CHAPTER 23 SHADOWS IN THE DARK
Maddy grabbed his underwear and bolted for the door, the heavy metal slamming shut behind him with a sound like a gunshot.
His bare feet slapped against the filthy concrete as he sprinted down the pitch-black corridor, adrenaline drowning out everything but the pounding of his heart and the certainty that death was right behind him.
His dick flopped uselessly against his thigh with each desperate stride—dignity be damned if that psychopath caught him.
The darkness swallowed him whole—no windows, no light, no fucking clue if it was day or night as he charged blindly forward—just the suffocating blackness and the rasp of his own terrified breathing.
His foot caught something hard and unforgiving, sending him crashing face-first onto the concrete.
His skin tore open as he skidded across the floor, and when he thrust his hand down to push himself up, white-hot agony exploded through his palm as a rusted nail punched through flesh and muscle.
“Fuck!” The scream ripped from his throat before he could strangle it.
Blood pulsed hot between his fingers as he yanked his hand free with a wet, sucking sound.
Maddy pressed his back against the wall, every nerve ending screaming, copper flooding his mouth where he'd bitten his tongue.
In the sudden stillness, the man's words slithered back into his consciousness like poison.
You’re still gonna get fucked and filleted—just like your pretty little girlfriend.
Savannah. Fear and panic punched Maddy in the chest, a double-fisted blow that emptied his lungs and sent acid crawling up his throat.
His ribs seemed to contract around his hammering heart, squeezing it like a fist around raw meat, while cold sweat spread across his skin in a slick, nauseating wave.
Yeah, she’s here, too.
Was that the truth? Or him fucking with Maddy’s mind?
Pain twisted Maddy's face as he cradled his punctured hand against his chest, the cuffs biting painfully into his wrists.
His lungs fought for air in shallow, desperate gulps while his pulse hammered in his ears.
Each drop of blood that splattered onto the concrete echoed in the darkness, a metronome counting down to something he didn't want to face.
The corridor reeked of rust and decay and something worse—the unmistakable stench of his own terror seeping from every pore.
The iron tang of his own blood turned his stomach as it mingled with the damp, moldering air.
Maddy paused long enough to pull on his underwear, the elastic waistband snapping against his clammy skin.
He pressed his back against the broken plaster, jagged edges digging into his shoulder blades, and held his breath until his lungs burned.
His heart pounded in his ears like a war drum, each thunderous beat drowning out any sounds that might betray his pursuer's location in the suffocating darkness.
Sweat trickled down his temples, salt stinging the raw scrape on his cheek as he strained to hear past his own terror.
Yeah, she’s here, too. My dad’s taken a real shine to her. When he gets through with her…
Maddy squeezed his eyes shut until starbursts of pressure bloomed behind his eyelids, trying to crush the man's terrifying words into dust. The thought that Savannah might be somewhere in this hellhole, locked in a cage and terrified, made bile rise in his throat.
He peered up and down the corridor, the darkness so complete it felt like drowning in ink.
Panic clawed up his spine with razor-sharp talons, leaving him paralyzed.
The walls seemed to pulse inward with each frantic heartbeat, the air thick as syrup in his lungs.
His wounded hand throbbed in time with his racing heart, each pulse sending fresh ribbons of pain up his arm.
The childlike fear from the apartment—the kind that made his bladder threaten to release and his knees turn to water—clawed at the edges of his mind.
He fought it back with ragged breaths that scraped his raw throat.
If that primal terror took hold, he'd curl into a ball and wait for death.
“Please, God,” he whispered, the words barely audible even to himself, “please help me find her... please help us get out of here.”
He blinked back tears that burned like acid, tasting salt as one escaped down his cheek. With a shuddering breath that rattled in his chest like loose change, he forced his leaden feet forward into the suffocating darkness.
Cole was so intent on freeing Gabe from his restraints—fingers fumbling with the cold metal links that had left angry red welts on his wrists—that he didn't notice the Mangler had moved until the heavy steel door slammed shut with a thunderous boom that echoed through the dank air.
The sound hit Cole like a physical blow.
“Fuck!” Cole sprinted across the concrete floor, boots slapping against the grime-slicked surface.
He reached the door just in time to hear the rusty latch clank into place on the other side.
His fingers wrapped around the ice-cold steel handle, yanking with enough force to make his shoulder muscles scream in protest, but the door remained as immovable as a tomb seal.
“FUCK!” The word tore from his throat, echoing off the mildew-stained walls.
“What?” Gabe called, his voice strained. He was free from the chains, but his wrists were still cuffed, the metal bracelets glinting dully in the sickly yellow light from the single bulb overhead.
Cole hurried back to him, the sour taste of panic rising in his throat. “He locked us in.” His face twisted, fear and frustration carving deep lines around his mouth as his bloodshot eyes flicked erratically around the spacious room with its water-damaged ceiling and ominous dark corners.
“Hey.” Gabe grabbed his trembling hands, his skin warm despite the bitter chill in the air. “Babe. Look at me.”
Cole blinked, tears streaming down his face as his eyes fixated on Gabe's chest…
and the wound he had inflicted. “Gabe…” His throat tightened, as if someone was choking him, and fresh tears blurred his vision until Gabe's form swam before him.
His trembling fingers hovered over the wound, afraid to touch it but unable to look away from what he'd done. “I'm sorry...”
“Cole.” Gabe gently grabbed his face, thumbs wiping away tears that kept falling. “Cole. I'm okay. It's not your fault, baby. He needed to believe you were under his influence. And it worked.”
“Did it?” Cole swallowed hard, eyes swimming. His hand hovered over the wound, wanting to fix it, afraid to make it worse. “He got away. He locked us in. And I—I cut you. Jesus, I fucking cut you.”
“You wounded him,” Gabe said, wincing as he shifted, his voice steady despite the sweat beading on his forehead.
“He's bleeding—and a lot worse than me. And we…” He nodded past Cole to the weapon lying on the floor.
“… have his gun. We'll get out of here. But the immediate threat is gone. And that's because of you.”
Tremors rippled through Cole's body like aftershocks, his vision swimming at the edges as blood rushed from his head. The concrete floor seemed to tilt beneath him.
“Cole?” Gabe's voice sounded distant through the ringing in his ears.
“I felt sick...” Cole's eyes locked with Gabe's, hot tears streaming down his face and catching in the stubble along his jaw.
“...when I... I cut you.” His chin quivered uncontrollably, teeth nearly chattering.
“I hated myself... I-I felt like... I was... him.” The last word came out as barely a whisper.
“You're not,” Gabe said sternly, palms gripping Cole's face with enough pressure to anchor him to reality.
“Cole, I need you with me. I need you on top of your game.
I know, after everything you've been through tonight and the last few days, that's a lot to ask, but I need you, baby.” He pressed his cracked lips against Cole's, then rested his forehead against Cole's brow, their sweat mingling.
“Baby, you are not him. Not even a little bit. You need to kick that fucker out of your head. We have to find the kids.”
Cole cleared his throat and wiped his eyes with the back of his trembling hand, his head clearing a bit. “What if the deputy already…” Bile stung the back of his throat, acidic and bitter as battery acid.
“Maddy's strong,” Gabe insisted, his eyes feverishly bright against his dirt-smudged face. “He'll fight back. All we can do is find a way out of this shithole, then find him and Savannah.”
“Savannah…” Cole's voice cracked like ice as a violent shudder rippled through his body. “What if Daniel is going after her? To punish me for attacking him?”
“Then all the more reason to find a way out of this fucking room as soon as possible.” Gabe's jaw clenched so tight a muscle twitched beneath the purple bruise blooming on his cheekbone.
Cole inhaled deeply, the musty air filling his lungs, and released it unsteadily through clenched teeth. He nodded, jaw tight. “We need to get your cuffs off.”
Gabe scanned the room, eyes narrowing. “There. Grab that broken pipe. It has a jagged edge; it should do.” Gabe moved to the cage, the chains between his cuffs clinking softly as he stretched them over the rust-flecked corner ridge.
“Hit the chain as close to one of the cuffs as possible. The connector will break more easily than the chain.”
Cole picked up the pipe, its surface rough and cold against his palms. He gripped it with both hands, knuckles whitening. “It's a small space between the cuffs…”
“I trust you,” Gabe said, his voice steady despite the sweat beading along his hairline. “You've always had a better aim than me.”