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It was as though a stroke of electricity had sparked between them both, so volatile and deadly that it had wiped out most of the employees at RoosterTeeth.
But it wasn’t by a burst of lightening or electricity that had struck the innocent down.
It was by a blade and a gun.
Just weeks of shared glances and some unnamed connection between them had been made, and something so dark and horrible had brewed within the depths of them without words. Call it insanity or madness, but it was something no normal person could even hope to understand. And that was probably why none of the others saw it coming.
But they both saw that fire in each other, and one day the dam just…broke.
Joel had started keeping a gun in his computer desk drawer after a while, seemingly on a whim. Ryan had hidden a sharpened kitchen knife in one of the storage rooms, but hadn’t been to collect it since.
And when those thoughts had hit a tipping point, all it had taken was one, single look as Ryan visited Joel in the office one day. Joel pulled the gun from his desk as though it was the most natural thing in the world, placing it on the table without ever moving his eyes away.
And Ryan had simply smiled and gone back to the storage room he’d almost forgotten about.
Matching each other pace for pace, they made it through the building with such a casual air that a few people walked straight past and didn’t notice the weapons in their hands, but it was only until they made it up to the upper floor offices that people really did notice.
In the first room, everything was quiet.
Burnie never said a word as Joel raised the gun and that metallic click filled the air. It was over in a flash. Blood splattered across the walls and stained the carpet - a mark that would never come out. At the sound of a gunshot, the gasps and distant voices of others in the building could be heard, the buzz of confused voices filling the air, and the clock began to tick down.
Joel watched with dazed eyes as Ryan headed for the door, droplets of blood clinging and dipping into his features like war paint. He was mesmerized, only snapping out of his daze as a Ryan shifted from his view and a scream filled the air. He never caught sight of who it was, eyes automatically snapping to the knife that disappeared into their gut, a low rumble of laughter filling his ears above the screams.
“Come on.” Ryan mumbled, watching as the light faded out of Barbara’s eyes and the stream of blood from her stomach came out in sluggish, delayed trails. “More to go.”
Joel laughed, adrenaline pumping through his veins like a tidal wave, oblivious to how soon the high would end and reality would come crashing down. But they were both lost in a maddening sense of pleasure, a sickening feeling of power.
But it was so worth it for that blood-filled hour.
Room by room they went through the building, the body count piling up but slowing to a stop as people were alerted and fled the building. Ryan’s hands were caked in a mix of fresh and drying blood, his knife not showing a single glint of silver anymore, whereas Joel’s face was speckled in red and matter, the rebounds of four carefully placed bullets.
But soon enough, the pleasure ended and ebbed into a sense of dread. Because in the distance…there were sirens.
“We need to go.” Joel said, breathing heavily. “They’ll be here soon.”
And Ryan followed as they headed out the back door, evening settled in and leaving the streets darkened and lifeless if it wasn’t for the glow of street lights now and again. They ran together. Feet slapping against grass and concrete as they fled the blood-soaked nightmare they’d left behind. No remorse filling them up. Not even fear. Just a sense of power driving them forward.
They would escape, somehow. They would have control.
People gasped and backed away as they both ran down the streets, blood still staining Ryan’s hands and shirt while Joel’s blown-up eyes and splattered skin sent the others running. But it was the sight of a still-lit tower block standing out against the dark that gave them purpose.
“Over there…we’ll go there…” Joel panted, nodding feebly up to the building and Ryan nodded, muscles burning from the running. But the sound of a police helicopter kept his lungs and joints moving with speed.
They slammed through the doors of what looked to be a hotel, the marble-flooring and pristine walls bright and hurting their eyes for a second. Joel lifted his gun and people screamed, many figures fleeing and running away, just the sight of Ryan’s maddened features was enough to get most to run.
Joel’s gun was kept on the receptionist as he headed towards the elevator and pushed the button for the very top floor, firing a shot that he’d never got to see pierce the receptionist's shoulder. As they passed floor after floor, the laughter filled them up and Joel leaned against Ryan, feeling the cogs of his mind fall loose and break, while Ryan simply revelled in the pictures flashing across his mind.
The top floor was silent when the doors finally opened, and they stumbled around for a moment, trying to find the door that would lead to the roof. They could hear shouting bubbling from the bottom floor, and their time was close to being over.
“It’s here,” Ryan shouted, waving over to Joel who came running. It didn’t take much for him to slam the door open, flimsy lock bursting from the force. The sound of footsteps echoed in the dark staircase leading to the roof, a rush of cool air filtering down as Ryan found the door, and flipped it over.
It was strangely quiet.
Joel looked around tentatively as he scrambled onto the roof, kicking the door back down and following as Ryan walked closer to the edge. The air curled around them and ruffled their hair, cool and calming against the storms of their mind. It was so peaceful.
Ryan stared down to the street below, crowds of people finally noticing and pointing upwards, screams and curses filling the air and destroying the calm, and the gentle thrum of helicopter propellers killed their moment of peace. They had to make a move.
“Are you ready, Joel?”
He seemed to hesitate as his maddened streak died down, gun clattering to the floor as he breathed heavily, trying to take it in. The sound of the helicopter and a voice through a megaphone seemed like nothing in comparison to Ryan’s voice, coaxing him and filling him up.
“Joel?”
“Yeah?”
Ryan grabbed the other man’s hand and moved closer.
“Are you ready?”
The sound of police heading up the stairs gave them no choice.
“Yeah…yeah, I am.”
And somehow, they were okay with that.
In a rush of movement and with a collective gasp of horror, Ryan stepped backwards off the building and pulled Joel with him, heading down and both feeling that rush of power and control fill their hearts and minds for one last time.
Years of one single, maddening urge had been indulged and destroyed in the space of a few hours - together. A predatory coldness driving Ryan, a psychotic one driving Joel.
The power, the control and the blood lust had been indulged - but not completely satisfied.
Because both could feel their hands tightening around each other’s throats as they fell to the ground.