Burn Into Me (Into Me Series Book Two)

Chapter Four - Villain Era

I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up instinctively. I glance around, taking in my surroundings, trying to figure out why the fuck I feel like someone is stalking me. I check my gun, making sure I have a round ready to go. There's a bright flash of red light next to me as another competitor is taken out.

"Ah, damn it, so fucking close," Connor sighs, hanging his head as he walks out of the laser tag arena, his vest flashing red.

I glance up at the neon scoreboard in the middle of the room. Two people remain on my team, two people remain on Jackson's.

Suddenly, a shadowy figure appears next to me. I raise my gun to shoot but find Austin rapidly shaking his hands mouthing the word "no". I grab my chest and take a second to breathe, "You scared the shit out of me!" I whisper-yell to him.
"Well, sorry! I'm trying my best here! It doesn't take much to spook you," Austin defends, whisper-yelling back at me.
I shrug, nodding my head. He's not wrong. "Where have you been?!" I snip, making out his high and tight black hair just barely in the dark room, "I thought teammates were supposed to stick together?!"
"I've been doing recon, thank you very much," he explains, rolling his eyes.
"Oh," is all I can say in response. That's actually a great plan. Hm. Jackson was right. He is a good one. "What'd you find?"
"Wouldn't you like to fucking know!" he stresses, scrunching his face up at me.
"Kid, I swear to fuck," I warn, still whispering as I narrow my eyes at him, "I am one mental breakdown from either killing myself or someone else. Talk fast or I'm gonna make it you!"

"Jesus, alright. It's Jackson and Nyx that are still alive on their team. I just took Connor out, as I'm sure you saw," Austin says lowly, nodding his head toward the area Connor ran off to, just a hint of arrogance in his voice.
"Well fuck, Jackson is a trained sniper," I mutter, my shoulders slumping forward as I scan around the arena for movement.
"Yeah and Nyx has one of the best natural aims I have ever seen," Austin adds. "They have been absolutely killing it in the range at work."
"Fucking great!" I exclaim while throwing up my hands in defeat, still whispering.
"Listen, they're sticking together, watching each other's six. If we come from both sides and I take Nyx out first, then when Jackson turns to shoot me, you can get him and we win," he suggests.
"Huh..." I hum, stumped. "That's kinda genius."
"I know, I know. Now are we doing this shit or not?" he wonders, grabbing his gun.

I nod curtly at him, taking off in the opposite direction. I use my natural stealth skills to sneak around the barriers without making a sound. Thanks marching band for teaching me how to roll-step! I keep myself low to the ground knowing that Jackson is going to want a higher vantage point because of his history of sniping. My eyes fall on Jackson and Nyx knelt together on top of one of the foam barriers but hidden by another. They whisper to each other, Jackson making arm movements, explaining their plan.
Too bad they'll never get to use it. I see Austin directly across from me, nodding his head and shooing me along toward Jackson.

Heel, toe, heel, toe, heel, toe, heel, toe. Roll through your foot. Easy steps, stiff shoulders, don't bounce. Roll, step, roll, step- oh my fucking god, I'm roll-stepping to the beat of the damn techno music in here. Once a band kid, always a band kid, apparently.

My eyes find Austin again, who nods at me. He leaps forward, shooting Nyx. Nyx yells, Jackson turning to them to figure out what's wrong. Jackson goes to shoot Austin, but I beat him to it, my shot landing on him, his vest flashing red before he can pull the trigger.

The lights flicker on as Austin and I yell in excitement, our vests flashing green, Jackson and Nyx wearing very confused looks on their faces. Austin and I meet in the center, running into a hug, still shouting in victory. He picks me up, spinning us both around, which makes me laugh. He sets me down gently, meeting both of my hands for high-fives above us.