Chapter 23 Gianna #2
‘You know how,’ I speak slowly, ‘I leave the front door unlocked for you?’
She stares, waiting for me to go on. I look around and though there are people around us, they’re too busy to be eavesdropping.
‘He kinda caught me in the shower and …’
‘Bitch, hurry up!’ Her mouth pops open and her eyes widen.
I run my hands over my face. Christ. This is Monique. I should be able to tell her everything. Why am I so embarrassed? Maybe because she doesn’t know what Ryker’s like now.
I close my eyes and sigh. ‘He caught me in the shower. He had his hands over mine all over my body. All. Over. He told me to watch myself come in front of the bathroom mirror, and damn …’ I whoosh out a breath. ‘I still haven’t recovered.’
‘Really?’ she asks, not taking her eyes off me. ‘That good?’
‘Out of this freaking world, Monz.’ I pause. ‘And there’s more.’
Her mouth drops open when I tell her about the speedway. How my body was splayed open, an offering for him, but it was cut short when Dellenty showed up.
She rolls her lips searching for what to say. Then she grins. ‘Fucking finally.’
I frown. ‘What do you mean?’
‘What I said. Fucking finally.’ Her green eyes swirl with myriad emotions, none of them judgement.
‘You two have been playing the longest game of foreplay known to humanity. I’m glad he’s finally grown a pair and made a move.
I guess the tattoos have made him tougher, huh?
I nearly didn’t recognise him. He looks so different. ’
‘In more ways than one.’
Monique studies me closely, saying nothing but I can feel her questions. I sneak a look back toward him, but he’s no longer there.
The line moves and we step forward.
‘Why do you think he’s back, then?’
‘Beats me.’ I shrug. ‘Oh, and you should know Renny is here. Like, here, here.’
‘What?’
‘He’s fixing my Mustang and gave me a lift. I left him in the car park, though I think he’s gone home.’
‘Ugh, that man. For his sake, I hope so.’
I look ahead, taking in what queue we’re standing in for the first time. My insides twist.
‘Oh hell, no, Monique.’
‘Aww, c’mon,’ she pleads, linking into my arm. ‘It’ll be fun.’
‘You know I hate the dark. I really don’t want to do this.’
‘You said it was my pick,’ she snarks.
I wince. She’s right. ‘I don’t want to be groped by a masked man.’
Although … maybe a certain masked man.
No. Stop it.
‘So you can race down a drag strip at I don’t even know what speed, but you’re gonna be afraid of a man in a mask?’ Shaking her head, she grabs my hand. ‘We’re going.’
My protest falls on deaf ears as she pulls me forward. An attendant dressed as a clown lifts the rope.
‘Do y’all know the safe word if you want out?’ he says in a bored tone, completely out of character. We both shake our heads. ‘Say, “I chicken out”,’ he explains, then ushers us to go through. ‘Follow the lights.’
Stepping through the doors, it’s cold, like the air-conditioning is blasting at full capacity.
In the corner of the spiderweb-and-tombstone-decorated room is a large button.
The sign above reads Press Me in oozing green letters.
The dim lights flicker erratically, while overhead speakers create the ambience of creaky floorboards.
‘Let’s get this over with,’ I sigh.
Monique hits the red button. Instantly, we’re plunged into darkness. Fuck. My hands turn clammy and I feel my pulse hammer in my ears. I grab Monique and nuzzle into her back, urging her forward.
‘Go!’ I nudge her forward.
‘I can’t see anything,’ she snaps.
Small red lights appear across the ceiling.
‘Look,’ I say, gripping at her shirt. ‘They must be the lights we follow.’
‘Easy for you to say.’
I follow Monique’s lead as she shuffles forward.
The little red lights don’t offer much illumination, though there’s enough of a glow to see the outline of her body.
She holds a hand out in front of her, and I hear when she finds a wall.
The texture is rough and sounds like sandpaper.
We use it as some form of bearing. Well … she does. I stay huddled behind her.
The path of dots above us veers left. I feel a little braver and release her shirt, moving to her right. She holds onto my arm as we take cautious, slow steps.
Suddenly, gusts of air blow into our faces and hands grab at my ankles.
Screams are ripped from my throat while the cackles of witches and clowns echo around us.
I stick to Monique’s side like glue, urging her forward, still using the wall and the red lights as a guide.
I barely make it a step before my hair is toyed with.
Breathe … It’s all fake.
I grip Monz’s hand tightly. She jolts and rushes forward – her ankles are being grabbed too – and then she comes to an abrupt halt.
‘Oh, hell no.’ She urges me forward. ‘You go!’
My heart surges into my throat when I see, at the end of the hallway, a small girl facing the wall under a lone ceiling light. Her black hair cascades in front of her face, a stark contrast to her white dress and green skin.
A sheen of sweat cools my forehead, making goosebumps sprout across my skin.
Giving up pretences, I grip Monique’s hand, close my eyes and run blindly forward – I’d rather not see any of this.
My pulse races and everything in my body is feeling warm.
Monique’s screams pierce the air. Or maybe they’re mine. Hell, we’re both screaming.
I keep running, hearing the girl giggling behind us. I open my eyes and Monique and I take another turn into a large room that’s been made to look like the inside of a butcher’s freezer.
It takes a moment or two to get my bearings, and for the adrenaline to dissipate.
I look up for the red lights – they’re gone.
We need to navigate the room on our own.
I try to think of a plan, but then the roars of chainsaws echo through the dark hallways, triggering my flight response.
I let go of Monique and run with no plan at all – just pure, fear-driven adrenaline.
My shoulders are grabbed at, and occasionally I reach for the left wall, only to be touched there too. I stumble, and my legs feel like they’re ready to give up on me.
‘Jesus,’ I groan. ‘They don’t give us a break, do they?’
Monique doesn’t respond.
I squint through the darkness, trying to see her.
‘Monique?’ I extend a hand, only feeling cool air.
Shit.
My hand hits a wall in front of me and I pause. Left now? Or right? God, I should have stayed outside and braved being with Ryker.
I reassure myself that my assailants are just ordinary workers in masks and go left again.
I use the bumpy wall as the red lights on the ceiling start to become few and far between.
The pitch of chainsaws rises again, along with my pulse.
Up ahead, echoes of muffled screams and the laughter of clowns make me shudder.
It’s always the damn clowns.
I think I hear Monique’s faint voice calling through the wall and then she’s there, grabbing my arm and rushing us through the hallways.
My fingers brush against the wall as she drags me down a series of turns, pulling with urgency. She must really hate it here.
My breaths turn to pants. ‘Hold on a minute.’ I struggle to get the words out.
She stops and I crash into her back.
Her large, hard back.