Page 13 of Dragon's Unwanted Love
“Thank you again,” Bridget said. “You’re the best.”
Suddenly faced with an entire night and most of the afternoon free, she let out a little whoop of excitement as she pushed through the doors and ran down the steps of the science building. Stopping at the bottom, she looked around, all the things she could do with her time running throughher mind, and then a crazy idea took hold. Grabbing her phone out of her pocket, she hit speed dial and waited for Yvonne to answer, excitement bubbling up inside her.
“Hey, what’s up?” Yvonne answered. “I thought you were in class.”
“Dr. Vigil let us out early,” she said. “And I don’t have to go into work tonight, I was thinking we could get some food and have a movie night. I could use a break, and I bet you could, too.”
“Oh my God, that’s a great idea, but I have to study a little,” Yvonne said. “I’ll try to get as much done as I can before you get home. What are we eating?”
It was getting dark when Abby finally made her way up to the apartment, two bags of groceries in one hand, a large pizza with everything in the other. After putting everything in the kitchen, she went looking for Yvonne, surprised she wasn’t in her usual place on the couch.
“Hey, I’m home,” she said, poking her head into Yvonne’s bedroom. “I’ve got pizza and pastries for our movie night. How is the studying going?”
Yvonne pushed herself away from her computer and spun the chair around. “I knew that ethics class was going to be the death of me,” she said with a sigh. “I just can’t keep it all straight in my head, and we have that big test on Monday. I might have to skip movie night if I can’t figure this out.”
“We’ll be having none of that,” she said, smiling at her friend. “Tell you what, I’ll pop the pizza in the oven to keep it hot and help you. I’m sure between the two of us, we can get you up to speed.”
“Abby, you don’t have to do that,” Yvonne said, shaking her head. “I don’t want to ruin your night.”
“The only thing that would ruin my night is if I have to spend it alone,” she said. “Let me go grab my notes, and I’ll be right back.”
She’d barely unzipped her backpack when she realized she’d left her notes in the dissection lab and let out a frustrated groan. “Yvonne, I have to run back to the science building, I left my notes there,” she called. “If I hurry, I can get there before they lock the doors. I’ll be right back.”
After rushing across campus, she made it with just a few minutes to spare and quickly slipped inside the building, instantly aware how quiet it was inside. Walking down the deserted hallway, she found herself shivering as her steps echoed in the empty space. She wondered if she should have asked Yvonne to come with her and then told herself she was being silly. Taking the stairs two at a time, she made it to the basement and hurried to the dissection lab, a weird feeling slowly beginning to creep over her.
After grabbing her notes, she headed for the stairs again, but just as she got there, all the lights suddenly went out, leaving her in total darkness. Trying not to panic, telling herself that it was just security locking the place down for the night, she started to call out to let them know she was there, but the feeling in the pit of her stomach stopped her. Heart pounding, she slowly made her way up the stairs, feeling her way up each step, praying that she didn’t fall.
When she reached the top of the stairs, moonlight streaming in through the windows illuminated her path back to the front doors, and relief poured through her. But she’d only gone a few steps when the sound of whispering caught her attention and she froze, instinct making alarm bells go off in her head. Slipping into the shadows, she cursed herself for coming alone and listened as the whispering grew louder.
“Let’s take this thing down to the basement, it will do the most damage there,” a man said. “Give me the flashlight. I can’t see a thing, and it will be even darker down there with the power turned off.”
Trying not to panic, Abby looked around, her heartsinking when she realized that she was trapped. There was no place to hide; her only option was to go back down the stairs. She’d never make it before the men while in the dark. They’d catch her before she made it a few steps down, or she’d fall and break her neck. Shrinking back into the deepest shadow that she could find, she took a deep breath, prepared to defend herself if it came to that.
There was the sound of clothes rustling, then a muttered curse. “Crap, I left the flashlight sitting on my dresser back at the house,” another man said. “Maybe we should take it upstairs instead. There’s enough light coming in through the windows to see what we’re doing.”
“You idiot, Paul said to put it in the basement so it takes the whole place down. He’s going to be pissed if we don’t do this right,” the first man said. “Are you sure you don’t have the flashlight? Did you check all your pockets?”
“It’s not here,” the other man insisted. “Let’s just go upstairs. The longer we stand here, the more likely it is that we’ll be caught.”
An exasperated sigh filled the hallway, but a second later she heard the men moving off. Letting out the breath she’d be holding, she stepped out of the shadows, looking up and down the hallway. Knowing she couldn’t risk using the front door, she turned to head for the back door but ran into a solid wall of flesh. She opened her mouth to scream, but a big hand covered her face before she could.
CHAPTER 8
***JACKSON***
“Abby, it’s me,” Jackson whispered, feeling like he was fighting a wildcat. “Stop fighting, I’m not going to hurt you.”
She instantly relaxed, looked up at him, her eyes full of fear, and threw her arms around him. “I thought you were one of those men,” she said. “What are you doing here?”
“I was taking a walk, and I saw the lights go out,” Jackson said, then realized what she’d said. “Wait, what men?”
“There are a couple of men up on the second floor. I think they have a bomb,” she said. “They were going to put it in the basement, but they didn’t have a flashlight.”
“Shit, I knew something was up,” he said, looking down the hallway toward the stairs that led up to the second floor. “I want you to get out of here. Find one of the security guards and tell him what’s going on. No, better yet, call 911 as soon as you get outside.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked, suddenly afraid for Jackson. “You can’t go after them, there’s two of them. Come outside with me.”
Jackson shook his head. “I have to stop them. It could takea while for help to get here,” he said. “We can’t let them plant that bomb.”
