Sleeper (The Waking Sleep Book 1)

by Lucy Adler

  “Ours?” she repeated quietly.

  “Of course,” he said with a smile, glancing back and forth between her and the vial in his hand.

  Angela looked down at Brix, her skin that lifeless grey, her body lying still and helpless. And, for a moment, she pitied her.

  Then she looked at the doctor and recalled the darkness that had filled the room at the Saxon home. The flecks of red surrounding him and the otherworldly feeling that had enveloped her, forbidding even natural light itself from shining upon them.

  And as she looked into his eyes, they began to change.

  But this time, she wasn’t the only one who saw it.

  Daria and Corey could see each eye swirling with blue and red, like whirlpools of colour washing over them again and again.

  “What the heck is that?” she whispered.

  “I really don’t know,” he replied. “A sleeper’s eyes can fill with light but it’s usually a golden colour, and only some of us ever experience it.”

  “But Dr. Reston isn’t a sleeper, is he?”

  “Seriously?” Corey said, giving her one of those ‘You’ve got to be kidding?’ kind of looks.

  “Well, what’s happening, then? How is he doing that?”

  As they continued to watch, he raised his left hand and it began to fade into shadow, just like Julia had done amongst the trees when she healed the guard and put him to sleep.

  Daria’s eyes widened and she looked at Corey. He didn’t look back but she could see his eyes were just as wide as hers.

  Then Dr. Reston touched Brix’s forehead and closed his eyes. He maintained contact with her for only a few seconds, then the whole process reversed and his hand returned to normal.

  “What are you doing to her?” they heard Angela ask.

  “Making sure she doesn’t cause any trouble. For now.”

  “For now?” she asked him.

  Daria looked over at Corey again, planning to ask another question he wouldn’t be able to answer, when she noticed that he had gotten up. She quickly spun around to see where he had gone.

  She was just in time to see him smash a small piece of glass embedded in the wall.

  Then he pulled the fire alarm.

  _______________________

  “Are you out of your mind?!” Daria yelled at him above the piercing squeal that now filled the room.

  “Trust me!” he yelled back. “Come on!”

  He ran for the door and burst through it, looking both directions then heading left. Daria followed him as he ran down the hall.

  “Where are we going?” she called.

  “To get your friend!”

  He made another left at the next intersection, ran halfway down that hall, then kicked open the second door on the left. Behind it was a flight of stairs.

  “It suddenly dawned on me that I had seen these stairs before, on my way to and from lunch a few times. This has to be the way to the lab!”

  “But why the alarm?!” Daria asked, her voice trying to compete with the high-pitched screeching that echoed down the halls.

  “It’s after 4:30 already. The facility will be back to full strength any minute now and we’re going to have a hard time doing anything under the radar. Might as well create some chaos and hopefully slip out in the process!”

  As he started to enter the stairwell, Daria stopped him.

  “Wait! Won’t the doctor and Angela be on their way out? They’ll see us!”

  “Then we’ll deal with them,” he said matter-of-factly. Then he hurried down the stairs and Daria followed as quickly as she could, jumping over the last three or four steps on each flight.

  Eventually, after three landings, the stair case reached its final turn and there was another door in front of them. Corey kicked it in without ceremony, revealing another hallway.

  Another hall?! Who the heck built this place, honestly?!

  Daria huffed in frustration as they entered it, looking each direction to figure out where they should go.

  They hesitated. At both ends of the hall, they spotted someone.

  It was Dr. Reston and Miss Croft. Apparently, they were exiting in different directions.

  They paused, waiting to see if they had heard the door swing open and crash against the wall. But they hadn’t. The alarm was just as loud down here and had masked their arrival. The doctor and Angela disappeared around their respective corners and Corey and Daria were alone.

  “Which way?” she asked.

  Five doors were scattered along the length of the hall.

  Corey stood for a minute, his hands moving and pointing in different directions, as if he were tracing a map in his mind.

  “It has to be one of these,” he finally said, turning around and pointing at the two along the left wall. “These would be under the room where we just were.”

  And he was right. The first door they broke through was the entrance to the lab.

  Daria rushed inside and found Brix just as she had been a few minutes ago when they were watching her from above.

  “Brix! Brix!”

  “I’m not sure she can hear you,” Corey said as he inspected the restraints that were holding her in place. They were heavy-duty straps, like kevlar, wrapped over her arms and legs at two different points on each limb, and secured with buckles like a typical belt.

  “Undo those, quickly!” he said, pointing at the ones closest to Daria.

  She fought with the straps, tugging and pulling to unfasten them and release her friend. It wasn’t that they were difficult to open, it was more that the urgency and suspense of the moment was making her hands feel less agile than normal.

  But eventually she threw off the final restraint and they tried to get Brix moving.

  “She’s not waking up!” Daria said frantically. “How are we going to do this if she’s unconscious?”

  Corey held the girl’s shoulders and shook her a little, somewhere between a parent gently waking their child and a frustrated interrogator pressing for a confession.

  “Brix! Brix! Can you hear us?” he repeated.

  But there was no response. Brix’s eyes remained closed, her body limp.

  “What has he done to you?” Corey asked quietly as he looked her up and down. Then he glanced over at Daria. She was looking back at him with desperation in her eyes.

  “Alright, up we go!” he said. “Push her towards me.”

  Corey and Daria lifted and turned Brix’s body until she was seated sideways on the chair. Then he crouched down a bit and lifted her up over his shoulder, her torso hanging over his back while his arm wrapped around her legs to secure her in place.

  “Can you carry her all the way?” Daria asked.

  “We don’t have a choice. Come on, let’s go!”

  They hurried out of the lab but just before they started down the hall, Corey stopped.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Go back in there and grab one of those vials out of the refrigerator.”

  Daria didn’t question him. She ran back into the lab as quickly as she could and threw open the door to the fridge that Dr. Reston had been using earlier. There were several racks of test tubes and vials, and she tried as hard as she could to focus her mind.

  Which one was it?

  She touched one or two, trying to recall the correct colour. There were blue liquids, reddish-brown, even a purple one.

  Come on, Dashy! Remember!

  Then she decided that she didn’t have to remember. There were some hand towels folded on an upper shelf just beside the fridge. She grabbed one, laid it on the counter, and then grabbed one of each of the drugs - or whatever they were - and spread them out on the towel. She made sure they wouldn’t knock against each other as she quickly rolled it up, tucked it under her arm, and ran back out to meet Corey.

  They made their way back to the stairwell and back up to the main floor. Even though Brix was a petit girl, a few inches shorter than Daria, Corey was still moving slower from having to lug
her up each flight. But they finally reached the top and retraced their steps back to the ventilation duct where they had emerged earlier. Only this time, they passed it by, since there was no point being sneaky now.

  Just then, Brix woke up.

  Daria heard a long groan.

  “Stop!” she said to Corey, “I think she’s up!”

  He crouched a bit, so that her feet could touch the floor.

  “What... who...” Brix tried to speak but couldn’t form the words. Her eyelids looked heavy as she blinked them again and again. Her head wobbled on her neck like a newborn baby until she finally stiffened it and started to focus. Her eyes stayed open and her body found its sense of balance again.

  “Dashy?”

  “That’s right, Brix! I’m here! You’re safe!”

  “Safe? What?”

  “Look, I’ll explain in a few minutes, I promise! Do you think you can walk? Or run?”

  “Uh, ye- yeah, I think so, probably.” She shook her head a little and rubbed her eyes. “Yeah, I’m ok.”

  Daria looked at Corey for confirmation.

  “Good,” he said, nodding, “then you guys get moving!”

  “You guys?” Daria repeated.

  “I’m going to look for Aaron.”

  “What?! You’re not leaving us! No way!”

  “There’s no time, Daria. And I’m not leaving Aaron here.”

  “You’re supposed to protect us, remember? What if something happens?”

  He set his hand on her shoulder as he replied. “You’ll know what to do, Dasha.” Then he moved his hand up and set it on the side of her head. “Just listen.”

  Daria looked up at him in a strange mix of utter terror and complete confidence as his words sank into her, empowering her to keep moving.

  Then he rolled back the cuff of his sweatshirt and tapped his wristband in front of her. “Now, Jake’s expecting you. Go!”

  And with that, he took off in the opposite direction, leaving Daria and Brix alone.

  “Who was that guy?” her friend asked, still a little dazed.

  “Later.” Daria said. “We gotta run. Now!”

  They started jogging down the hall as Daria quickly oriented herself to the facility again. She knew where she was and she moved with purpose toward Corridor F, where the rest of their group should be waiting.

  They ran past the bank of windows that looked out on the gymnasium, then across the common area. She was remembering her own escape and how she had hoped she would never have to see any part of this place again. She certainly couldn’t have imagined that she’d be back less than a week later - and to rescue Brix!

  Daria led her around the last turn, to the access point for Corridor F.

  But as they rounded the corner, her heart skipped a beat. Her knees weakened and her mind filled with panic.

  There, at the end of the hall, the double doors were wide open, just as she had expected. Only, the rest of the scene before them was just about the worst thing Daria could have imagined.

  She saw two people.

  Jake, lying face-first on the floor. Motionless. Lifeless.

  And Dr. Reston towering over him. Smiling.

  25

  Month: 4 | Day: 5 | Year: 60

  JULIA, MAX, AND AURY

  “Is that the fire alarm?”

  “I think so.”

  “Should we go in?”

  “Corey hasn’t given the signal yet.”

  “But what if he can’t? Like, maybe they’re in trouble?”

  Jake wasn’t sure what to think. Julia had a point. Could this be Corey’s way of getting their attention?

  “What do you guys think?” he asked Max and Aury.

  “I don’t know, mate,” Max said, shaking his head. “That’s a tough call.”

  “What could we do anyway?” Aury replied. “I mean, none of us really knows our way around in there, right? We can’t just go blindly looking for them. We might end up in worse trouble!”

  “That’s true,” Jake replied.

  “Corey can handle himself,” Max added, trying to encourage them all.

  Julia paced back and forth in the hall where they were waiting.

  “Alright,” she finally said, “I’m going to have a look back outside, just to see if anything’s going on out there.”

  “Just be patient,” Jake replied.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not going to run around or do anything stupid. I’m just going to poke my head out, ok?”

  Jake could tell that Julia needed to do something, even if it was as simple as peeking out a doorway. She was nervous.

  “Ok, fine. Just be quick. And safe.”

  “Aye aye, captain!” she replied with a salute, then she turned and walked away down the metal corridor.

  _______________________

  Even though you could still hear it, there were no fire alarms inside Corridor F itself. But there were several outside the facility. As Julia reached the double doors where they had first entered the building, the squealing got louder. She pressed her ear up to the crack between the two doors but it was fruitless. The alarm drowned out any other sounds.

  She carefully pushed one of the doors and peeked through the opening. All she could see was the mostly abandoned parking lot and the field they had crossed earlier that night.

  Then she let that door close and she pushed on the other, so she could get a view in the opposite direction without having to stick her whole head through the opening.

  More field, and more parking lot. Julia was half disappointed, half relieved. As much as she was filled with nervous energy and wanted to be doing something, she certainly didn’t want things to get any more complicated than they already were.

  But just then, as she was about to let the door close, she spotted a shadow moving along the parking lot. Whoever it was, they were walking at an angle away from the building, towards one of the handful of cars parked outside.

  Julia could tell it was a woman, from the high heels. But it wasn’t until she passed out of the light of the building and into the light of one of the street lamps that Julia got a better glimpse of the rest of her.

  “Angela?”

  Julia didn’t stop to think. She lost herself in the moment and burst through the doors, running across the lot to catch her sister before she got into her car.

  “Angela!” she called out when she was halfway there. “Angela! Wait!”

  Her sister looked up. Julia had now reached the car and they stood on either side of it, staring at one another in silence for a few seconds. Angela was the first to speak.

  “What are you doing here, Julia?”

  “I could ask you the same thing.”

  Angela squinted and seemed to clench her teeth for a moment.

  “Why are you doing this?” Julia asked.

  “Doing what?”

  “This. This place,” she said, gesturing back toward the Institute. “It’s not who you are, you know that.”

  “You have no idea who I am!” her sister snapped back at her. “You left me four years ago. A lot has changed since then.”

  “I didn’t leave you, Angela. You turned your back on the truth. What was I supposed to do?”

  Julia could see the pain and rage in her sister’s eyes. But she could also see the vulnerability. There was something there - something that wanted to be found.

  “Come with me this time,” she said, reaching her hand out. “It’s not too late.”

  Angela looked away for a second, down at the ground to her left, then up at the lamp shining above them. Then she looked down at her handbag.

  “You know what,” she eventually replied, “you’re right. Let’s get out of here.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Completely.”

  “Just like that?” Julia asked. “But you’ve been so... hostile... for so long now.”

  “Look,” Angela replied, leaning on the roof of the car, “you have no idea what it’s like here. What it’s
like with him. I can’t keep doing this. I need to be free.”

  Her eyes were softer now. They shimmered in the light of the street lamp and Julia wondered if tears were forming in them.

  “Come on,” Angela said, waving her wristband over the car door. “Let’s go. Let’s leave this place.”

  “Uh, well,” Julia hesitated, “I can’t leave without my friends.”

  “Where are your friends?” her sister replied with a frown.

  “Inside.”

  “What are they doing in there?” As she spoke, Angela made her way around the car.

  “Can I tell you when it’s all over?” Julia replied, biting her lower lip.

  “Of course,” she smiled.

  They were now standing beside each other and, more than anything, Julia just wanted to hug her sister. But she was suddenly aware of the urgency of their mission once again and knew she should get back to Jake and the others before they started to worry.

  “Will you wait here?” she asked Angela.

  “Sure. But first...” She trailed off as she fiddled with her handbag, appearing more awkward than Julia could ever remember seeing her before. They were both confident and capable people, but even Julia would have admitted that Angela was usually the more calm, cool, and collected one. “Can I... have a hug?”

  Julia smiled widely. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time!”

  As she stepped toward her sister, she suddenly felt something in her stomach. And it didn’t stop in her stomach. Waves of piercing, fiery pain passed through her entire body, causing her to convulse then collapse to the ground. It only lasted a few seconds, then her body shuddered and she lost consciousness.

  Angela pressed a button on the side of the white rod in her hand, then pushed it in on either end until it retracted to the size of a pencil.

  She smiled as she looked down at her sister lying helpless at her feet.

  “One should never leave home without one’s taser.”

  She opened the passenger door, then leaned down and grabbed her sister under her arms. She dragged her closer to the car and, with a burst of energy, managed to lift her up just enough to get half her body onto the seat. Then she picked her up by the legs and got her the rest of the way into the car, shutting the door and locking it when she was finished.