Chapter Eight
Zag
My eyes fluttered, but I couldn’t keep them open.
A groan fell from my lips, and I tried to lift my head. I could feel my body, but I couldn’t make it move.
“No sense in waking up now, dipshit. You’re gonna wanna be passed out.”
Malcom? What the hell was he doing in here? Why the hell couldn’t I move?
I could hear Malcom moving around, but I couldn’t see what he was doing. Was this something he did every night, and we just didn’t know it?
“Things a little foggy for you, Riley?” Malcom laughed.
“Wha...” I couldn’t even get one word out.
“You ate all of your lunch, didn’t you?” he asked.
Oh fuck.
“Well, as much as I would like to stick around and torture the fuck out of you, I need to get moving onto your brother and the rest of the club. I took months to stalk and kill the club girls, and while that was fun, I need to start hitting the big names now. You should really feel guilty about Bunny, Tanya, Pam and the other bitches I killed. They had to die just because they worked at the club.” He tsked, and three long beeps sounded. “You’ll have about thirty minutes to think back on all of those poor girls who died because of you before you get to join them. They’ll be picking up pieces of you and that whore next to you for the next week.” Malcom’s footsteps moved toward me, and his boot landed in my gut. “By the time they find any piece of you, I’ll be hours away from here getting the next step of my plan in place.”
“Nooo,” I drawled.
Malcom laughed loudly. “As if you really think you can tell me what to do. You’re as good as dead, and soon all of the Devil’s Knights will be, too.” His footsteps moved away, and the door slammed shut. The click of the locks sounded.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
I had to move.
I had to find a way out.
I didn’t know what the hell Malcom had drugged us with, but it was fucking working. Though maybe not as well as he had hoped for. It obviously had hit me sooner than it had Tess because when I had gotten tired before, she had seemed fine.
My head slowly lifted, but I couldn’t hold it up. I slumped back onto Tess’s shoulder and sighed.
I needed a fucking miracle.
Right now.
I had about twenty-eight minutes before this whole house, along with Tess and I was gone.
Move, Zag! Fucking move!!
The first thing I needed to do was get control back of my body.
Just lift your head.
I clamped my eyes shut and focused on moving my head. You never realized what it took to move your body until you couldn’t do it.
King had been talking to us about his therapy a few days ago. He had a stroke and had lost some of his fine motor skills. For a bit, it had been hard for him even to grip a water bottle for longer than two seconds. It had taken him lots of focus and concentration to get his body to work right for him again.
I urged myself. Lift your head. Lift it and keep it up. If I could do that, I could work on getting the rest of my body moving.
My head slowly raised, and I was able to keep it up.
“Tess,” I gasped. “Tess.”
Her head was slumped over, and her body was against the wall.
We had to get out of here, but I didn’t think she was going to be any help. Whatever drug we were on, she was behind me on the effects.
“Move,” I grunted. “Just fucking move,” I strained.
After what felt like years, I managed to right my body against the wall. My breathing was labored, and I could barely keep my eyes open.
There was no way I was going to be able to get up to the window to get both of us out of here. Especially with Tess being passed out.
I had to get us as far away from the bomb as I could. I didn’t know if that would actually help, but it was the only thing I could do.
I hooked my arm around Tess’s waist and pulled her to me. “We gotta move, babe.”
Tess’s head lolled to the side, and her mouth dropped open.
Definitely behind me on the effects.
It had sounded like Malcom had set the bomb up close to the door.
We needed to get as far away from the door as we could.
The area we had been using as the bathroom. That was where we needed to go. We could get behind the concrete wall, and hopefully, that would help protect us from the blow of the bomb.
It also could backfire on me, and we could be crushed underneath the concrete wall when it crumbled.
If it crumbled.
I didn’t have a lot of hope right now.
A loud beep sounded from by the door.
Holy fuck.
I hauled Tess into my arms and half-draped her over my shoulder.
My arms were working for the most part, but my legs were still dead.
I held Tess to my body and dragged us across the floor toward the bathroom. My hand slipped on the hard floor, and I crashed onto the floor on top of Tess. “Son of a bitch,” I growled. The least Malcom could have done was keep the fucking lights on so I could see before we died.
I gathered Tess under my arm and pulled myself toward the bathroom with her dragging behind me. It was probably a good thing that Tess wasn’t awake. If my plan didn’t work, then she wouldn’t know about my failed attempt at saving us.
Finally, I made it to the wall and hauled her around to the other side.
Three sharp beeps sounded from by the door.
Here it goes.
I pulled Tess and me to the corner and covered her with my body.
I had done everything I could. I was exhausted and barely able to keep my eyes open. Whatever drug Malcom had given me was still coursing through me. I had just been stronger than it for a time.
My eyes fluttered shut, and I laid my cheek on Tess’s.
This was it.
The beep sounded one last time, and everything flashed red.