5. It’s me, hi, I’m the danger, it’s me.

5

It's me, hi, I'm the danger, it's me.

Camila

I 'm listening to some girl on a full ride to Ohio State complain about how her summer internship at her mother's firm only paid five figures. Grateful that the mask is doing the hard work for me, I just nod and laugh until my annoyance dissipates.

I might kill her for that.

This group's tour guide is in a Jason costume, holding what looks to be a standard ax. He is by far the most unthreatening human being I've seen tonight, and he's more interested in pretending like he cares about OSU girl's story than the gig he's being paid for.

Glancing back at Harkins, I see a girl with long blonde hair walking toward me. He hands her the guard's baton before giving me a nod that I assume is my signal. I tilt my head to the side, well aware she can't see how big I'm smiling. Demetri moves to the next cell, slipping the key in.

I extend my free hand, the one not holding a weapon. She interlaces her fingers through mine, and without speaking, we walk toward the front of the crowd until we're both standing in front of the guards. We're still outnumbered, but I'm hoping by the time I swing this spikey bitch in the air, three things will have happened:

Harkins will have made his way up here to handle our extra homie.

These crazy bitches will have freaked the fuck out of the civilians.

Shit will be far too crazy for anyone to give an accurate run down of what happened.

A gun goes off, and I don't need to look back to know it's Demetri causing a distraction. I'm holding my weapon directly behind my back, and with both hands, I raise it up above me, swinging the flail overhead. The ball lands with a sickeningly dull thud, the crunch of the guard's skull a delicious sensory experience.

"Shit." I struggle to pull it free from his head, his eyes bleeding freely down his face. He lifts his hands, as if he's trying to help me with it. "By all means, buddy, grab the handle, not the chain if you can." I cackle, glancing away for just a split second to see my ghastly inmate companion on the other guard's back, ripping his ear off with her teeth.

I hear another gun, this time to my left, and I'm suddenly flooded with concern for Harkins.

I want to call out to him.

That would be a terrible idea, though. It would cost us everything.

I look down at the guard's uniform, and his name tag says Julien. He's still desperately gripping at the handle of my flail, but he can't get the right hold on it to pull it from his face. The more we yank, the more blood that runs down his cheeks, and I'm almost positive neither of us are really making it better. "What if you get on the ground and I use my feet for leverage? No?"

I know he's shouting, but I can't hear a goddamn thing in this fucking zoo.

"Honestly, my mistake, Jules." I sigh, reaching into his holster. "I really thought this flail was gonna have me feeling bad bitch as fuck, but clearly, it's all theatrics, mediocre execution." Before he can react, I've pulled out his gun and flipped the safety.

Rushing to act before he goes for his taser, I unload two rounds into his face. The recoil is hard, knocking me back to the ground on my ass when I feel the warm blood hit me in what little skin is still exposed between my mask and neckline. I glance over to Julien, who has two new holes in his face: one where his nose used to be, and another two inches to the right.

The rest of him is dearly departed.

There's a million screams in the air, and because no one can see anything more than three feet from their face, nobody knows to stay the fuck away from me.

Hi, I'm the danger. Please back the fuck up, because I'm easily overstimulated.

Another body knocks into me from behind, shoving me to my knees. With an aggravated screech, I don't bother to see who they are before I shoot them too.

I hope it was the Ohio State girl.

People are moving like cattle in a stampede, aimlessly pushing into each other and so filled with panic and fear that they don't care where they go, just as long as they keep moving. I shove against the current, squeezing through each person until I feel a strong hand pulling at me.

It's when I'm locked in Harkins' embrace that I can breathe again, separated from the crowd and brought into an empty cell as the herd scrambles to get out of this block. "Fuck." I struggle to catch my breath, my heart so violent, I can feel it hammering against my ribcage. "What is it about killing someone that makes me want to fuck your brains out?"

He lets out a low chuckle, pressing his mask to mine as if it were our foreheads. I want to kiss him, to feel his lips on mine and to never have the moment end. But he steps back and it suddenly ends too soon.

"We have an advantage; they don't know the power outage is real. The guards think it's part of the event," Demetri explains.

"So, they have no idea we're coming until it's too late?" I laugh, realizing how much more time this actually gives us to play.

He just gives a slow nod of his head.

"Did we get all the guards on this block?" I check, looking over my shoulder like I'm gonna be able to see anything.

"I don't want to take all the credit here, but your Mike Tyson inspired friend left me with all the work." He's amused, fingers gently tracing the skin on my arm. "But yes, they're all dead."

My moan is painful; I'm desperate for him, wet and aching between my legs with a need only he can satisfy.

"Where's the flail?" He's looking at my hands, surprised to find a gun in its place instead.

The half-embarrassed laughter bubbles out of me. "Not great for a quick kill."

He tsks. "The guns are too loud. We're gonna draw too much attention, and in a few minutes, the inmates are gonna be taking down the guards in cell block B. We don't wanna end up getting caught with a gun." He takes the weapon from my hand and wipes it with the sleeve of his jumpsuit, like he's removing the fingerprints.

I pout but don't protest because I know he's right. He's always right; he always keeps me safe. Without him, I'm just aimlessly orbiting closer and closer into the Event Horizon. I know it'll suck me up eventually, but for some reason, I'm compelled to push myself the rest of the way. Harkins is there, somehow singlehandedly fighting the gravitational pull of the void, letting me dip my toes just enough to satisfy the urge.

He doesn't let me drown in it, doesn't let me lose myself to my own delirium.

This time last year, I walked into a corn maze ready to leave in handcuffs, if I even got the chance to escape at all. Instead, Demetri was there to show me a better way out. So, when he sets the boundaries, I don't push.

I know it's for my own good.

I know it keeps us together, keeps me together. So, I listen.

"Jason left his ax." Demetri points his flashlight over to the ground where the not prop was left.

"His loss, my gain." I hum appreciatively before pressing my lips to his.

Our tongues tangle again, hot and filling me with indisputable need. I get closer to him, a low sound escaping his throat as I pull his bottom lip with my teeth. His smirk is dangerous, and it makes me worry that when he does let me fuck him, I'm not going to get a say in much.

Good.

I feel his cock grow against my thigh, a winning sigh falling from my lips.

"Heathen," he growls, angry I've brought him to half-mast and he'll either have to suffer through it or punish me.

I'm hoping for the latter, but I'm well aware we have a goal in mind with a short timeframe to achieve it.

"Sir!" I exclaim in a breathy voice, attempting to hold back the laughter already starting. "I am a lady of virtue."

Three years with my ex, Noah, and he convinced me I had no sense of humor.

You just don't get my jokes, he'd constantly remind me.

Turns out, he just wasn't funny. When someone who is supposed to love you is always laughing at your expense, the reality is, they probably just don't like you very much. The sound of Harkins' laughter is my favorite thing in this world, and with him, there isn't a day that I don't fall asleep with my face sore from smiling.

I've never been this happy in my life.

He saved me.

"What's cell block B?" I ask him.

"I think non-violent offenders."

"Boring. We're not here to plan a heist." I give a thumbs down, pulling him out of the cell by the front pocket of his jumpsuit.

Demetri grabs the ring of keys from his pocket, "So, don't let the thieves join the party?" He dangles it in front of my face.

"Fuck it, let's not discriminate." I shrug, readying to prance off into the madness when I feel his grip on my wrist.

Harkins pulls me to his chest. "Careful out there, Darkling." He slips the mask over my face again before doing the same to himself. He drops his forehead to mine, and it's just the hard shell of our masks clinking and his breathing hard against it.

He sounds like Darth Vader.

So fucking hot.

"Why be careful when I know you've got my back?" I tease, but he brings me in, squeezing my wrist tighter.

"Because I'm not even close to the most dangerous thing running loose out there." He gestures to the noise coming from cell block B.

I stretch up on the tips of my toes so I can whisper in his ear, "Wanna bet I know how to turn you into the most dangerous thing out there?"

I hear an honest-to-god growl from the depths of his throat when my hands reach into his pocket but I only steal the keys. I run off, scooping up the ax from the ground, my laughter trailing behind me as I skip away.

Cell block B, straight ahead.