Page 5 of Blurred Lines

I move quickly and quietly, and the guards are too busy talking and watching the monitors to notice me until I’m basically right up at the glass. I see the moment one of them spots me. The look of surprise that crosses his face as he mouthswhat the fuck. He nudges his buddy, who looks up, wearing a similar expression as I wave at them through the glass.

It takes a second before they both jump into action and lift their guns out of their holsters as they move to the door at the side. I move too, knowing I need to ensure both guards’ backs are to the corridor I just came from, so they can’t spot Hawk.

“Stop right there,” one of them orders, standing in the doorway with his gun pointed at me.

I glance around me before looking back at him. “Who? Me?”

He just looks even more confused. “Yes, you. Who the fuck else would I be talking to?”

Raising my hands, I shrug my shoulders. “Just wanted to make sure.”

“Who are you? Where did you come from?” the other guard barks.

“It’s a funny story actually,” I begin, “you see, I don’t know. I just found myself wandering around your lovely establishment, with no clue how I got here.” I take a step to the side, forcing both of them to turn, keeping their guns trained on me, and act as if I’m trying to peer into their glass cubicle. “Where exactly ishere, anyway?”

The guards are looking more and more puzzled by the second, and I can tell they aren’t sure what to make of me, nor do they have any idea what to do.

They share a quick glance before focusing their attention back on me, and I’m careful to keep my gaze on them, and not on Hawk in the background as he slips out of the corridor with his gun trained on the guard on my left.

My hand is at the ready, and when Hawk’s gun goes off, I whip my knife out of the holster and launch myself at the guard on the right, driving the blade into his neck. His eyes widen in shock as blood trickles out and drips down his neck, quickly becoming a steady stream which changes to a forceful spray as I yank the blade out, leaving a nasty as fuck gash in his neck. He gurgles as blood fills his airway, before collapsing onto the ground, gripping uselessly at his neck in a vain attempt to stem the blood loss.

He’s going to die, and I don’t waste time watching. The other guard is already lying dead on the ground where Hawk shot him, and as I lift my gaze to Hawk’s, I notice movement behind him.

I pull my gun out of the back of my pants and flick off the safety as I raise it. Hawk’s eyes widen, a flash of shock crossing them just as I pull the trigger. The bullet whizzes past Hawk’s head, and he spins to look behind him as the guard that was sneaking up on him drops to the ground, a bullet wound in the middle of his neck.Damn, I couldn’t have aimed that any better if I’d actually tried.

“What the—” Hawk stutters, staring in shock at the dead guard for a long moment before turning to face me. “You saved my life.”

I just shrug my shoulders. “Yeah well, Sunshine woulda strung me up by my ballsack if I didn’t.”

The reminder of Hadley has the shock swiped from his face, and his usual determined mask back in place.

“Well, thanks, I guess.”

I dunno about you, but all I just heard was,I love you too, bro.See, I knew we were destined to be brothers!

I grin brightly at him, before the two of us move toward the guards’ control room. We look over the monitors, which look like they cover all of the cells, noting that Hadley isn’t in any of them. I can feel my own frustration at not finding her weighing heavy in my gut, and Hawk’s drawn out sigh gives away his own dwindling patience. However, we can’t just leave the kids in these cells to go in search of her.

“What are we supposed to do with them?” I ask Hawk, looking at the monitors. Some of the cells shown have flashing lights, and even watching it on the monitors is enough to make my eyes feel weird. In others it looks like the same loud music is being blasted into them, as their occupants are sitting or lying with their hands over their ears, trying desperately to drown out the noise. It’s fucking painful to watch.

Looking at the control board, it takes me a moment to figure out the buttons, but eventually I manage to turn off the flashing lights and loud music to each of the cells. At least that’s something, but we can’t just leave them in there.

I spot Hawk looking at the schematics on his phone. “I think there’s an outer door somewhere back there,” he says, pointing toward the back wall. “If I can get it open then we will be able to get the kids out to Cain and his men.” It sounds like as good a plan as any at this point, so I nod in agreement. As Hawk moves to find the outer door, I try to figure out how to get all of the kids out of their cells.

I’ve managed to get the doors unlocked by the time Hawk returns, although unsurprisingly, none of the children have made any attempts to come out of their cells.

“All clear out there,” he informs me. “I’ve got the door propped open, we just need to coax the kids out of their cells and out to Cain.”

Deciding once again that Hawk will take the left side of the room, and I’ll take the right, we slowly manage to encourage the kids to come out. Most of them can hardly walk, and they have to prop one another up as they shuffle toward their freedom, but eventually we get them all out.

“We need to get back to the others,” Hawk says in a heavy tone when we’re done. “Hopefully they’ve had more luck with Hadley.”

I clap him on the shoulder. “We’ll find her,” I promise him. “We know she’s here somewhere. We’re not leaving without her.”

***

Fatigue makes my shoulders droop as I trudge through campus. It’s still pitch black out, the sun still hours away from rising, and the place is serene. Nothing but the whistle of a light breeze as it blows through the trees and cuts across the open lawns. I should be feeling elated after our win at the compound, and don’t get me wrong, it’s a weight lifted off my shoulders to know Hadley’s safe, even if she is somewhat battered. But I honestly just feel deflated and on edge. Maybe it’s because the adrenaline has worn off, leaving me feeling jittery and wired, yet with an undercurrent of bone-deep exhaustion.

I’m taking my time, slowly making my way along the path, but as I near the girls’ dorm, something tugs deep in my chest. I’m not even entirely sure what it is, but without even meaning to, I venture off course.

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