Page 45 of Shattered Souls

I shoulder my way through the maze. Groups of laughing couples and friends huddle together as they walk through the winding hedges, readying themselves for the jump-scares that are bound to happen. I manage to find the dead end that is the secret entrance to the twins home—and I guess mine as well, for now.

Still unsure how to open the door, I stand off in the corner and wait for the towering masked man to round the corner. Just as he does, I see the body on his shoulder and have to swallow back the nausea in my throat. He pops the door open and leads me inside.

My mind screams at me. Something inside my chest tells me that tonight is the night these men will decide I no longer get to leave. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that he’s bringing a half alive man back to their house to do lord knows what. Or the fact that Hyde is on the other side of the door with that same love sick look on his face.

Seek presses forward, into the home, while Hayze holds out his hand for me in an intimate tone. Words leave me, not that he and I share many words normally, but I just can’t. My foot slides backwards, and I watch as Hayze’s face falls into something short of betrayal.

He opens his mouth. For a split second, I think he’s going to say my name or beg me not to leave. But alas, nothing comes out.

I take a single step back. He doesn’t move. I take my chance and spin and run before he can try and reach out for me. The cold wind bites at me as it whips across my face. I have to squint my eyes to combat the burn in them as I turn the final corner to make it out of the maze.

People are moving around the scare park without a care in the world. Completely oblivious to the fact there’s two crazed murders/kidnappers lurking around like fucking sirens.

I don’t run, not wanting to draw attention to myself, but I do walk quickly to the exit. I’m mere feet away from the gated exit when I hear the boom of what sounds like a gunshot. I spin and try to locate the sound, fear gripping my chest. Others around me are ducking and huddling together.

I squint my eyes and look past the worried onlookers. A tall man, unfamiliar, thank god, is standing with his arm raised in the air, gun in hand. He has a standard ski mask on his face, but you can still see the smile eerily spread across his face.

He turns to scan the crowd. My stomach coils in fear as his eyes land on me. Not because he’s holding a gun—no—I’ve seen and been through much worse in the last few weeks. It’s the realization that they remind me of my father’s—ones that watched me, unmoving, as I hurriedly packed a bag and left.

“Nobody move!” He screams, his voice thick and heavy with pleasure. “I’m here for one man and one man only. Maverick Lancet.” My blood rushes cold.

Maverick? The plague doctor that has been hitting on me a little too openly? What could he possibly have to do with a man such as this one? My questions will remain unanswered for the time being, because a man I haven’t seen before walks up to the gunman with his hands held up.

An arm snakes over my shoulders and pulls me tight to their body. I don’t have to look up to know it’s one of the twins. Though, even if I wanted to, I can’t pull my gaze from the familiar eyes. The gunman listens to the stranger that approached, but his eyes still scan the crowd, eyes falling on me a few times.

“Why is he doing this? What did Maverick do?” I ask, my voice quiet and shallow amongst the tight crowd.

“Not sure,” Seek answers. “Just keep close, little scarecrow.” His grasp on me feels protective and almost safe. Though, I’m not naive enough to think this man is safe.

The gunman looks at the stranger speaking to him, and without an ounce of remorse, presses the gun to his temple. I suck in a breath, readying myself to scream for the man to stop, as if that would do much, when the bullet dislodges into the stranger's skull. A strong hand clamps over my eyes. But not before I see pieces of his brain splatter onto innocent patrons that crouch nearby.

The crowd splits, screams rising through the park, and people running in every direction as they try desperately to evade the shooter. Seek whips me around, tucking me into his chest with his back towards the danger.

“Maverick!” The shooter calls out into the sky. “Come out, come out.”

Police sirens whine in the near distance and the sound confuses my fear on which one to focus on. My mind settles on the police. They’re coming for me, to take me for my crimes to my predecessor.

“Seek,” My voice wobbles, just as my legs follow suit. “Please. I need to leave.”

“Come on, baby.” He kisses the top of my head and hugs me close to him, leading me quickly away from the attacker. It doesn’t process immediately, it's only once the whining sirens come closer. We’re in the parking lot.

“No!” I twist in his grasp, trying desperately to escape from the makeshift prison he has me in. “Take me back! I can’t go!”

“Rayvn!” He shouts at me, shaking my shoulders to snap me out of the trance of pure undiluted fear. “We’re going back to the house. There’s another entrance around the corner.” I sag, embarrassed at my outburst.

“Okay,” my brows pinch together as we walk the parking lot, hugging the fence line of the scare park. The trees swish overhead, the wind nervously slipping between leaves as the guests flood past the entrance and run towards their cars with tears and breaths of panic.

Just as the sirens turn the corner, washing us both in a bath of red and blue lights, we meet the door to the house. The second my feet cross over the threshold, I collapse into the house and scamper away from the door. Seek shuts the door, seeing my apparent fear. But that’s as far as his kindness goes, as he walks away from me, into the hallway with the rooms.

Hayze walks over, arms crossed over his chest as he looks down at my tired and fear littered body. I don’t say anything, knowing I’ve upset both men once more. He walks over and forces my head up. Instead of the cuffs, he clips a leash to the heart lock on my neck.

LET’S GO

He spells out for me.

WE HAVE A BIG NIGHT PLANNED, LITTLE SCARECROW.

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