Chapter Eight （Fright Night）

CHAPTER EIGHT (FRIGHT NIGHT)

GONZO

It was night time and the nurses were shuffling in the hallway. Their shoes scraped the dirty floors in long strides as they went door to door. Each lock was twisted, the bolt sliding home with a loud thunk. In bed, I listened to the monotonous sound and wondered whose door they'd leave unlocked tonight.

It was no slip of the hand—the nurses were forced to pick a room each night. Everyone was awake, listening and hoping their door wasn't the one left open. It only meant one thing—you were going to be hunted.

I wasn't sure when the ritual started or if there was any reason beyond boredom and desire. Bree and her men liked to hunt and they liked to kill. So each night one of us faced the darkened halls to be slaughtered.

The bolt on my door slid into place and I let out a relieved breath despite the fact I was going to be sneaking out. I would only be successful if I wasn't tonight's real prey. Some other unfortunate soul needed to have their throat ripped out while I made my way to the basement of Verfallen.

The nurses most often picked people from Bedlam. It was the leftover ward—people who weren't shifters, demons, or witches. Bedlam was the weakest and couldn't afford to bribe the nurses to pick someone else. Slowly but surely they were being killed off.

Except they didn't stay dead.

As soon as the nurses were gone, I got off the bed and kneeled in front of the door, fingering my lockpick set from my pocket and getting to work. A moment later the bolt slid back into the door and I put away my tools. The metal was cool as I pressed my ear against it and listened. In the distance, I heard tonight's prey trying to control their breathing as they ran quietly.

If Bree, Nemo, or any of the others were out there, I couldn't hear them. Which was disturbing because I knew for a fact they were there, slinking around.

Fuck, I hated Nemo. He'd be the worst to run into. I wasn't a pack animal but I could still feel his Alpha power trying to crush me under its weight and I really didn't like it when someone tried to control me.

That wasn't the sole reason I hated him, although it was enough. There was something wrong with him. You could smell it. It reminded me of… well, it reminded me of Doctor Stein.

I twisted the knob and cracked the door while half-expecting a frenzy of murderous supernaturals to lunge at me with overgrown teeth. What was with all the fucking teeth? Nemo had two rows like a goddamn shark and Bree's whole face practically unhinged itself. I stood up, peeking through the door's opening.

The hall lights were all off and I could hear the other inmates lying in their beds awake, listening. Black and white tiled floors stretched into the shadows. The place felt still as if we were all already dead. I brushed the dirt off my knees and pushed the door open wider—

It creaked. The sound rushed down the hall.

"Shit," I hissed. There was no point being quiet now. I bolted out of the room and a second later I heard her . I was fucked before I even stepped foot out of my room. Bree wasn't a vampire, she was something else. Something more vicious and powerful.

Worst-case scenarios ran through my head as I sprinted. I was going to get bled dry and then I was going to end up one of the zombies. Whatever Doctor Stein did to the dead, didn't bring them back fully. There would be no pleasure, no excitement—just one gray, never-ending day until someone finally put me out of my misery for good.

I was running as hard as I could while trying to keep my panting to a minimum. There was still hope she would hear the other person running around and think they smelled like better food. The patient doors were a blur as I ran past them. Shifters were fast but had nothing on vamp hybrids. Shit, shit, shit.

Stein made me purge the shifter suppressant for reasons still unknown. It had been tortuous but it meant I could shift. My animals were under my skin but I wasn't ready to reveal them.

Bree laughed behind me, keeping pace with my full-out sprint. She was toying with me. I ground my teeth. I didn't like being toyed with like prey but that's what Verfallen did. It turned an asylum of vicious predators into late night snacks for monsters.

Sweat bloomed on my forehead. The heat felt more oppressive than ever. The main room was up ahead. If this was really the end maybe I could bargain for Baz to touch me before she sucked every drop out. Stein didn't like to zombify venom victims and usually Baz kept the corpses as buddies. Hopefully not fuck buddies… christ, he fucked them didn't he? Of course he fucked them. Who wouldn't fuck them!

Was I really considering being someone's corpse bussy—a glorified fleshlight for the basilisk of Verfallen? Hmm , I'd take a rain check for now.

This wasn't the first sticky situation I'd been in and it sure as shit wasn't going to be the last.

I looked behind me. Bree looked like a gothic cam girl—big eyes, fishnet stockings, and dark makeup. If she wasn't trying to kill me I'd sign up for her personal porn show. As it was I wanted to see her split in a far different way than a spit roasting—preferably cut straight down the middle. She flashed me her fangs and I looked ahead again. Why were they so long? I grimaced.

I smelled her before I felt her. She was a murderous cupcake—sugary sweet with a side of blood. I noticed for the first time that she also had the same strange scent Stein and Nemo had. The next second she was on my back just as I made it to the main room. The place where we pretty much did everything. Meals, hang out, special occasions… Guess this was a special occasion.

I took a few chairs down with us. They banged loudly as they smacked the floor. I kicked out and hit a table leg. It made a loud groan as it shifted across the floor. Bree was giggling, red hair everywhere.

"I love a big shifter," she moaned, crawling on my back like a cat.

"Go drink Nemo," I ground out between my teeth. I tried to buck her off, but despite looking a hundred pounds dripping wet, she didn't budge at all. I reached inside for my animals then shoved them away again. I'd find another way out of this.

Bree's fingers sank into my clothes, feeling like knives. They punctured my skin and the scent of my blood filled the air. She bent down and a curtain of red hair blocked out everything else.

"Nemo's the appetizer," she said with humor. "You're the meal." I could hear the crack of her jaw as it unhinged—bone breaking. She leaned back, getting ready to lunge back in to rip me to shreds and lick the blood off the floor.

I didn't want to shift but I might have to if I wanted to survive. My teeth sharpened and I snapped my jaw in an animalistic threat.

Bree didn't lunge in and rip me to shreds like I expected. She dragged a finger up my neck slowly, fingering my pulse as I tried to thrash beneath her. When she bent down, I felt her tongue flick across my skin.

"Fuck," I growled. I felt her teeth press against my neck.

"Don't worry, I won't make it quick. You'll have all night long with me and my soul mates," she said. I remembered the first night I was here. I'd snuck out and seen exactly what she and her soul mates got up to. Some nightmares weren't worth reliving if I was promoted to the starring role.

A moment later she broke the skin. Sharp pain and then… pleasure. I groaned against the floor, nearly humping the linoleum tiles. Then Bree was gone and I was lying alone on the floor.

"Run," Nemo growled behind me. I twisted around and saw Bree wrapped in his arms.

Nemo glared at me over her head, eyes dark and murderous. His shaggy, dark hair hung in his face and the muscles in his arms bulged as he kept Bree restrained. She licked my blood from her mouth with a smile. Her lipstick was smeared on her cheek.

"Catch and release makes you last longer," she said, her eyes starting to turn all black.

"Good to know," I said, pushing off the ground. Nemo peeled his lips away from his teeth, flashing them at me. They didn't need to tell me twice. I ran. A moment later the guy hiding in the kitchen accidentally knocked over a bowl. As I raced away, I saw Nemo and Bree heading in the direction of the kitchen.

I blew out a breath and got to the basement as fast as possible.

A cold sweat broke out over my skin as I drew closer to Stein's office, remembering my previous experience. Last time, he caught me off guard. Now it was my turn. I had to get rid of him. Hazel declaring he was immortal might fuck that up but there was more than one way to skin a cat.

His door was closed but there was a light on in his office. I stood outside for a moment, listening.

"Gonzo," he said, inviting me in. I twisted the knob and opened the door, leaning against the frame.

"Doctor," I said back. He was sitting calmly at his desk, reading a book. There was a record playing—dramatic orchestral music that made me think of hurricanes and wild oceans. His black doctor's coat was on the back of his chair and the sleeves of his shirt were unbuttoned and rolled up to his elbows. The scent of smoke tickled my nose and I saw a long cigarette burning in a golden ashtray.

He scanned the lines of his book slowly, soaking in their meaning.

"Have you missed me?" I asked, moving into the room. I kicked the door shut and it slammed. The animals beneath my skin pressed against their cage, dancing with each other in my chest. They felt alive—smiling and screeching. They knew violence was coming.

"Miss? Can't say that's an emotion I've ever felt for you," Stein commented apathetically. He kept reading as he talked. I walked behind him and leaned over, breathing down his neck as I stared at the book. His strange scent replaced all the smells from before. It was indescribable and that drove me closer, inhaling deeply to see if I could figure it out.

His shoulders tensed up and I gripped them, squeezing hard so he understood that tonight, I was in charge.

"What are you reading?" I asked. He closed the book and showed me the title. A Study on Trickster Shifters. I grimaced.

"Why did you purge the shifter suppressant?" I asked.

"Preparing you for the experiment," he replied.

"What's the experiment?"

"And if I don't want to answer?" He asked. A smile bloomed on my face. I ripped him up from his chair and threw him on his desk. He looked up at me, his glasses askew and no emotion in his eyes. I kicked his chair over and got closer while he propped himself on his elbows.

"Come to enact the violence you promised?" Stein asked, reaching for the cigarette. I watched and waited. I didn't like how calm he was but the doctor was always calm.

"I didn't want to scare you off, but I was looking forward to it, Gonzo." He set the full cigarette between his lips and took a deep inhale. His cheeks thinned as he sucked in the smoke. His brown eyes stayed focused on me as the entire thing burned down to his thumb. The only thing left was ash between his fingers. He flicked it off while I kept waiting for him to exhale. My own lungs were screaming for it to happen.

He never did.

Stein straightened his glasses and stared at me blankly. I'd never really given much thought to the infamous Doctor Stein before I ended up strapped to his chair. He ran Verfallen but kept to himself. It was well known he crafted all types of heinous things—like the shifter suppressant—and was responsible for the dead coming back to life worse for wear. Which is how he earned the moniker, Doctor Frankenstein.

That's where my knowledge began and ended. Until a few months ago. Or was it more time? Time was funny here. How long had I been trapped in these walls now? For the life of me, I couldn't say.

I pressed my fists into the desk, getting closer. Under the smell of tobacco was him. I couldn't figure it out. Nemo and Bree had the scent but only slightly. Clearly, he was the source of it, but I didn't know what it was.

"Remember, Gonzo. You made a deal with me," he said. I ground my teeth and stared at his eyes. Hazel said he was immortal. I needed to figure out what he was. I'd never seen eyes like his. They were a perfect solid brown that looked more like a pool of liquid with the pupil swimming inside. The hair on my neck started to stand on end.

What the fuck had I made a deal with.

"Are you done?" He asked with half-lidded eyes. I felt his breath on my chin and my gaze dipped to his mouth. Even his lips looked strange. Oddly… perfect. I didn't like it. I didn't like him. I pulled back with goosebumps crawling up my arms.

"What are you?" I asked. He stared at me blankly.

"A favor for a favor," he reminded me. "I did what you asked. Now it's time for you to do what I want."

"You seem to think I give a shit," I said with a wide smile. I was uncomfortably aware of the man right now, my eyes trying to find an imperfection.

There was a gray seam and stitching on his wrist. The first night here flashed in my mind again. Maybe the doctor wasn't chased like the inmates, but Orson liked taking him apart when he got the itch to dismember someone. Apparently, Doctor Stein had lost a hand recently.

The animals inside me cackled loudly. A smile stretched across my face as their excitement swirled in my head. I gripped his forearm and pulled it closer to me. He put up no fight as I rubbed my thumb across the unhealed wound.

"No more experiments," I commanded as my fingers dug into the stitches.

"No more injections." I grabbed a pen off his desk and slid it under the threads, plucking them open with rough flicks of my wrist.

His eyes watched each stitch come undone, reminding me of a bored cat. I ground my teeth.

"No more reading books about tricksters," I growled, unspooling him one stitch at a time until it was half undone. My fingers slid into his wrist, wiggling their way inside his body. His brown eyes slid up to mine.

"Leave me alone," I repeated as the pads of my fingers rubbed, fingering the opening. When he said nothing I pulled my fingers out and wrapped them around his hand, getting ready to tug it off.

I'd take the hand clean off and then I'd start on the rest of him. One piece at a time until he was just a pile of parts and the animals inside me went quiet. They were anything but quiet now. The fox was screeching, its toothy mouth wide open in an animal's smile.

Sometimes I could be downright wicked. Tonight I planned to be just that. Unspooling a man again and again until his bodiless head blinked at me. I wasn't always sadistic, but if the right situation came then I was merciless. I had no limits—nothing I wouldn't do to reach my goals.

One could say it was a defining trait of tricksters—a lack of morals and an over-concern with selfish desires. Being on the bad side of a trickster could result in some terrible fuckery.

I gripped his hand tighter and felt my sharpened teeth sink into my bottom lip. I was excited. It wasn't every day I got to rip a man to shreds. Stein watched me silently and without expression. He soaked me in the same way he'd patiently soaked in the book he'd been reading.

"I don't like you," I said.

"Really? I couldn't tell." Then he did something terrible. He smiled back. My eyes widened. If my smile was charming, his was anything but. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. There was a knee-jerk instinct to rip my hands off him. My fingers twitched and I jerked back slightly but I refused to let go.

"Very good, Gonzo," he said with that ominous smile. "But you should listen to your instincts."

A needle sunk into my arm and his thumb quickly depressed whatever liquid was inside in an instant—something disgustingly pink. I felt it forced into my bloodstream and dispersing. In an instant I felt drunk, my mouth slow and tongue heavy.

"Shit," I huffed. With whatever strength I still had, I ripped his hand off like I was tugging a lawn mower's string. It came free and slapped the ground behind me somewhere. I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and squeezed, hoping to cause him enough pain he backed off.

Instead, he sighed like he was bored and pushed me off him.

"Why'd you do that?" I slurred, sagging to one side of the desk. The prey part of my brain was telling me it was time to go. What was once a small threat was now a large danger. The rabbit inside me was incensed, its eyes swirling in madness.

I eyed the door as my fox whined inside me quietly, its tail between its legs. Those two didn't often agree. Well… that was a bad sign.

Stein's hand wrapped around the collar of my shirt and he dragged me to the examination chair in the middle of the room. It reminded me of the ones in dentist offices. I fucking hated it but I flopped down in it without a fight. I wanted to be anywhere else, but my body wasn't cooperating anymore.

"This is a good spot," I rattled off, petting the armrests. Nothing to see here folks, perfectly fine. Make him think I wanted to be here. Maybe reverse psychology would help.

Fuck, I hated him.

Stein bent down and picked up his hand before walking over and dropping it on my chest. My eyes blinked one at a time as I stared at the detached hand. When I looked back up at the doctor, the room was swaying. Was he getting taller? I gripped the chair's armrests to keep from falling off.

"Hazel… You gave her…gifts." The words came slowly. Maybe I was higher than I thought because suddenly his mouth split into a wide, toothy smile that stretched across his face. His eyes grew wider, excitement sparkling in them. I looked back down at the detached hand on my chest and damn near twirled my fingers with it, searching for comfort from the sober maniac above me.

"I'm the one… tha' wanted her here," I got out with a heavy tongue.

"I'm still curious about that," he said. "Why do you need Hazel here?"

"Are you immortal?" I slurred. His eyes went vacant and then refocused on me as if I hadn't asked anything.

"It's time to take some samples," he commented. I went ahead and grabbed the hand on my chest. I knew it was his but it felt like a third party to the event going on and I needed a buddy.

The rabbit inside me wasn't running in circles anymore, it was cowering along with the fox. The two of them were huddled up like they were shoved into a dark cave in my mind. The crow wasn't anywhere—he rarely was.

Doctor Stein wheeled over a tray he'd pre-set up. It had several empty tubes and an empty syringe.

"I was expecting you tomorrow but if you're already here…" He looked at the blood staining my collar. I'd already healed but the clothing told the story.

"You shouldn't be out after lock up." His hand gripped my jaw. I growled at him as he pushed my head to the side and looked at my neck. What did he give me? Last time he just knocked me out, this time I felt… loopy and weak. I blinked my eyes one at a time at him. He was definitely getting taller.

"I can't have you killing yourself," he sighed.

"You care?" I mumbled.

"It would ruin my experiment."

I groaned.

He grabbed an elastic band and slid it around my arm before tying it tight. Then he lifted an empty syringe and moved closer. I could feel his thigh press against the length of mine.

I thrashed and he sighed in annoyance.

"I'm only collecting blood."

"To do what with?" I asked. The needle gave me a sharp kiss as he slid it into me.

"I need to run some genetic tests," Stein commented, pressing a tube into the syringe. I watched my blood start spilling into it. "The council in charge aren't happy with my results lately. I've promised them something you can help me with."

"I'm getting out of here," I promised myself. I still couldn't move my arms very well.

"Not until I get what I need from you."

"Whatever that is," I sighed. We sat in silence for a bit. "Do I get a lollipop at the end?" I asked, eyeing him. He looked up from the tube to me, staring for a moment. I stared back, noting again how he was just… off-putting. No blemishes, no variation, nothing out of place or askew. Were fairies real? Maybe I had a sadistic fairy on my hands. I started to laugh.

"Yes, you can have a treat," he finally said, ignoring my drunk-like behavior. My eyes bugged.

"It was a joke!"

"I'll make sure the kitchen staff knows to give you something," he said.

"Fuck me," I sighed, imagining them wheeling out a special meal in front of everyone. Just what I needed—more questions about what I was up to with Doctor Stein. I couldn't admit I made a deal to get Hazel here.

"Gonzo," Stein said. His thumb had replaced the needle, pressing down firmly as the wound healed itself.

"Yeah?" Was this where he told me what he was working on? Or maybe he would tell me he was done, that the blood was the only thing he needed.

"Stay away from Hazel." He smeared my blood from his thumb onto my shirt before grabbing his detached hand from me.

"What?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"She doesn't need a distraction like you," he said over his shoulder as he walked to his desk. I was baffled. I was the one who got her here so why was he giving her special attention and telling me to fuck off?

I laid on the examining chair, feeling floaty. Not thirty minutes later he lifted his freshly attached hand, moving all the fingers and then making a fist before he was satisfied.

Stein got up from his chair and walked over to me, looking down at me blankly for a moment.

"What?" I asked. Next thing I knew he grabbed me by the collar and dragged me from the chair towards his door. I stumbled from the seat, barely able to stay on my own two feet.

"What are you doing! They're still out there and I can barely move!" He said nothing, just reached for the knob. He was going to throw me out there while drugged and I was going to die.

"The experiment!" I blurted out, gripping his arms. "You said the council was upset with you." Stein sighed deeply before dragging me back to the chair. I stumbled into it and sat down.

"You asshole," I hissed.

"It's a simple thing. Leave Hazel alone."

"Why?" I growled.

"You aren't the only one who wanted Hazel here. Ironic, really, that you came selling favors—asking me to do the very thing I'd been trying to do for ages. It's not a coincidence that I have her brother." My eyes widened.

"Why do you want her here?" I asked.

"Why do you?" He asked back. Neither one of us responded.

"Nice touch, with the fancy bed. You like her, don't you."

"I don't like her. I need her. Leave her alone," he said.

"Maybe she won't leave me alone." I didn't want to kiss and tell but I needed to goad him. What did Stein want with Hazel? I wanted to know, she wanted to know. I was going to try to find out because I wanted him nowhere near her.

"What does that mean?" Stein asked.

"She's touch starved. Believe me, I know." I smiled like an asshole.

"Touch starved?" He asked, looking away thoughtfully. Did he really not get it?

"Sex, doctor. She's horny."

"Ah," he said, opening a drawer and pulling out a journal. He flipped it open, sat down, and began writing something. "Useful information, Gonzo. I appreciate that. However, I'm going to insist again that you leave her alone."

"Why don't you leave her alone?" I growled back. Fuck, how many hours until the lights came back on?

"Because she's mine," he said and I whipped my head around. "I own her." My eyes bugged.

"Does she know that?"

"She'll realize it in good time. It's not your concern, Gonzo. You made it clear you want to leave. Maybe I can help. You can be the first patient ever to get released."

"You don't let anyone out of here alive," I growled.

"Oh, is being alive important in your plan?" He asked. I narrowed my eyes. I could tell he was fucking with me even if his face was blank.

"Feel free to go to sleep. I promise not to touch you."

"Touch me!"

" Medically , Gonzo. You can't still think I get off on drawing blood or whatever it is you daydream about. I promise I do not so please, feel free to sleep. I've got a bottle of sleeping pills that might help us both."

"You totally get off on it," I grumbled, looking around his room. It was bigger than I first realized. Bookshelves were blocking off deeper, dustier parts. He stood up and stalked over with an open pill bottle.

"Hey!" I snapped before he gripped my jaw and pulled my mouth open. Whatever he had injected me with had made me weak. I still couldn't fight him off.

Stein forced the entire bottle upside down into my mouth. When bitter pills filled my mouth he dropped the bottle on the ground. The plastic banged around beneath us as he held my mouth shut until I swallowed everything. I thrashed weakly underneath him, trying to push him away but I was still half powerless. I fucking hated him and now he was threatening to ruin everything with Hazel.

"Sweet dreams, Gonzo. You did very good." As my vision swam I thought he was smiling. His brown liquid eyes moved around like a lava lamp. Then I was dead to the world.