Page 37 of Psyop Kings

“Hey!”

A deep voice booms from down the hallway, startling me enough that I bang my head on the metal. I whip my head out of the chute to figure out who’s speaking to me.

Theo.

He’s all the way at the other end but has now started running at full speed toward me. They didn’t expect me to find an escape route, which is exactly why I need to escape. Now!

I hike my leg up and slide it into the hole, then I brace the sides so I can get my other leg inside. It’s narrow around my hips, but I’m able to shimmy deeper into it.

“Romy, stop!”

Closer. Closer. Closer.

As his features come into view, I know it’ll only be a matter of seconds before he can grab me. I push farther into the hole. My feet dangle beneath me, not touching anything below.

Please don’t let this drop kill me.

I want to let go, but I’m shaking with fear—fear of the unknown.

My hesitation is too long because in a split second, Theo grabs hold of my arm with a death grip.

“Let go!” I screech, wriggling in an effort to get loose.

He’s too broad in the shoulders to get both arms in. It won’t take long, though, for him to pull me out of here since he’s stronger than me. No longer more terrified of what’s below methan above me, I turn my head and seek out his flesh with my teeth.

I bite so hard I taste the metallic tang of blood.

His pained scream makes me feel giddy inside.

It also makes him let go.

My stomach flips as I rush down the chute. I try to stop myself with my elbows, but that only rubs the skin off, making them burn. Twisting, I try to make myself larger by leaning my upper body weight toward one side and pushing with my thigh on the other side. I screech to a bruising halt.

It’s stuffy and hot in this chute and impossibly dark. The light above me is extinguished when Theo slams the chute door closed with a jarring echo.

I have to beat him to the bottom.

Slowly, I loosen up my hold and then I’m in freefall again. A scream is lodged in my throat and my stomach does so many somersaults I think I’ll puke. I’m unable to stop myself again as my descent has picked up speed.

It was probably pretty stupid to launch myself down this metal death hole but too late to turn back now. All I can do is pray that the garbage bin is filled with enough trash to keep me from spattering into a million pieces.

A peculiar scent fills my nostrils. It’s not a sweet, decaying smell like one would assume trash would smell like.

It’s chemical.

The smell gets stronger and stronger.

And then the walls around me disappear.

Splash!

I’m rocketed into a warm body of water and slice through it with incredible speed until my feet hit bottom. Pain shoots up my legs as my butt hits the hard surface next. The water, finally, stops the rest of me from slamming into the hard concrete.

Before I can make sense of what just happened, my survival instincts kick in. My eyes are open, but all I see is inky blackness. I scramble, despite the pain seizing my entire body, and try not to breathe. Fire burns in my lungs since I didn’t exactly get a chance to grab a huge breath before I was submerged.

Don’t panic.

Swim the way you came.

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