Chapter 4

4

FINN

I push, pull, and slide. Nothing works.

“Lea!” I keep calling her name until finally, I stop. She won’t hear me from this side of the wall, and even if she does—how the hell did I end up here? Did she set me up? Did they all set me up?

The thought leaves a burning hole in my chest.

Checking my phone, I see that it’s nearly eight. How ironic. This is the time we wanted to be inside the asylum. Now I’m down here by myself, and no cell reception. Left with my own thoughts, which is terrifying.

“You are going crazy,” I whisper to myself. Maybe I am.

Leaning against the invisible door, I take in my new surroundings. Unlike the rest of the asylum, this corridor doesn’t carry the same scent of decay. Of broken memories.

Slowly, I lift my flashlight back to the drawing of the guy I saw before. Approaching the painting, I allow myself to drink him in. “And you, are you real?” I mutter. “Or are you yet another friend of David?”

David . My first-ever crush and regretful kiss. It happened during freshman year at a party. He was drunk, and I was desperate for his attention. When he ushered me into the bathroom, I felt like flying. Then we kissed, got caught, and his friends kicked me out and paid me off to keep my mouth shut.

He was my first and last kiss.

“I’ve never seen you around campus,” I ask the guy on the painting. My light follows the shape of his face, and I openly ogle his defined cheekbones and full lips. His eyes are drawn in the shape of a feline, black with long, dark lashes.

I sigh, then lower the light and lift my camera. “Alright. As you can see, I’m left alone,” I tell my future audience. The rapid beating of my heart slowly falls back to a normal rhythm as I follow the dark corridor. “This part of the asylum feels different. More modern ?” I keep babbling as I walk, kicking open doors without looking inside, too scared for whatever I might find. Perhaps part of me still hopes that Lea will come back for me. “You all saw the isolation room. Gosh, that place gave me the chills. This here feels more cosy.” I chuckle uncomfortably at my words. “Which doesn’t make any sense. I’m underground in an abandoned asylum, searching for a way out. Because I think that it’s time to wrap up this night.”

If only it were that easy.

A flicker of light beneath one of the doors catches my attention.

I stop and slowly lower my camera, my heart pounding.

The horrifying truth is presented right in front of me. “This place isn’t abandoned,” I whisper, my own words causing trembles of fear. “How is that possible?”

I was given authorization to enter the asylum. To enter the abandoned asylum.

Then, the sound of a large bell. I take in a deep breath, eyes falling shut.

“Oh my god.” I look down at my camera. Whoever had messed with my classmates had found me. “Is this how I die?”

This project seemed like such a good idea; the DiSanti massacre my fascination.

The bell keeps on tolling.

“Eight times,” I whisper. “The time of the murders.” The corners of my eyes are wet with fear, making the view through my glasses unclear. “On December sixteen.”

Yes, I am going to die here.

I try the knob, and surprisingly, the door slides open with ease. “What the hell?” I peer inside where a Christmas tree is lit, its festive lights flickering happily. I suck in a breath, throat locking with dread.

“Hi Finn.” A voice behind me rasps. “You finally made it.”

Goosebumps burst across my skin, and my chest tightens with dread. “Where’s Lea?” I ask.

The only answer the stranger gives me is a chuckle.

Finally, I turn over my shoulder, my gray eyes finding those black ones automatically. I blink in confusion. Fuck me, he’s the guy from the painting. He must have followed me down here.

“Where is she?”

“What do you want me to say?” He cocks his head, and a slow smile spreads on his lips. “That I killed her in the isolation room? Or…” He cocks his head to the other side. “That I chased her up the stairs, down the corridor, past the hall—” He smiles and holds up a hand. “Poof. Gone.”

I clear my throat as a shiver works up my spine. “You’re lying.”

“Maybe I am.” He gestures for me to walk inside the room. “Maybe I’m not.” When I falter, he gets close, his lips touching the back of my neck as he breathes against my skin. “I’m Ringo, by the way. And you are even more handsome up close.” He rubs our cheeks together and presses a hand on my lower back, pushing me inside the room.

He smells like lemongrass, and his skin is smooth and pale. He’s gorgeous, the way his blond hair falls over his ears and frames his square face.

“No.” I dig my heels into the ground and push a hand against the wall. “I don’t want to go in. I want to go home.”

He releases his hand immediately, a genuinely shocked look in his eyes. “Why? You are curious about the murders, right? We rang the bells for you tonight. Set the tree. Look—” He opens the door, revealing a cozy, spacious living area.

“ We ?” I whisper, throat locking up.

“Hmm.” Ringo throws his arm around my shoulder, squeezing as he smiles. “Now, come on in, don’t be shy. You are, aren’t you?”

I shake my head in confusion.

“You don’t have to be around us. Shy.”

We take a few more steps inside. The room is warm. A record plays a Christmas melody in the background, and the scent of spices lingers.

“Ringo, that you?”

Holy shit, there are two of them.

“Please,” I beg.

Ringo’s eyes flare, and his smile returns. “What is it, flower?”

“I don’t want to die,” I murmur, ignoring the little name he gave me.

He chuckles at that and pets my hair. Then he pushes me further inside the room, and I see another guy sitting in an armchair, glass in hand.

They are identical twins. My heart jumps toward my throat.

“Welcome, flower. I’m Prince.”

“Prince?”

“Prince?” Ringo sounds surprised, too.

Prince’s smile turns predatory. “Yeah, I feel in the mood to be Prince today. Tell me, Finn, do you like the name Prince?”

I lick my lips nervously while my mind races to come up with something sensible to say. My heart wants to beg, my fists want to punch, but my feet stand frozen.

All I can do is nod. “I do.”

“Fantastic.” Prince points to the couch. “Come and sit with us. We’re so happy you’re here. Finn, such a beautiful name for such a rare flower.”

“I’m not—” My voice falters. “I’m sorry I barged into your home like this,” I say instead. “I was informed the asylum was empty, so I came. I mean, I would have never come in, had I known.”

Ringo chuckles.

Prince’s smile lingers as he picks up his phone. “No? Such a shame. And a lie, too. Right?”

My blood turns cold. I shouldn’t piss them off. “I mean?—”

“Listen to this.” A flicker of a smile. Then there’s a clicking sound, followed by screaming pleas.

“Get me out of here! Please! Heellpp!” It’s Lea.

“Why?” I jump out of my chair before I can think.

Prince holds up his phone and spreads his legs. “Come here, flower. Come here and I’ll show you.”

I move toward the screen on Prince’s phone. With a smooth movement, Ringo pushes me forward and onto Prince’s thigh, straddling it.

“Lea,” I whisper. “D-did you put her in that isolation room?”

“She isn’t good for you, flower,” Ringo murmurs against my skin. Goosebumps rose again with a strange tug in my lower stomach. “Just like the other ones. Nasty weeds.” He turns off the camera, and the sobs disappear, replaced by soft music.

A hand brushes over my collarbone, and I shudder. “Sorry, if you allow me—” Ringo removes the camera from my neck, taking away its weight. Then he hands me a glass. “Do you drink wine?”

Eying the contents, I feel my cheeks blush. “I don’t think I’ve ever tasted wine.”

“Then let’s drink together.” Ringo ruffles my dark hair and presses his nose against my scalp. He inhales deeply.

“C-can we…can we take Lea out of that room?”

Ringo’s hand guides my glass to my mouth while his lips softly touch my cheek. He must be sitting on his haunches right behind me, trapping me between him and his twin.

Prince blinks. “Why? She’s not invited to the party.”

I swallow away the flavour of raspberries. “Because she doesn’t want to be in there?”

Ringo sucks on my earlobe and hums.

“You have to let her out.”

This time, Prince brings the glass to my mouth. He watches me swallow, eyes on my throat before they lift to meet mine. His is similar to Ringo—Inky-black, with thick, long lashes and curvy eyebrows. “I don’t like her,” he says. “I don’t like the others either.”

“They’re gone now,” Ringo says against my ear, and he flicks his tongue against the side of my neck as he starts making his way down my throat.

“Did you kill them?” I rasp lowly.

“Would you like me to kill them?” Prince asks. He leans back and watches his twin unbuttoning my coat.

“No! They’re in my class. We came here as part of a research project.”

“We can help you with your project. You don’t need them for that.” Ringo pulls me out of my coat, and I let him. I don’t know why, but I do.

I don’t know anything anymore.

“What would you like to know?” Prince asks. I can’t help but stare at his lips. They are full and curvy, and I wonder what they taste like.

The thought makes me blush. “Who are you?”

Ringo chuckles as he rubs his hands over my shoulders and chest.

Prince lifts his thigh so it rubs against my hardening cock, and I look away, shocked and embarrassed by my physical reaction. “We can be whoever you want us to be, flower,” he murmurs.

Prince dips forward, a sinister smile on his lips. “I’d love to give him the full tour, show him his new home. What do you say?”

Ringo hums in approval. With Prince’s chest tightly pressed against mine, Ringo leans in from behind me. Their mouths linger, barely touching. I watch them with a pounding heart, cock now painfully hard.

“Do you—are you together?” I blurt out.

Prince’s pupil-blown eyes jump to mine. He gives me a lazy smile when Ringo starts licking the corners of his lips.

“Do you live here?” I croak.

Ringo gives Prince a final peck, then pulls back. He pushes my groin back against Prince’s thigh, harder this time, stifling a groan.

“Sometimes.” Prince smiles as he looks down at where our bodies connect. “And sometimes we don’t.”

“Tonight’s a special night, so we wanted to be here for the party.” Behind me, Ringo stands and grabs my coat and camera. “ Your party.”