The quiet in the halls unsettles me. Too quiet. It doesn’t sit right. When I hit the last set of doors on the top floor, the sound of muffled voices rises up ahead. Something’s off.
Suddenly, I hear shouting. Then, louder turmoil, footsteps pounding against the floor. Things smashing. I don’t wait another second.
I charge forward, my heart racing before I peer through a barred and secured door, the scene in front of me is pure chaos.
There’s a riot happening, people screaming, tearing through the hallway like they’ve lost their minds. A few staff members are rushing to contain the situation, but they’re being overwhelmed. My eyes catch a young woman sprinting after a staff member, shouting something I can’t make out.
Another woman is close behind her, and in a blur of motion, they corner the doctor against the wall. They’re attacking her, clawing at her clothes, but the doctor—a woman with a sharp, cold look—holds them back with an electric prod, waving it in front of them like she’s trying to keep some control.
And then it hits me.
No fucking way.
I squint, my heart sinking as recognition slams into me. That’s Jess. The woman of that guy I killed in the shitty toilet.
What the fuck is she doing here?
But before I can piece it together, the situation escalates. One of the attackers overpowers Jess, slamming her to the ground. The other woman isn’t far behind, searching through the pockets of the doctor. The woman with dark hair, the one holding her down, is trying to choke the fucking life out of her.
I glance around, scanning the mayhem. Staff members are distracted. I can’t waste time. I move swiftly, swiping the keycard before pulling on the barred door.
Just as I step into the main hall, where chaos is unfolding in all directions, everything slows. The sounds of screaming and frantic movement echoing around me. And then, at the far end of the hallway, a woman turns and our gazes lock.
Her blue eyes stay on mine, and for a split second, everything else fades away. My heart lurches, and I can barely. I didn’t known what to expect when I came through these fucking doors, but seeing her—my kitten—standing there, looking like a ghost but alive, it hits me harder than anything.
Before I can even process it, she’s charging toward me, moving faster than I ever thought she could move.
“Kitten,” I mutter but I barely get the word out before she’s in my arms.
I catch her as she leaps into me, her body crashing against mine. I hold her tight, squeezing her the life out of her. Her sobs soak into my hoodie, and all I can do to just hold on, not giving a fuck about anything else.
“You came for me!” she cries, her body trembling.
“Of course I fucking came for you, my kitten,” I mumble back as I bury my face in her neck.
I pull back to look at her, grabbing her face and give her kiss after kiss on her soft lips until a sudden sharp pain strikes my back. I grunt as something heavy smashes into my spine, knocking the wind out of me and my body tenses as I knock into Raven.
The rage that surges through me is animalistic. I whirl around, barely registering the man standing behind me before my axe is in flying the air, my arms moving without thought. I hear a wet sound as the blade slices through his throat. Blood explodes in a gruesome spray, and he falls to the floor, dead before he even hit the fucking ground.
I don’t waste a second. I pull Raven behind me, her hand in mine as I drag her toward the door. My senses are on fire now—everything is a fucking blur of movement and instinct. We rush through the hallway, hearing more shouting, the sounds of the riot intensifying around us, but nothing fucking matters except getting her the fuck out of here.
When we reach the door, I swipe the keycard, and it slides open with a soft beep. We’re moving again, but my mind is focused only on the stairs ahead. Down. We need to go down.
We’re running down the stairs when I notice the woman Raven was with. She’s trailing behind us, her head down, her steps keeping up with ours.
Raven squeezes my hand and whispers, “She helped me.”
I raise an eyebrow, but then I nod. There’s no time to ask questions, not now. I tighten my hold on Raven’s hand, pulling us toward the kitchen on the lowest floor.
We’re so fucking close.
As we round the corner to the kitchen, but I stop dead in my tracks, pulling Raven close to my side as I scan the room. There, near the center, standing like he owns the damn place, is Dr Moss. His icy gaze is fixed on us, and I feel the rage stir deep inside me again. The bastard’s face barely hides the malice behind his eyes.
“Ah, so you decided to make it this far,” he says, his voice smooth, almost like he’s enjoying this twisted fuck around. “Welcome home, Ty. I’ve been waiting for you. You lied to me.”
The two doctors flanking him are already positioned like a fucking wall, holding electric rods, the occasional zap snapping through the air.
I tighten my grip on my axe, my knuckles white from the pressure. Raven’s trembling fingers attempt to slip from mine, but I don't dare let go.
