Unwritten Rules (Rules 1)

“What else are we supposed to do?” Man Number Two replies.

“We throw his ass downstairs with her.”

“But he said—”

“Who cares? We’ll bring him back up before he returns. We both know he could’ve beaten the living hell out of that East Side kid if he wanted to. He’s going to find a way to escape. I say we play it safe and lock him up just to be sure.”

“But—”

“That’s freaking Haze Adams. Do you really want to deal with him?”

My heart stops.

Haze…

Haze is here.

I think I’ve never been more happy to hear this boy’s name in my entire life. Why did they take him? So many questions prowl back in forth in my mind.

“Fine. But we bring him up before he comes back, and if we get in trouble, I’ll say it was your idea in a heartbeat, got it?”

“Whatever.”

They unlock the numerous latches, and the door swings open. I don’t move a muscle, my back facing them as the ropes continue to dig deeper into my skin. They throw his body down the stairs—not without complaining about how heavy he is first—and chuckle evilly.

“There, go be with your girlfriend,” Owen says, mockery thick in his voice.

I hear Haze groan in pain as soon as they go back to where they came from. I’m guessing getting thrown down the stairs was enough to release him from whatever sleeping drug is running through h

is veins. My heart pummels in my chest.

“Fucking shit,” he mutters under his breath, wincing at what I’m pretty sure is a killer headache.

I try and call out his name, but it comes out in a muffled sound, thanks to the tape covering my mouth.

That’s when he sees me.

“Winter?” He squints his eyes. “Oh my God.”

He looks down at his hand and feet that are heavily tied up with zip ties. I’m guessing they ran out of ropes.

“Hold on. I’m coming.” He tries to untie himself.

I want to tell him that it’s no use, that he’s wasting his time, but when he pulls his hands up and bring them back down in a fast movement, snapping his hands against his legs, the zip ties break instantly.

I can’t believe my eyes when he gets up from the ground and frees himself entirely. Did he just untie himself in less than five minutes when I’ve been struggling for hours?

One more piece of evidence that he’s not human. He runs to me, kneeling down to my side. He unties me, we beat the kidnappers, and we escape.

Just kidding, I’m still tied on the ground like a sausage.

“Ouch.” I hear him run into something.

The wall.

“I can’t see shit in here.”

Allow me to revise myself. Haze Adams is not human except when it comes to walking in the dark.