“What the fuck was that earlier?” I asked him. The driver eyed me before looking back at the road.
“The car broke down. It had been sitting for a while.” Orson shrugged.
“Maybe the oil,” Ivan commented. “Or the coolant if you had a leak.” I watched the two of them make small talk.
“I’m talking about you drugging us,” I said to Orson. My fingers mindlessly tapped my knees as I eyed Ivan resting his arm on the center console between us.
Orson barked out a laugh. “Good one,” Orson said with a smile.
“Did he say you drugged them?” Ivan asked.
“He always does this to drivers. It’s a whole thing.” Orson ducked down and shot daggers at me while mouthing “shut up”.
“That’s not my type of joke,” Ivan said. He was a very plain-looking person, which was the oddest thing. No scars, no glowing, haunted eyes, wasn’t foaming at the mouth. His clothes were faded blue jeans and a simple black shirt. I eyed how close he was to me with interest, then I settled my arm on the spot between us and slowly inched it a little closer to him.
“Look, I don’t mind getting drugged,” I told Orson, “but it depends entirely on the intention. Some weird kink you have is fine. But you also like hacking up bodies, in case you forgot.”
I inched my arm closer to Ivan.
“Baz,” Orson snapped. I pulled my arm back an inch. Ivan looked annoyed and fidgety. Quickly, he leaned forward and pressed a button. Noise came out of the speakers. Instead of a deranged doctor sadistically explaining rules, it was music. I settled in the chair and listened. It was hypnotic and energetic.
The singer’s voice drew me in until I no longer cared about being drugged, missing Verfallen, or how close the driver was to me. He sang about being evil with a charming face. He was delighted by it, whispering to me about his violence like he was proud. I could almost see the smile he must have had while talking about sinking his teeth into flesh. His words took on a sexual edge, and an excited shiver ran up my spine.
“You like Nix?”
I looked at the driver.
“It’s the band,” he said in my silence.
“Maybe,” I commented. There was something about it that called to me. Who was this singer? What did he look like when he sang? Where could I see him in person? The song ended, and I shook my head. My interest died in an alarming instant the moment the song cut off. That was weird.
“Breaking news, Verfallen Asylum for the Criminally Insane has burned to the ground,” the announcer said. “There are reports of mass casualties and escapes. Verfallen was a high-security penitentiary for the most dangerous, mentally unstable criminals in the country. Tonight is not the night to be out. Stay home, don’t stop for anyone, don’t even open your door.”
Well, that was awkward. I looked at Ivan slowly. He looked back at me.
“Why are you wearing a mask?” He asked.
“There was a party,” Orson quickly said. “BDSM,” he fumbled out.
“The guy passed out in the back … he was … He was wearing scrubs, wasn’t he?” Ivan's breathing was picking up.Uh-oh.
“Roleplaying a nurse.” Orson focused on the back of the driver's head.
“Is that girl covered in blood?” Ivan asked, shooting a look towards Bree. Had he only just now noticed? He wiped blooming sweat from his forehead. Orson hesitated, so I filled in the gaps.
“Vampire roleplay,” I said, walking two gloved fingers across the center console towards him. I couldn’t remember the last time someone didn’t flinch away from me.
“Reports are already coming in of attacks,” the radio went on. “I repeat, this is not the night to pick up anyone from the side of the road. Especially if they’re wearing scrubs, covered in blood, smell like smoke—” Ivan sniffed the air.
“That’s all oddly specific,” I said, pressing the button he used to turn it on. The words cut off. “And so scary. Isn’t it? Wow, I really hope we don’t run into any of those freaks.” It was hard to sound serious when I was also laughing.
“Thank god you picked us up,” Orson said, looking genuinely upset. His wide eyes stared at the side of the road as we drove. “Could you imagine if we were out there? You probably saved our lives.” He was a significantly better actor than I was.
“So, why do you all smell like smoke?” Ivan asked. His fingers trembled on the wheel.
I eyed Orson, seeing what he came up with. When he said nothing, I took over.
“The BDSM party building caught on fire, and we escaped?—”
