Killer One ✓

Chapter 16

Lacey.

I must have dosed off because I woke to the feel of someone running their hand through my hair. It was difficult because it wasn't like I had a hairbrush to use every day and all of the guards here insisted on using my hair like a leash. The hands roaming my hair snagged on a knot but kept going.

"Ow. That's attached," I mumbled. It was only after I spoke did I remember where I was and what had happened. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. We needed to go, we needed to get to safety, we needed-

I felt someone's breath against my cheek from their close proximity and my eyes snapped open. Travis was still lying on the ground beside me only now he was awake and currently trying to untangle his fingers from my hair. It wasn't going well.

"You're awake," I stated because that meant we could leave.

I pulled my hair away from his fingers.

"Possibly," was all he said. His voice was rough and scratchy, like he'd been talking for hours straight or screaming.

Upon closer inspection, the marks under his eyes looked like they were tired lines instead of the aftermath of a punch.

"They said they killed you," Travis admitted softly, voice like sandpaper.

"I'm alive," I said but he didn't look like he believed his eyes or ears.

I grabbed one of his hands and placed his fingers over my wrist where he could easily feel my pulse.

There was a body lying on each of the beds in the cell. It seemed everyone had gone to bed, most likely as a result of Cameron insisting on getting rest. The lights were still on in full force so I don't think it'd been too long. If we were going to do this at night like Cameron planned, it would've sucked to have slept through the night. I hoped we were still in the same day.

"Cameron," I called out.

The figure on the bottom of the bed perked up instantly. I sat up from the ground while Travis simply rolled over onto his back. Cameron came over and knelt down next to Travis.

"Go wake Ben up," Cameron told me.

As I climbed the ladder to the top bunk, Cameron began filling Travis in on everything he'd missed. Everything was very to the point. We're leaving tonight. I've got it from here. Our records are clear. We have Lacey's old phone. We're going to the Kerrington house.

I hadn't known that.

"We're going back there?" I asked as I began shaking Ben's shoulder.

"You said Ben's car was there. We can use it," he further explained.

I didn't ask where we would be going after that. It seemed too good to be true that safety, happiness, and freedom were right there. If I thought about it too much, I was afraid I'd be too disappointed if it all came crumbling down.

I shook Ben harder this time and he finally moved on his own. He shoved my arm away from me but started waking up. He glanced around, eyes landing on Travis.

"What time is it?" Ben mumbled.

Travis glanced at the borrowed watch he still had on his wrist. "Midnight."

Nerves started to build in me.

At two a.m., most of the lights in the area went out. It was time, whether my anxiety said I was ready or not. Travis had barely moved off the ground and I suspected something might be wrong with one of his legs but he dismissed any suspicion. It also could've been the after effects of whatever drug they had given him, but he had entertained questions about that even less.