Cellblock Four

} THREE {

A loud banging noise woke me up.

"Shane... what was that?" Ryan whispered from the floor.

"I don't know. Probably just a car outside or something. We're in the middle of a busy city." I muttered, rolling over.

"That- that didn't sound like just a car." He whispered again.

Suddenly I was blinded as Ryan turned his flashlight on. "I'm so scared Shane." He whispered.

"Would you like to sleep in bed with me?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Can I?"

Was he serious? I rolled back over and looked over the edge of the bed at him. He was clutching the flashlight to his chest and fidgeting around nervously. His eyes were wide and I could tell there was something wrong. He was really scared.

"If you must." I sighed and scooted closer to the wall. Ryan grabbed his things and laid down next to me.

"It's three am." I heard him whisper into the darkness and looked back at him again to see he had gotten out his phone and was checking the time.

"The witching hour." I stated. "Remember at the Sally House, when you shut up for three minutes at three am?"

"Yeah. Worst three minutes of my life. Glad we left after that." He replied.

"We're not leaving this place though. No matter what." I told him.

"Yup." He agreed.

After that we both tried to fall asleep again but only a few minutes later there was another bang, almost identical to the one that had woken us up.

"Shane? What was that?" Ryan whispered.

"I dunno. Let's go see." I muttered, crawling over him and getting out of the bed.

"No! Wait, don't leave me here!" He protested, springing out of bed and following closely behind me.

We were in the middle of the room when, just like the first two times, another bang sounded from somewhere out in the hall and Ryan jumped in fear. I turned around and looked at him, listening as footsteps started echoing from the same place that the other noises were coming from.

"Shane-" Ryan began to whisper but was cut off by the cell door suddenly slamming shut, with a bang. A short cry came from his mouth as he wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my chest. I put one arm on his back, holding on tightly, and stared at the door, petrified.

"Shane?" Ryan repeated, against my chest.

"Yeah?" I whispered.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you too." I half heartedly replied, not really paying attention. I was really wondering if we would make it out of here alive.

"No Shane, I mean it. I actually do love you. I've been too scared to admit it but... your more than just a friend to me... I actually like you."

I was shocked. My eyes drifted down to the arm that wasn't around Ryan and I remembered how I hadn't been bothered by the indents his fingernails had left there after he'd grabbed onto me earlier. I remembered how I had instinctively put my arm around his shoulders when he was nervous. I remembered how I had ignored my own fears to protect Ryan from his and the way I had begged the spirits surrounding us to leave him alone. I had even let him share a bed with me because he was too scared to sleep alone. Maybe I had feelings for him too.

My thoughts were interrupted by another door slamming, shortly followed by another. Ryan cried out again and I could feel him trembling. Is it possible to die of fear? I wasn't sure, but I did know that I needed to be brave for him.

As doors continued to slam, I wrapped my other arm around him. "How long have you felt this way?" I asked, ignoring everything else in an effort to calm him down.

"I- I broke up with Helen almost as soon as I realized it." He said.

"That long ago, huh?" I asked.

I felt him nod against my chest.

"Well Ryan... I think I might actually feel the same way about you, but right now isn't the time for that. We've got to get out of here. You can stay the way you are but I'm gonna walk towards the door, ok?"

He nodded again and I could feel tears on my shirt. He was crying.

I started to inch towards the door, Ryan walking with me, still gripping tightly to my midsection and burying his face in my shirt. I could feel his heartbeat racing against me.

Soon, we stood in front of the door. I took a deep breathe and glanced down at Ryan. I could see through the hazy darkness that he still hadn't loosened his grip on me and his eyes were clutched shut. "Just keep your eyes closed." I told him before reaching out and pushing the door open.

In the hallway I could see doors slamming shut and then reopening, just to slam shut again. All around us were the sounds of footsteps of people that weren't even there. Maybe it was just my eyes, but I thought I could see shadows moving around on the edges of my vision. I felt Ryan shudder against my body and wrapped my arms tightly around him again, before starting to walk down the hallway in the direction of the exit.

When we had almost made it out of cellblock four, everything went still. The doors all froze in an open position, and it was instantly silent. I didn't dare stop or even look around as we continued walking, ever so slowly, away from the cells.

"Ryan..!" A high voice hissed, originating from nowhere in particular. "He lies! He will never feel the same way you do!" The voice continued.

"Don't listen to it. Ryan, just keep walking with me. I'll get us out of here." I said firmly, into his ear. We had finally made it away from the cells and I stopped, quickly glancing behind us.

There was shadowy figure gliding toward us from the end of the hallway. My instincts took over and I hurriedly pulled Ryan around the corner.

"Run!" I yelled.

Each of us instantly let go of each other and began to run towards the nearest exit. As we ran, I glanced at his face beside me. He was sweating and appeared to be fighting back more tears. In the darkness, my hand found his and grabbed onto it.

We ran, hand in hand, out of the building.

A/N: So I was thinking of renaming this story because I don't like the current name very much but I wasn't sure what to call it. If you've got any suggestions, I'd really appreciate them. I'm also really glad that you have all been enjoying my story. I love writing it and it's great to see that you love reading it. If you haven't already added it to your library then be sure to do that. Also don't forget to vote for this part of The Love Story Of Cellblock Four and leave any questions or suggestions in the comments. I really appreciate hearing your opinions. Next update will probably be on Friday so you can read it either before or after watching the newest Buzzfeed Unsolved episode. Until then, thank you for reading!