Page 19 of Stay Scared

“I decided not to.”

The illuminated eyes remain on me.

“Can I leave the park?”

“I’m not opening that door until we verify the route.”

“So I’m locked in here because your hallway has a problem.”

“Someone accessed a route I no longer trust. Until I know who, the door stays closed.”

He turns the body camera slightly in its harness, inspecting the connection without brushing me.

“You can take it off,” I say.

“Your agreement prohibits us from tampering with participant equipment.”

“Someone already tampered with it.”

The rough voice near the entrance cuts in. “She’s right. Somebody already fucked with it.”

The words tug at a memory I cannot place.

I look toward him. Dark clothing, broad frame, mask hidden by the low red light. Nothing useful follows.

The glowing mask releases the camera. “Remove the harness yourself.”

I reach for the side buckle. He stays directly in front of me.

There is enough room for him to give me space, but he watches while I work the clasp loose. His hands remain at his sides. He could remove the entire rig in seconds, yet he waits while I fight with the strap caught beneath my jacket collar and free it myself.

His refusal to help feels more intimate than help would have.

I pull one side loose and lift the harness away from my chest. When I hold it out, his gloved hand closes around the camera frame instead of the strap nearest my body. Even then, his fingers pass close enough to make me aware of exactly how little distance separates us.

He takes the device and passes it toward the man nearest the door. “Trace the feed. Find out where it went.”

The panel opens. One man accepts the camera and slips into the service corridor, while the figure who had been standing beside the chair follows him. The door seals again.

The glowing mask stays with me.

Without the other two, the padded room suddenly feels larger.

I look toward the exit. “You said three taps stop everything.”

“They stop us.”

“The camera kept moving after we did.”

The light around his eyes dims until the mask becomes almost featureless. “Which is why that door stays closed until I know what is waiting outside it.”

The panel releases behind him. The other two return without speaking, and the lock engages again.

Red light rises slowly through the ceiling panel and spreads across the padded walls, bringing the men into view with it.

Three masks face me.

Chapter 6