Page 8 of Shatter

"In a minute the lights are going to go down. You are going to run..." She wiggles excitedly on her stool, setting her drink down and sitting at attention like she's in school. Christ.

I lean into her space, trying to intimidate her. She doesn't budge. "... and I am going to catch you. When I do, I'm going to fuck you... hard." I'm not. "Your safe word is 'Princess'." She won't need it, but I need her to think this is real so I can scare her so badly that she never comes back.

The lights go out, and she screams.

Chapter four

Melody

Iscream, loud and high-pitched, as the room plunges into darkness. I'm not the only one, and the others' excited screams have my heart thundering in my chest. I didn't know what I was expecting to happen on primal night, or what I thought Harrison grabbed from behind the bar, but the room around me has disappeared. There are no windows in this part of the building, and I realize a moment too late that I'm cornered against the bar.

I spring to my feet, knocking over the stool behind me. I jump at the loud impact and twist my head from side to side to see if I can see anything.

There's a red, glowing Exit lamp above a service door, and faint red light glowing in a hallway to the left.

"Run," his low, disembodied voice says so close to my ear I can feel his warm breath.

My pulse skyrockets as I do just that. I stumble over things, and a feminine body stumbles into me from the side as we all make a mad dash for the red. The hunters and the hunted.

Disembodied giggles come from ahead of me, and I can't help but join. A woman to my left squeals before she suddenly disappears, meaning she's been caught. Heart racing, lungs aching, stomach in my throat I keep running.

"That one's not for you," I hear Harrison say, I'm assuming to another hunter, and he's close. I press further, trying to find anywhere to hide. Once I make it to the hallway, the only thing providing any light, and it's not much, are lit numbers above each door.

A finger grazes the back of my neck, and I stiffen. He's toying with me. He's right there.

"Turn left," his voice commands in my right ear. I do immediately and am able to break free from the crowd down another hallway, this one darker than the other. I break into a sprint, hands held out in front of me so I don't crash into anything.

I trip over something, or my own feet, I don't know, and fall to my hands and knees with an 'umph'. The carpet stings where it bites into my flesh, but when a hand wraps around one of my ankles, tugging, I scream again, yanking it from his grasp and bolting back upright.

The smile on my face is manic but God, it feels good. I feel alive in a way I never have before. I'm instantly addicted.

I wasn't really sure Harrison would let me, and I certainly wasn't expecting him to volunteer, even if a little voice inside my head really wanted him to.

I run a few more strides before finally slamming into a wall, my arms keeping me from breaking my nose, but a hard body presses me harder against the wall, and a strong hand wraps around my throat.

"Feel along the wall on your right. You'll find a door. Open it."

I do as told, my hand fumbling blindly until I feel a door case, door, and finally the door handle.

The second the mechanism clicks open, the door is yanked from my hand as it flies open. The hand at my throat guides me away from the wall, through what I'm assuming is the open door, before I'm slammed ruthlessly against the wall again.

I grunt, relishing in the pain. I'll have bruises and scraped knees tomorrow that I won't be able to explain, but the thrill of not being "camera ready" feels like all my birthdays and all my Christmases wrapped in one.

Chapter five

Harrison

Jesus Christ.

She's smiling.

I hated watching her fall to her knees before - I know they must be hurting - but I'm grateful to the carpet for helping me convince her this isn't for her.

Except as I look at the green version of her, thanks to my night vision goggles, I can see her teeth.

Because she's grinning from ear to ear.

I move my hand from her neck to press her face into the wall.