Page 66 of Dying to Meet You

He’s been watching and actively pretending to be a friend for years. What’s changed now?

My questions don’t stop, even though I don’t bother asking this maniac a single one. Why kill Dr. Wallen? Or any of the others in copycat killings? Why kidnap the children? Why play games or threaten? Why, why, why…

Harrison moves into the lab, keeping his distance. “You are a beautiful little thing, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t feel more repulsed. “If you try to touch me, I’ll tear your dick off.” Hutton is trying to free himself to get to me.

The laugh Harrison lets loose is nightmarish. He smiles at me. “I should sample the goods. See why you’ve been able to keep five men in your bed. Must be damn good, huh?”

“I’d rather slide down a razor blade into a pool of vinegar,” I say before spitting at him.

Hutton yells, “I’ll kill you slowly. I’ll make your death so painfully slow if you lay a single finger on Eden!”

Standing tall, Harrison turns around to leave. Stopping to lean on the door frame, he says, “Why now? What better time? The seven-year anniversary of Camp Carroll, just in time to save Halcyon.”

Harrison removes the gun he’d tucked into the waistband of his pants. “But I don’t need both of you. One will suffice.”

I’m not going to beg him to spare my life. I won’t do it. If I start to plead for him to leave Hutton alone, he’ll kill him just to get me in line. My experience with psychopaths makes me keep my mouth shut.

Hutton and I share a look. I mouth “I love you”, and he mouths “forever”. We’re on the same page about not asking Harrison to spare us. He’ll do what he wants, anyway.

In a bored-sounding voice, Hutton says, “It’s sad you think DTMY had any input from you. You can’t string a coherent code together if you tried. You bluffed your way into the FBI to begin with. It’s sad tha-”

Harrison barrels toward Hutton in anger, cutting him off by shoving him back with one hand on his throat.

Getting him close like he’d wanted, Hutton goes for the gun. Still handcuffed to the cabinet, he fights Harrison. I have limited sight of their brawl. Then the gun goes off.

One shot, a groan…

“Hutton? Hutton!” I start to fight against the cuff and cabinet again.

As Harrison rises, wiping a trickle of blood from his mouth where Hutton hit him, he gives me a self-satisfied smirk. “I’ve wanted to do that for years.”

“Noooo! Noooo, noooo! Hutton?!” Sobs wrack my body as I continue to pour every bit of strength, I have into freeing my arm from its shackle. In my flailing, I feel a shooting pain in my hand. I’ve pulled so much; I’ve broken a bone. I bite down on my tongue as I use my other hand to squeeze it. I manage to slide the cuff off, not grabbing it before it hits the cabinet.

Harrison looks right at me. Freed from the handcuff, I scramble up. I lunge at him with unleashed rage, furious he's taken so many people from me. He’s not fast enough in calculating my speed. I come at him full force, knocking him to the floor inside the lab Hutton is lying in. Harrison doesn’t have the gun on him.

His reaction isn’t immediate, but once I’m clobbering him, he grabs me by the back of my neck to get me off him. Remembering the self-defense classes with Matt, I go for his eyes. The loud grunt of pain makes me work harder. He’s done. I’m ending him.

There’s a screwdriver on the floor lying halfway under a rolling cart. I just need to grab it…

Harrison is twice my size; he just needs to unseat me from him, and I won’t make it out of this. Risking the consequences if I can’t do it fast enough, I rear my knee back and drive it into his groin. A huff of air leaves him. “You fucking cunt…”

I’m able to grab the screwdriver while reaching back. The trail of blood from where Hutton is lying, looking lifeless, spurs me on. I drive the tool with all my strength into Harrison's chest, hopefully right into this sorry excuse of a man’s heart. “I want you to die. Die, you fucker, die…” My words are marred by tears. “Go back to Hell…die…”

He stops moving, his eyes wide open and blood spilling from his mouth. I clamber away from him to Hutton’s side, still clutching the screwdriver. “H-Hutton?” Laying the screwdriver beside me to keep it close by, my hands scour his body, looking for the source of his bleeding. I can’t find the bullet hole, so I roll him from his side onto his back. Hugging him, I bawl. “Baby?”

His eyes flutter. “Hutton?” My hoarse whisper is spoken against his cheek as I kiss him. “Baby?”

His beautiful, otherworldly green eyes open. “Get the girls and get out. Please, please…run, Eden.”

I shake my head. “I’m not leaving you. Harrison is dead. I killed him.” Oh, my fuck…I killed someone. I’m a murderer now. I-

Don’t crash out, keep it together.“I’ll help you up. We’re getting out of here. Together.”

I can’t help him get up, no matter how much I try. Hutton is solid muscle and almost seven feet tall; I’m not moving him alone. “Can you get up? I’m not leaving you behind.”

“We’re not alone. He has a whole group of people working with him. Get the girls…go.”

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