She slipped past him with her back to the stalls, facing him as she edged around to the sinks. She walked backwards to her pile of clothes, keeping the pole aimed at him. “Keep back and turn around, or I’ll do it again.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, okay, I’ll turn around, but know that you’ll be making a dying man suffer because of vanity.” He turned his back to her.
“You don’t look like you’re dying.” She stepped into her skirt and reached down to snatch it up off the floor, pulling it up with one hand while trying to keep hold of the pole with the other.
“Well, it’s only a matter of time. Need a hand?”
She shot a glance at him, relieved to see he was still turned away from her. She shook her head and tugged the skirt up her legs, wriggling to get it over her hips with one hand.
“It looks kind of difficult. Are you sure you don’t want me to help? I have fast hands, especially when they’re near hips.”
She paused and frowned at him. His back was still turned. “How do you know what I’m doing?”
He pointed to the mirrors in front of him, and she saw his reflection wink at her.
Son of bitch!
She rested the pole against the wall and finished pulling her skirt up before angrily snatching her blouse off the ground and pulling it over her head. By the time she’d pulled the top over her head, he’d turned to face her.
He shrugged as she dragged the blouse down her torso. “I might as well turn around now, yes?”
She shot him a dirty look as she tugged her long blonde hair out of the neck of her shirt to free it before letting it fall down her back.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?” He slouched back against the counter, resting his hip against it.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She picked up the pole again and held it close to her body.
“I don’t know. I woke up in the cinema surrounded by dead bodies. All I know is my name.” He plucked a wallet out of his back pocket and waved it at her. “Assuming this thing is even mine.”
“Which theatre?” She frowned. The same thing had happened to her.
He pulled a ticket out of his jeans pocket and glanced at it. “Number three.”
“I was in number two,” she said. “The same thing happened to me.”
He frowned as an incredulous expression passed over his face. “Group amnesia in different rooms.”
“Well something happened to me.” She pointed to her forehead.
“You don’t remember what?” He peered at her head, and concern filled his eyes. “Have you cleaned it?”
“What? No. It only just stopped bleeding. And no, I can’t remember anything either, but I found my name on my driver’s license.”
“What’s your name?” he asked. “You should clean it and bandage it.” He nodded to her forehead.
“Got a first aid kit, have you? I’m Lucy Carlton. Who are you?”
“Fair point.” He flipped open his wallet. “According to this, I’m Ben Harris. I have a shitty Visa Electron and a battered National Insurance card. Oh, and exciting stuff, let’s not forget the whopping five quid and out of date condom in here. I hope this isn’t my wallet, or my life must truly suck.” He shook his head before glancing back at her. “What does yours have in it?”
She pulled out her purse and flipped it open. “I’ve got a driver’s license, a store card and …” She peered in the notes section. “Shit.” She widened her eyes.
“Your wallet has shit in it? I thought my life sucked.” She tried not to grin, but the glint of amusement in his eyes caused a smile to form on her face.
“Not actual shit, no. But I appear to have a lot of hundred pound notes in here.” She flashed the money at him.
“The mother lode. That’s so unfair. How come I got a grubby fiver, and you got hundreds?”
Lucy shrugged. “I’ll buy the popcorn,” she said as she stuffed the wallet back into her skirt pocket.
“That’s right, stomp all over my ego, why don’t you? I knew I shouldn’t have come here with a posh girl. Man, that’s the last time I’m dating out of my comfort zone.” Ben shook his head.
“What date? And you don’t know if I’m a posh—”
He held up his hand to silence her. “Don’t ruin the fantasy.”
“I think being knocked out might have damaged you.” She shook her head at him.
“I think it’s an improvement on Billy-no-mates, who went to the cinema alone with his whopping five quid and an out-of-date condom.” He tossed his wallet in a nearby trashcan. “I renounce my old life.”
“Maybe that’s why you only have five quid. You keep throwing money away,” she muttered as she glanced around the room. “I need to wash the blood off my things. It’s er, weird to meet you, Ben.”
“Wouldn’t we be better off getting out of here? I’m sure you can buy new boots later on.” He took a step closer to peer at her blood-soaked boots and coat.
“I’m not walking anywhere with blood sloshing inside my boots.” She pulled a face at him and picked one boot up, beginning to wash it off in the sink.
“How did you get so much blood on them in the first place? Don’t tell me all that came out of your head?”
“It’s not mine,” she mumbled, rinsing off the boot and patting it dry with a handful of paper towels.
Ben was silent behind her. She frowned and spun around.
He was holding her pole and pointing it at her. Shit!
“What do you mean it’s not yours?” He stepped back a few paces.
“I mean, I fell over a dead usher and landed in his remains!” She stared at Ben.
Can I trust him? This could all be a trap.
Judging by the mixture of expressions passing over his face, he was thinking the same thing.
We’re not going to get through this if we don’t trust each other.
On impulse, she picked up the second boot and turned her back to him, giving him every opportunity to hit her and knock her out. Fear shivered down her spine as she began cleaning the boot and waited.
I hope I live to regret this.
“That must have sucked.” She heard him say as the pole clattered to the floor.
She glanced back over her shoulder and nodded. “I think I went into shock for a while there.”
She dried off her second boot, and then turned to face him. “The thing is, someone in here killed all the people and locked the front doors. If it’s not us, then does that mean they’re still in here?”
Ben picked up the pole and offered her it. “I got one worse for you. If they killed all of those people and didn’t kill us, why not? Why are we still alive? What do they want with us?”
“Maybe they thought we were dead? I mean, we were both unconscious.” She frowned as she took the pole and rested it against the sink. She didn’t like the idea of a mass murderer keeping her alive for some nasty purpose.
“I’m no expert. Well, I don’t think I am, but I suspect someone who’s this adept at killing would know that a little cut on the head like that.” He pointed to her forehead. “And a slice like this.” He lifted his shirt to reveal a gash across his left pectoral. “Wouldn’t kill anyone.”
She stared at his tanned chest, his defined abs and muscled pectorals distracting her from the topic of conversation. “Er, yeah.”
“What? All’s fair in love and staring?”
She quickly shifted her eyes to his face, noticing a devilish grin playing on his lips. “That’s a nasty cut, but it won’t kill you,” she muttered. I might, she added to herself while turning away to pick up her jacket and quickly scrub the blood off it.
She smelt his aftershave before she noticed his presence beside her. The aftershave was tangy and exotic.
“Need a hand?” His voice was close, and his presence seemed to fill up the space around her. A shiver shot up her spine, but not in fear this time.
&nbs
p; “I think I’ve got it.” She managed, glancing over at him with what she hoped was a polite smile, and not a lustful gawp.
“So what’s the plan? Wait here until we become mass murderer bait?”
She dried off the jacket on some paper towels, and then bent forward to tug on her boots. “I say we try to get out of here.” She glanced up at him.
“I was trying to.”
“In the ladies room?” She raised an eyebrow at him as she shrugged into her jacket.
“I was trying to get out of the windows.” He pointed to the barred windows at the end of the room. “Didn’t know about the bars.”
“What about the other windows?”
“All barred on this floor. I’ve tried them all.”
“This is a four-story building. What about the higher level windows?”
“You want to jump?”
“I was hoping we could find a fire escape.” She dabbed a damp paper towel over the cut on her head, gently cleaning around it.
“That might work. Wanna try it?”
She stared at the door of the restroom, reluctant to open it and go back out into the foyer.
A large hand wrapped around hers and squeezed it. She glanced up into Ben’s clear green eyes, realizing that for all his flirting, he was as scared to go out there as she was.
“We’ll be okay together,” he said.
She nodded. “Let’s do it then.”
“Do it?” He gave her a wink. “Even if my condom is out of date?”
She rolled her eyes at him as he moved the chair and opened the door.
Lucy realized she was holding her breath as she followed Ben across the foyer, tiptoeing around bodies towards the sweeping staircase that led up to the next floor. The tiled floor was slippery with blood, causing her to grab the back of his t-shirt for balance a few times.
He glanced back over his shoulder, offering her a reassuring smile before facing forward again.
She studied him from the back, trying to decide if he was someone she should trust. He was about six feet tall with broad shoulders. His dark hair curled into the nape of his olive-skinned neck before meeting the collar of his black t-shirt. She watched his muscles move under the black cotton. He looked strong.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Her eyes travelled down to his jeans. They were loose, but she could make out shapes in the back pocket.
What’s in there? Is he carrying, a knife?
“Enjoying the view?” Ben’s voice caused her to look up sharply.
“What? No. I mean, what?”
He was grinning at her.
Great! He thinks I’m a pervert.
“I wasn’t staring at your ass.”
“Yes you were.”
“No, I was looking at the knife in your back pocket …” She trailed off when he frowned, his strong jawline tensing as he gritted his teeth.
Yeah, that’s better. Piss him off. That’ll help.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did. You still think I did this.” He gestured to the bodies littered across the foyer. “If we can’t trust each other, we should probably split up.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a key ring. “And as for my knife …” He jangled the keys. “It’s not very effective.”
Shit. She winced. She didn’t want to be alone in here, and she didn’t mean to accuse him. “I didn’t mean it, and I don’t want to split up. I think I’m the kind of person who opens my mouth and stuff comes out of it that I don’t mean. It appears to get worse on freaky fucked-up days, sorry.”
He stared at her for a moment, then shook his head. “Forget it. I was imagining you trying to strangle me from behind for a while there. I guess trust has to be earned. Let’s just get out of here.”
She nodded. “I only want to strangle you when you’re a pervert.” She flashed him a beaming smile.
His brow furrowed into a deeper frown.
“I’m joking!”
“Shh,” he whispered, staring at something behind her.
She froze in terror, too scared to look back.
“What is it?” she whispered.
“I heard something back there.” He pointed towards the entrance to theatre three. “Come on, let’s move.” He gripped her hand and pulled her towards the stairs, quickly but quietly.
She hurried after him, stepping as lightly as possible so they wouldn’t be detected.
She allowed herself to breathe again when they turned the corner of the staircase and were hidden by a wall. He sped up, and she kept up with his pace as they climbed second tier of stairs that led into a wide corridor. They raced down the corridor with Ben in the lead.
She bumped into his back when he came to an abrupt halt.
He spun around with wide eyes and glanced at the door beside them.
“What?” she asked, spinning around to look down the empty corridor behind her.
A large hand covered her mouth as Ben grabbed her and dragged her back into the room beside them, restraining her with his other arm. The room was dark and became inky black when he quickly closed the door and locked it.
Crap! He is the killer.
She struggled against his iron grip, kicking out her legs.
He spun around, taking her with him and pinned her against the door with his body. “Be quiet. He’ll hear you.” His hot breath warmed her cheek as he whispered into her ear.
Her heart hammered, and she swallowed back the panic bubbling in her throat. Who would hear them? She hadn’t heard anything and didn’t believe a word he said since she was now trapped in his arms. She didn’t move, deciding her best course of action was to keep him from getting angry.
Maybe he’s crazy and imagining things.
She froze in place with his hard body pressed against her back. The only sound in the room was their breathing. His hand remained over her mouth, but the grip loosened.
She felt his chin rest on her shoulder as they stared through the small window in the door. The frosted glass pane was less than a foot wide, showing a blurry-lit corridor on the other side.
She gasped when a large dark shape passed by the glass. Ben’s hand tightened over her mouth. The shape’s head was too large to be human. Its massive shoulders hunched over an elongated body. She heard a guttural growl and sniffing noises outside the door as it passed by. It stalked down the hall, moving like an animal rather than a person.
What the fuck is that?
She tried to rationalize it. It could just be a very tall and muscled man. She was looking through frosted glass after all.
She widened her eyes when it stopped and turned its head in their direction. Red eyes glowed at them through the glass.
That is not a fucking human!
She shivered when it stared right at her.
Oh god! We’re going to die.
After a few seconds, it turned away, sniffing the air before continuing to stride down the corridor.
Several seconds of silence followed before she felt Ben’s hot breath against her neck as he exhaled.
“Don’t make any noise. We don’t want it coming back,” he whispered into her ear as he released her and stepped back.
She trembled and turned to face him. The warmth of his body had been comforting. Now that it was gone, she felt exposed and scared.
She stared up at him. His face was mostly shadowed by the room. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she could make out some of his features.
“What do we do now?” she whispered. “What the hell was that thing?”
“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “We should stay here for now. I think … I think it’s looking for us.” His voice was hushed.
“What?” She was still trying to understand what she had seen.
“It was sniffing things. That was the noise I heard earlier. I think it’s trying to sniff us out.”
“It was pretty close to the door. Wouldn’t it have sniffed us out in here?” She spun around and sta
red out of the window. She breathed again when she saw that the corridor was empty.
“I dunno, maybe, but—” He paused and sniffed the air. “This room smells of incense. It might have masked any other smells.”
“You think it’s an animal that did all this?” She turned back to face him and moved towards him. She didn’t feel safe near the window.
“Yeah, or a monster.”
Her legs trembled as fear took over her whole body. It seemed like a monster to her, and she’d seen enough horror movies to know that they never ended well.
If it’s a monster, then we’re fucked.
A part of her brain whispered that it was insanity. Maybe I went crazy.
She rested her hand on a nearby table as a wave of dizziness clouded her mind.
Don’t pass out now, for godsake!
Strong hands held her steady, and a warm body hugged her close.
“Hey, it’s okay.” Ben’s voice soothed her mind, and his warm embrace soothed her senses. “We’ll be okay. We just need to find a way out.” One of his hands roamed up and down her back, rubbing away her shivers.
She turned her head to thank him, only to find her lips an inch away from his. They both froze, breathing in and out together in a moment of silence before his lips descended onto hers.
She knew it was crazy. She knew there was no rational reason for it. But right here and right now, she wanted him to kiss her and hold her—she needed it.
She kissed him back, pressing her body closer to his. She heard a soft groan from him in response before one of his hands cupped the back of her head, pulling her closer. His other wrapped around her waist, gripping her as he hauled her body against his. His lips mashed against hers with wanton need.
Her fingers roamed across his broad shoulders, gripping them when he lifted her up into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and moaned as his tongue teased hers.
He turned around and sat her on the table, breaking off the kiss to nibble her neck with light teasing kisses. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered between kisses.
His hands hovered on her waist as she arched back on the table, knocking books off it with her hands.
The books hit the floor with a loud thud. The sound echoed around the room, and they both froze.
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