Page 80 of Madness & Mayhem
I stare down the hall, my body coiling tight with tension as I wait for something, anything, to happen.
Guards begin shouting, their voices close, but they quickly grow farther and farther away, until it’s only silence. It’s just me and the other inmates, all with our faces pressed to the bars, our hands wrapped around the cold metal as we hope it’s one of us that are going to be saved.
“Something is happening,” the man utters across the way.
Suddenly, light footsteps pound down the hallway, and I hold my breath when a flash of red enters my vision.
Eloise.
She stops in front of me, glaring heavily with so much hatred that if the bars weren’t between us I’m certain she’d reopen my stab wound.
“Reign,” she sighs, stepping to the empty guards’ station. She narrows her eyes as she glances down, and I hold my breath, wondering what she’s about to do, when she pushes a button, and all our cells simultaneously click.
My eyes widen, and I push against the metal bars. I listen to the creaky groan as other inmates do the same, and suddenly, it’s Eloise and I, with a ton of felons.
I grab her wrist, much to her dismay, holding her close.
“How’d you get in here?” I mumble.
She tilts her chin, staring up at me in irritation. “If you have to ask, you’re not as smart as I thought you were.”
“Bro,” my neighbor inmate steps up to me, and I realize how fucking tall he is. A few inches taller than me, at least, and I’m at six three. He turns his gaze to Eloise, and I stiffen next to her. “Thanks, babe. I owe you.”
And then he’s off, jetting down the hallway with a flood of other inmates.
Eloise tugs on my hand. “Come on, Reign. We need to go.”
“Where is Lakyn?” I ask, following quickly behind her.
She glances over her shoulder at me, her hair flowing into her eyes. “Waiting for you, obviously.”
She turns back around, dressed in all black as she darts down the hall. I follow after her, keeping close but away from the commotion of all the other inmates. Guards are shouting in the distance, and I listen as they try to gather them all up and get them back to their cells.
What’s the most depressing is those who still sit in their cells, their doors unlocked but they just lay in their beds and watch everyone escape.
Yet they choose not to.
Inmates pause every so often, their eyes widening when they see there is a female in their midst. I growl at them, baring my teeth and daring them to get within touching distance of her.
We make it through the jail area, and Eloise drags me away from all the inmates flooding out the visitors’ area and around to the back. I narrow my eyes at her, but don’t say a word.
Eloise brings me through door after door until we reach one with the large neon exit sign above it. She glances at me, a slight smirk breaking over her face. “Ready?”
I nod, my body buzzing as Eloise pushes the door open.
And there, standing before me, is my baby Lake.
Chapter FIFTEEN
LAKYN
“Lakyn,” he rasps. He’s dressed in a gray sweatshirt and sweats, his hair a mess, his face pale. He looks like he hasn’t slept in years, even though it was only this morning when I last saw him.
Tears immediately flood my eyes at his raspy voice. I step toward him on autopilot, and he meets me halfway, his arms lifting and curling around my trembling body. I mold perfectly to him, each curve and crevice a puzzle piece meant to be. He holds me tightly, his arms locked around my body as if he’ll never let me go again. My eyes shutter closed as he presses his lips to the crown of my head.
“I was so scared,” I croak.
“Hey, sorry, but we have to go. Like now,” Kyler snaps from beside us.