But someone opened it.
An inmate stood there, one I’d seen around causing hell, a wicked smile on her face, wild orange hair sprayed out behind her, my door swinging open between us.
“The door locks are broken,” she said, simple, shocked. “The automatic locks have failed.”
I froze. I didn’t even know these doors had automatic locks.
Was this it? My time? All I’d built for being handed to me in the wrong way. All the crazed planning and I needn’t have bothered.
I took a step forward, and the inmate bolted. Another bolted past my door. Someone screamed, a guard maybe. A radio crackled; something slammed.
Fuck it, I followed, needing to see this through. It wasn’t like they could punish memore. Even if all I gotwas a bit of a heart-rate jump and a laugh, that would do.
So I stepped out into the hallway, ran for the now empty of bodies, swinging on its hinges, door. It felt weird to be out here without a guard, but I didn’t stop to contemplate that. There was no time.
This was all autopilot, all adrenaline.
I let my legs lead me down the hallways, cackling at the mayhem I could hear going on around the prison. I think the main section was behind me, and I was near the exits, but it was hard to tell. All my path was based on was gut instinct, and my instincts were shit.
But gates hung open, guards were missing, and inmates raced in front of me or ran in the opposite direction. Who knew which was the correct one? I was just here for the fun, the intrigue. The possible, minute chance…
I turned a corner and smashed right into a firm body. “Shit,” I grunted, ready for this all to be over. No inmates were built like that.
“Come on,” Adrian said, making my heart pound, my stomach drop out, grabbing my arms and tugging me back with him. Had he come for me? Or was thiscoincidence? From how unsurprised he seemed to see me, I guessed the first.
I was shocked for a moment at the sight of him. I was so, so mad at the man, but… maybe my plan had worked. He was here, his hands on me and not chasing down inmates. There was a pause, a heavy beat where I didn’t know what he might be about to do.
Then he tugged me again, picking up the pace and leading me through the dark halls, no explanation, no apology. Nothing.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he led me in a run, not resisting when I should. But if I was right… if this had worked after all… relief made tears well in my eyes.
He didn’t loosen his grip, but he did slow down, allowing me to meet him at his side as we walked at a fast, steady pace, his head on a permanent swivel searching for movement. My brain was such a crazed mess I couldn’t tell my ass from my elbow, let alone a shadow from a person.
“Listen, shit.” He stopped and pushed me up against a wall, into a small alcove where a magazine rack dug into my ass cheek. He placed a finger to my lips and mouthed for me to be quiet. We’d reached afoyer, maybe a waiting room, before he’d heard something concerning.
I slowed my breathing and did as he asked, enjoying him so close to me as a herd of guards rushed past us. We were just about tucked in enough to the shadows to be missed, and they were on quite the mission, so none of them spotted us as their boots pounded along. It felt dirty, relishing his closeness, even with all the shit he’d put me through.
“Listen to me, little killer,” Adrian whispered, his harsh voice running right through me. “I can’t get you the fuck out of my head. And I don’t know what that means for this, for… us, but I want to get you out of here.” He smiled in spite of himself and rubbed his thumb along my cheek, his eyes warming when I leaned into it. “I know it’s what you want. You want your freedom, yeah? Let me give it to you.”
“Okay,” I whispered, pecking a small kiss on his bottom lip. “Okay,Sir.”
He groaned and looked up at the ceiling. “God, I can’t wait to fuck you somewhere other than a prison cell.”
“Or a visitors’ room?” I smirked back. Despite what he’d done, what situation he’d put me in, getting free was more pressing.
He laughed, something so rare to hear, and gave me one firm but fast kiss before sticking his head out of the alcove to check the coast was clear. It must have been, because he tugged me out and we continued on our journey to freedom. This was fucking happening. He’d had to work through a lot of internal shit to make up his mind, but we were here; he was mine. He was breaking the law for me in a big way. I grinned.
As we wove through the corridors, on what seemed to be some random trek, I watched Adrian’s every move. I don’t know when it happened, what tipped him over, but I was so, so grateful I’d pushed his buttons and burrowed myself into his mind.
At last, when it seemed like we weren’t even in the prison anymore, Adrian paused again. I looked around, focusing on my dead silent surroundings. We passed through a door with a metal sign above it, but I missed what it said.
A few more turnings, through an open gate, and we took a beat.
Everything was dark, but it looked… familiar. “Where are we?” I asked, peering at the row of cells. It was all dilapidated, dusty and shadowy, but it appeared remarkably like the place I’d called home for the last seven years.
“The men’s prison; no one will come looking through here,” Adrian explained as we walked along the cells. “At least not for a while.” I kept expecting the ghost of some old cellmate to burst forth and attack, and every new cell brought a bout of tension in me, but we soon moved beyond them.
We walked through the open gates, along the corridor past doors labeled staff room, toilets, and visitor center, until finally, we were in a fucking foyer. The emptiness and openness felt strange, as did the absence of anyone to stop us.
