Page 33 of Hide and Seek
The tears flow faster as I continue holding my breath, having to awkwardly let it go before trying to hold it again in my effort to remain quiet.
The handle of my locker rattles for just a second, and I curse myself for being so foolish. He has access to the morguecameras, of course he knows exactly where I’m hiding. How could I be so stupid?
A whimper fights its way free, and just when I think it’s all over, the familiar sound of the handle twisting into place fills the inside of the refrigeration unit. My back stiffens on the cold table, realizing I’ve been locked inside. My chest heaves with terror-filled gasps. I’ve never been someone who suffers from claustrophobia, but right now, I’m almost convinced that I do. It’s one thing hiding in here and hoping he goes away, but it’s a whole new fear realizing I’ve been locked inside for him to come back and play with anytime he sees fit.
Another whimper escapes from my lips, and I clamp my freezing fingers over my mouth as my body violently shakes from the cold. I have to get out of here, but with this monster still lurking just outside, I don’t stand a chance.
Time slows, and I try to calm myself, saving every ounce of energy I possess, having no idea when I might need to call on it. I simply listen, biding my time as he continues to move around the morgue, and then finally everything goes quiet.
The heavy morgue door slams, and the only noise I hear is the manic thumping of my pulse in my ears.
I slowly sit up, my body dangerously stiff from the cold. There’s only so long somebody can survive in here. Don’t get me wrong, there are ways someone could survive, but I don’t intend on feasting on the bodies around me. At least they’re already dead, so if it came to it, I won’t have to kill anyone just to eat. Silver linings, right?
The rest of my team would be due to come in for the day shift in just a few hours, so it’s not exactly the end of the world. I can make it until then, but the truth of the matter is, I don’t want to. I want to get the fuck out of here and run as far as I can. I was an idiot to stay here tonight. I should have listened to Knight, though I’ll never tell him he was right. That just seems too easy.
He’d never get himself locked in the morgue refrigeration unit with a bunch of dead bodies. God, how little he’ll think of me when he finds out this is how I spent my night. I suppose I don’t have to tell him about this, but what benefit would that do for me? If I want this asshole caught and dealt with, then it’s in my best interest to be as forthcoming as possible, even if it means certain humiliation.
I go to start checking the door when the table creaks under my movements and I come to a screeching halt. I know I heard the door shut, but that doesn’t mean he was on the opposite side of it. Is he gone or is he waiting me out?
No. No. No. No.
Why is this happening to me?
I listen intently to the sounds from outside of the refrigeration unit, and after what I assume is ten long minutes of nothing but pure silence, I decide it’s time to take the risk.
Crawling to the end of the table, I shove against the locked door and cringe at the feel of the freezing metal against my cold fingers. Trying to rattle it free is agonizing, and there’s no use. It’s not going to budge.
“Fuck,” I mutter as more tears form in my eyes.
One by one, I move across the inside of the refrigeration unit, carefully climbing over sealed body bags and hoping like fuck I’m not disturbing the bodies inside. I try each door, cursing myself for being so meticulous in making sure the doors were locked.
I reach the locker on the very end—the one at the very top that we rarely use because of the lock that always gets jammed—and straddle the empty rolling table facing the inside of the door. If I were going to have any chance of breaking one of these locks to get out, this would be my best bet.
I pump my fingers to get the blood flowing before realizing I’m going to need something to jimmy the lock open. I feel thepocket of my scrub shirt for my trusty pen and instantly hate myself, finding my pocket empty. I took it out earlier while writing my notes and never put it back.
Fucking rookie error.
Feeling my pants pockets, I find the little metal piece off the top of my soda can, and while it isn’t exactly ideal, it’s better than nothing. Immediately getting to work, I pinch the little piece of aluminum between freezing fingers and do what I can to release the jammed lock from the inside.
I slip a few times, cutting my thumb and leaving a small pool of blood on the table between my thighs, but my desperation to get out of here doesn’t hold me back. I keep prying the old lock, bending the soda tab in the process, but as the lock finally begins to give way, my relief keeps me going.
I don’t dare stop, pushing my fingers past their limits, even when they’re cut up and bruised. I clench my jaw, giving it everything I’ve got. Finally, the latch is freed, and I can shove the door open from within. I immediately stick my head out, breathing in the fresh air as tears streak down my face.
My gaze snaps around the room, and realizing that I was right, that the prick is actually gone has me sagging with relief, and I’m free to take my time as I crouch down and roll the table out of the top locker.
My hands shake, and my teeth chatter from the cold, but the moment I can, I inch off the edge of the high table and drop straight to the ground. My feet ache from the impact of the linoleum beneath me, and my cold knees instantly give out, dropping me heavily to the ground, but I don’t care. All that matters is that I’m free.
For now.
Then not skipping my chance at freedom, I hastily close the locker behind me before hightailing it out of here, grabbing my shit on the way and not daring to look back.
13
KNIGHT
Metal lockers clang through the room as the boys grab their shit so we can finally get out of here. It was a quick call out that we had under control in no time, but it was a rough one. It’s always fucking rough when kids are involved, and while everyone came out alive and unharmed, it was a close one.
My team drove back to the station in silence, and once their heads finally hit their pillows, I have no doubt they’ll remember the terror-filled screams of the children we just saved.
