Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas

at us, nipping at our legs with their bladeless chainsaws, and
we all stumbled, scurried, and veered in any direction we
could to get away.
“Winter, where are you?” I heard Will shout from farther
away than I thought he was.
But then, all of a sudden, he was there, grabbing my hand
and pulling me away.
I breathed a sigh of relief. He walked fast, dragging me as
the air blowers shot at my legs, and I laughed as the hay sack
tunics the slasher killers wore brushed my arms as we passed,
telling me just how close I was to getting caught. Chills spread
across my body, and my pulse went wild, unable to contain the
frenzy of danger and the intoxication in my head it created. I
was high from it.
We turned right and then right again, and as the noise fell
away and no one came at us anymore, he slowed his walk,
pulling me around walls and passageways in the maze.
I panted, still holding his hand but bringing my free one up
to his mask and feeling it. “That’s you, right?”
Just making sure.
I still laughed a little but relaxed when I felt the hard
plastic skull with grooves.
“This is so much fun,” I told him.
Silence filled the corridor now, except for the sound effects
of wind howling, a heart beating, and clocks chiming drifting
out of the speakers, his hand tightening around mine as we
walked. I didn’t mind. He wasn’t doing it because I couldn’t
see. He probably did it, so I wouldn’t get stolen like Alex.
Alex.
I turned my head left and right, listening for her footsteps.
“Where’s Alex?” I asked.
She was with us, wasn’t she? He only grabbed me for a
quick escape.