I hesitated my hand over the door release button.

The insane, cackling voices from the hallway mocked me.

If I released him, would he kill us?

Would he help us?

How much can you trust a clown who was created to hunt and kill?

His three friends, if they were his friends, were right outside in the hallway.

I had no idea how many people they'd already killed, half a dozen at least.

And there was no preventing them from getting into the room.

I knew that.

I looked down at the door release button below my shaking hand.

Tara crouched behind me, frightened eyes bouncing between me and the door to the hallway.

What to do? Release the clown or take our chances? Before I could decide, the door to the hallway

burst open in a shower of wood splinters. I stood back in the observation room, watching her work.

She sat at the desk abutting the window into the containment room, writing notes down.

Today was the day.

I'd promised myself that I would ask her out on a proper date.

Of course, I'd made that same promise to myself more times than I could count.

We'd been co-researchers on the project for five months now, helping Dr. Henderson with his

work.

And for four months now, I'd been agonizing over asking her out, constantly second-guessing

myself, wondering if she was just being polite when she touched

my arm and laughed at my bad jokes.

...