My entire body had frozen, the brother that I hadn’t seen in three years suddenly right there in front of me. He stood back up, the image ripped away from me as I blinked, unable to believe that I’d actually seen him. A little part of me was so scared he was dead. But he wasn’t. He was right here. I started to sit up, ready to run over to him, already bursting with excitement but as I straightened up behind the storage container, I heard the door open again. Another set of footsteps plodded across the room. I slid back down the wall, shaking, as I tried to stay quiet even though there was a sob working its way up my throat.
“Hey, Eli.” Of course, it had to be Caden. His voice, even with that soft American twang, sent chills across my body, that same fear pounding through my veins again. The kind of all-consuming fear that set every nerve ending on fire, that robbed the breath from my lungs and put a chokehold around my throat. I could feel myself falling down into a hole, the grey haze closing in. He was right there. I took a shaking breath, hoping they couldn’t hear me. To my ears it sounded like I was screaming with every intake of breath. As the wave of fear peaked, crashing back over me, the soft response held it back.
“What do you want, Caden?” There was venom in his voice, but it was still my Eli. My brother. The fear retreated. Eli was here. I was okay.
“You’re needed in Lab 2.” This time Caden’s voice didn’t have as much of a hold over me. It tickled at the barriers of my mind, almost breaking through, but it was kept at bay. There was a sigh, then the chair scraped back across the floor.
“Fine.” Despite everything, I smiled. Two sets of footsteps walked back across the room and the door shut with a loud click. Even though Eli was leaving, he was here, and he was alive.
I could save him.
Chapter 13
I held my breath until I was sure they had left. The silence seemed to stretch around me, the small space I was crouched in echoing. My breathing was ragged, the shock of seeing Eli after so many years catching up to me in a rush. It was better than I’d hoped for. He was alive and still… well… Eli. I could feel the tears coming on. Sitting back, I blinked them away. I didn’t have time for this. Now that I knew Eli was okay, I had to get him out of here, which meant I had to find him, again. After a few more seconds of listening for any footsteps, I stood up and shimmied out from behind the storage container. The room looked the same as it did before Eli had even come in; hopefully Caden hadn’t noticed the open vent. Chewing my lip, I wondered if I should put the vent cover back over in case anyone else came into the room. Clambering up onto the desk, I put a foot on one of the boxes and scrambled up onto the filing cabinet. It was not as easy as the descent. Reaching one hand up into the vent, I felt around for the cover; I wasn’t very stable stood on the cabinet, but I didn’t have much choice other than to stretch up onto my tiptoes, both hands in the vent.
Let’s hope this isn’t my route out. I don’t think I’ve got the upper body strength to get back in there.
Eventually, I grasped hold of the edge of the vent cover, the sharp metal digging into my fingers. Slowly, I slid it over, wincing as it made a scraping sound against the bottom of the vent. I tried to lift it from the edge I had hold of, but the weight of the cover was a lot more than I could support from the position I was in.
I doubt anyone is listening to the sounds in the vents. It probably sounds like machinery.
That didn’t stop my heart from racing as I inched the vent closer; it dropped as it reached the opening, almost landing on my head. Cursing under my breath, I pushed it back up, moving my hands so that they were flat on the grate instead of grasping the edges. Holding my breath, I moved it into place, breathing out when it settled into the opening without any loud crashes or bangs. Pretty successful all things considered. Hopping back down from the filing cabinet, which wobbled precariously under my feet, I slid off the desk and landed on the floor. I brushed some hair out of my face, the wayward waves frizzing up, half from the warmth and half from the stress. Luckily, I hadn’t had to look in a mirror since my trek through the Black Forest. Eli might not even recognise me. I might not even recognise me. Picking my backpack up from the floor near the desk, I started planning.
Caden had said Eli was needed in Lab 2. Hopefully they put signs on their labs. Which meant, I needed to somehow get to Lab 2 without being seen and then get Eli out of there without either of us being seen. Easy. The sheer impossibility of what I was about to try and do weighed down on my shoulders. Up until this point, it hadn’t exactly been plain sailing but, apart from Caden, I hadn’t had to plan for other people. It had been me, a genetically modified otter and a Loch Ness Monster which, in my opinion, was still much easier than people. My leg started throbbing, the cream having slowly worn off over the course of the day. Or, maybe, it was just the memory of good old Nessie trying to kill me. I didn’t really have the time or the option to unbind and redress my leg here; I was just going to have to deal with the pain. Hitching my bag onto my shoulders, I made my way over to the same position I’d been in before, trying to hear any footsteps outside the door. Again, it sounded quiet. I inched open the door, peeking out, relieved when the hallway came up empty. I quickly slipped out of the room, making sure the door didn’t slam behind me. Now this was uncharted territory. A very large part of me would have liked to stay in my nice, small deserted room, waiting for Eli to come back, but that was wasting time. Unlike the rest of the building, which seemed to be made of some kind of reinforced metal, the floor was covered in lino. Probably, I realised with a jolt of discomfort, so they could easily clean up any mess. I had no idea which way Eli and Caden had gone. I knew which way the room I’d seen, with your friendly neighbourhood crazy scientists Marc and Tomas, was. I didn’t know if that was the right direction; they had been in some kind of lab though, so it made sense to head that way even if I really didn’t want to.
I stepped over to the other side of the hallway, relieved that my shoes didn’t make too much of a noise on the lino, then hugged the wall as I crept towards the corner. I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do if someone appeared. The likelihood was panic. Poking my head around the corner, I grinned to see another empty corridor. It was lined with more doors on the left-hand side, some with windows but the right wall was bare. Hopefully no one decided to go on their break as I was walking. From where I was, I could see tiny signs next to each of the doors. As I slipped around the corner, I squinted at the closest one. This one, I was glad to see, didn’t have a window.
Lab 4.
I was pretty sure that was the one I’d seen earlier, so I quickly moved past it, constantly checking behind me. The next door was a few metres down, but it also had a large window. Dropping to my knees, I scurried over until I was under the window. A quick glance in revealed that, luckily, it seemed empty. I could only see half of the room, but when after a few seconds no one had appeared, I was pretty sure it was vacant. That didn’t mean I was going to stand up. If I could see myself, I probably would have laughed as I began crawling along the floor, careful to keep out of the view of the window, just in case. The sign next to the door of that one read Lab 3. A small thrill of excitement (or possibly gut-wrenching fear, it was hard to tell now) ran across my skin; that meant that Lab 2 was next, which meant Eli. Lab 2 also had a window, so at least I could see if anyone else was in the room before I charged in like a madwoman. I started crawling towards it, but before I reached the window, I heard a handle creak behind me. Spinning round, I saw the door of Lab 4 begin to open.
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
I didn’t have much time to make a decision. Hoping that I was right about Lab 3, I darted to the door and opened it, slipping inside before the door to Lab 4 had fully swung open. I crouched behind it, panting as voices filled the hallway.
Don’t come this way, don’t come this way. There isn’t anymore to this plan.
The voices faded off, clearly having gone around the corner I had been hiding behind only minutes earlier. Closing my eyes,
I slumped against the closed door of the Lab. After a few seconds the rushing in my ears had subsided to gentle ocean waves and I looked up. The bit of the lab I had seen from the hallway had really only been half of it. Off to my right was a lot more. The first thing I could see, and would really have preferred not to see, was two cages. The same cages as in the previous lab. They were dark, the right half of the lab entirely in shadow, with only a dim idea of the layout coming from the lights on the left-hand side. But even in the low light, the thick metal bars of the cages were unmistakeable. I felt myself recoil, the memory of the panther and the dead experiment still far too fresh in my mind.
I hope Pip’s okay.
The thought popped into my head, unbidden. Well, kind of. I was staring at the same cages I’d rescued him from after all. It was now approaching… I checked my phone… nearly eighteen hours since I’d set off from Freiburg. If he’d understood what I’d been telling him then he should be okay, but there was still the little doubt at the back of my mind. Shaking off the thoughts, I crept further into the right- hand side of the lab. I could hardly go anywhere else yet, especially when Marc and Tomas could appear at any moment in the hallway.
Maybe there’s another vent through to Lab 2.
I glanced around, wondering if turning the light on would alert anyone outside the room that I was here. I decided against it, even though I was becoming decidedly uncomfortable in badly lit spaces. The rest of the right-hand side of the Lab seemed to be mostly machines that I had no idea what to do with. Or what they were called. You could tell me they created magic fairy dust and I would be none the wiser. Shrugging, I scanned the ceiling for a vent but there didn’t seem to be any visible. Resolving instead to wait by the window until I saw Marc and Tomas go back into the neighbouring lab, I turned away from the darkened space, ready to be back in the well-lit, if still creepily clinical, area. It was as I turned that I heard it. It sounded, to begin with, like air blowing through a small gap, that rasping kind of sound. It was only as I paused and listened closer that I realised it wasn’t a continuous noise; instead it seemed to be coming in bursts, pausing every few seconds and starting again. Like breathing.
Like…breathing…
Slowly, I turned back to the cages, eyes wide.
Please don’t let something be in there. I really don’t want to see anymore of their awful experiments.
It kept going, the rasping combined with a rattling, flehm-y noise. I tiptoed over to the nearest cage, squinting through the dark. A pair of almost completely white eyes stared back at me. I resisted the sound that jumped into my throat.
Can I, for once, not find some kind of twisted experiment in one of these cages? Is that too much to ask?
The white eyes continued to stare at me, shuttering off into darkness every now and then as the creature blinked. From the sound of it’s breathing, it wasn’t doing well. I crept a bit closer, crouching down by the bars. I still had my torch in my bag, so I grabbed it, turning on the beam. I needed new batteries, the light dimmer than before, but it still did the trick. Carefully I directed the beam towards the cage, moving in tiny increments so I didn’t startle whatever was in there. That was the last thing I needed. To begin with, I couldn’t see anything wrong with it, besides the eyes. From its position on the floor, it looked exactly like a wolf. It had black fur, and a long snout with large canines. Its chest was rising and falling quickly, the black fur reflecting the light from the torch making it look wet. It was only when I moved the beam across the rest of its body that I realised it actually was wet. The liquid was so dark, it almost couldn’t be distinguished from the colour of the fur. I could only assume there was some kind of wound on its side, probably caused by one of the scientists. As I started to get up, I bumped my head on something hanging from the bars. Moving back, I could see it was a whiteboard, again the same as the labs in Scotland. I quickly moved the torch beam onto the whiteboard,
WOL304CCAR
Developed abnormalities – cataracts in eyes. Suggest immediate removal of embryo. Subject can then be terminated.
I looked back at the creature in the cage with pity. The cataracts explained the nearly white eyes. I didn’t know how much it could see but it flinched whenever my torch beam landed directly on it. But it was the realisation of why there was blood on its side that hit the hardest. This animal had been pregnant, and they’d taken it after she had developed cataracts. Whatever had been inside her was clearly something important. I shuddered to think what it was. I backed away from the cage; it didn’t even look like they were going to ‘terminate’ it, as the whiteboard had suggested. From the state of the wolf, it looked like they were just going to let it die. Turning off the torch, I moved with determination back towards the window. I was done with this company and these people. I didn’t want to have to spend a minute longer than I had to here. They were monsters, much worse than what they were creating. I didn’t want to dwell on how much of a hand Eli had had in all of this. From my vantage point at the edge of the window I could see that the hallway was empty; my foray over to the cages meant I had no idea if the scientists had gone back into the lab yet, but I didn’t want to stay in this lab any longer. I had a plan.
Step 1: Get next door.
Step 2: Get Eli.
Step 3: Get the hell out of here.
I never said it was a good plan. Wrenching the handle a little more forcefully than it needed, I stepped back out into the hallway. It was quiet, but that didn’t mean anything. I realised too late that they probably had cameras in at least one of the places I’d been in. Either that meant they were playing with me, or I’d managed to avoid being seen by being in the right place at the right moment. I didn’t think that luck was going to stick with me. Pulling the door shut behind me, I made my way along the corridor again, towards Lab 2. As I was within a couple of metres of the door, I heard the footsteps I’d been dreading behind me. There was a moment of silence as I slowed, hoping they just didn’t see me.
“Hey!”
Of course, they saw me. I was hardly inconspicuous. Maybe I should have stolen a lab coat. The footsteps picked up behind me, two sets running. I made a break for the door, but before I could reach it, I was tackled from behind, hitting the ground with a thud. Rough hands pulled me up and spun me round and I found myself face to face with Marc, the older of the two scientists. He glared down at me, his eyes narrowed, and I felt myself trying to lean back as if, if I leaned back far enough, I’d be able to avoid his gaze or disappear into the cold lino. I’d made a mistake earlier thinking his face looked like it could be kind. That was definitely not the case now. Behind him, I could see Tomas, his mouth set in a hard line as he also glared at me.
“Who are you?” Marc’s voice was gruff and deep as he snapped at me. I shook my head instead of giving an answer. I didn’t know what to say. I’d managed to make it this far but now I was literally in the hands of the enemy. Again. His grip tightened on my upper arm,
“Who. Are. You?” I avoided his gaze, looking down at the floor. After a few seconds of silence, I found my voice again.
“No one. I’m no one.” I could hardly say I was Eli’s sister. I had no idea what that would do. Tomas stepped up so he was next to Marc instead of behind him, leaning close enough to my face that I could almost feel the stubble of his facial hair.
“You might as well tell us. You’ll be talking one way or another. How did you get in here?” His voice was equally pissed off, but not as deep, giving him less of the evil villain vibe that Marc had going on. It gave me a bit of confidence.
“You have really shit security.” I grinned as I said it, but soon wished that I hadn’t. It was not well received. Marc’s glare deepened. Still maintaining a firm grip on my arm, he turned to mutter to Tomas,
“Go get someone to take her to Rick. If she’s broken in, we have no idea how much she knows. Rick will find out.” Tomas nodded, starting to spin on his heel but before he could take another step, a voice that was unfortunately
well known to me interrupted us.
“There’s no need. I’ll take her.” I tried to stop the involuntary stiffening of my shoulders, but I couldn’t. I felt the blood drain from my face. Marc saw it and gave a small smirk to the person I knew was stood behind me.
“Looks like you might do a better job of getting her to talk. She’s all yours.” With a shove, he pushed me backwards. I stumbled across the lino until I hit a solid object, his hands coming up to steady me, warm against my skin. At one point, I might have blushed at that, but now it just sent ice cold terror racing through my veins. Marc and Tomas nodded at the bastard behind me and disappeared back into their lab. The hallway fell quiet. I couldn’t say silent because the fury was radiating off of him in waves so violent, they were almost tangible, and my breathing was pattering out of control. The air held a baited tension, the kind that was waiting for one of us to snap first, for one of us to slip and lose the tentative hold we had on our emotions. I didn’t want it to be me. It was only when he dropped his hand, dragging his fingertips down my arm, that I moved. Spinning round, I scrambled backwards, barely able to make myself meet his eyes. I managed. They were pure fury, now the grey of rolling thunderclouds. I couldn’t stop my hands from trembling so I gripped them tightly into fists instead.
This is it. He’s going to kill you. Himself this time.
I had nothing; no way out, no weapons besides a worn-out torch, nothing to bargain. I could only hope that his desire to kill me was superseded by his ability to follow protocol, which I assumed was taking me to Rick. They hadn’t given a second name, but it couldn’t be anyone other than the founder of GAI, Rick Laws. As I mused this over in my head, Caden seemed to make a decision. He stepped forwards, his torso towering over me so I was forced to crane my head up to stay looking at his face. His hands gripped my shoulders, nails digging through the fabric into my skin. I winced but didn’t say anything. When he spoke, in a low, barely controlled voice, it took me a few seconds to register it. It had hardly been louder than a whisper.
Under Loch and Key Page 20