle. He rocks forward onto the balls of his feet, pressing one hand to my knee. It seems like he wants to say something until a gloved hand descends on his shoulder and both of us look up into Harrow’s animal skull mask.

He’s not looking at me this time, however. His attention is all for Ravage as he tugs him to his feet with a small shake of his head. I shift nervously, which unfortunately prompts them both to look at me silently from behind their imposing masks.

My phone vibrates in my hands, but I don’t look away from the intimidating pair. I don’t think Ican, truthfully.

“So…Texas Chainsaw Massacreis my favorite movie,” I say conversationally, unable to give into rambling from nervousness. “And I mean that as in, like, all movies, not just horror movies. The classic, obviously, but the remakes are fine. Except the new one, which—” A quick roll of Harrow’s eyes is the only warning I get before he’s covering my mouth with his hand, forcing my words to come to a halt.

Which is more than fine, really, since they really were just me rambling away my anxieties at them.

His gloved thumb strokes along my lower lip as I watch them both and squirm under their gazes. Finally, I have to pull away, and I drag my lower lip into my mouth to bite it nervously. Then, without a word, they just turn and walk away as if triggered by some unspoken signal I certainly didn’t catch.

Eventually, my eyes fall back to my phone, and I scroll through the few messages I’ve gotten in the last minute or so. My friends are predictably weirded out by my last message, though I’m not about to tell them a guy in a mask sent it instead of me.

You just need to hurry the fuck up.I’m not sure what I’ll do if they don’t get here in time. Really, I’m not sure what Icando, other than apologize and call an Uber. I suppose, according to Nero, there are more people here than they’d expected, so they probably won’t mind if my friends don’t show up and?—

A scream sounds from further inside the warehouse, prompting my phone to clatter to the floor when my hands jerk in surprise. I murmur a soft curse and pick it up, feeling around the device for any cracks or scuffs. Thankfully, it survived the fallwithout a blemish. Which is more than can be said for my last four phones.

May they all rest in pieces.

“It’s part of the haunt, you baby,” whispering the words to myself, I shift to try to find some comfort in the chair I’m sitting in. A quick count shows me two of the four groups have already been taken back, and two more groups, one of two and one of three individuals, are the only ones left. Ivy and Dalton are the pair, and Ivy smiles at me anxiously, unable to stand still now that she’s next in line.

All I do is give her a little mock salute before looking down at my phone again.

We’re here, so where are you?

Relief floods me, making me feel like my ribs are no longer trying to press my heart to pieces. Thank fucking God they’re here so I won’t be alone anymore.

Inside. The door’s shut, I’ll ask them to open it.

Glancing up, I watch as Ivy and her boyfriend are beckoned down the hallway, leaving only me and a group of three college-aged boys. They joke and tease each other, one of them catching my eye and wiggling his brows suggestively.

The movement makes my nose scrunch, but I don’t have a chance to make some childish and rude gesture back. Ravage is suddenly there, reaching out to slam his hand into the wall by the guy’s head and leaning in close.

The guy yelps and jerks back, nearly cracking his head on the wall before glaring up at the masked man and muttering something at him that probably isn’t friendly.

But Ravage doesn’t react. Instead, he turns to look at me, head tilting as if asking for my opinion or advice.

Like he wantsmeto decide if he should let the guy off the wall.

My phone rings, dragging my attention down to it, and when I see Sienna’s name on the screen, I bring it to my ear, huffing out a sigh. “Can you, like, come to the door?” I ask in a soft whisper.

“What fucking door, Noa?” Sienna sounds exasperated as hell, and I hear other voices in the background. “We talked to the staff to see where you are, but they’re saying you’re not here.”

“I’m definitely fucking here—” Another scream cuts me off and I glance up to see the three boys filing down the hallway, still joking and laughing. “Maybeyou’renot here. Do you see the door to the building?”

“Yeah. It’s closed, but are you sure that’s where you are? I haven’t seen anyone go in or out.” She sounds unsure, and maybe even a little disbelieving.

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