Darn Stupid Brother You Are by Mairee

Chapter 30

(Angel's POV)

I couldn't stop thinking about it.

The door. The warning. Dr. Nixon's face was pale, and she was shaking. Why did she suddenly change? Why was she willing to help us get out of the center now? Did something happen with Dr. Joe? Or was she just playing us? How did she even know we were in the lounge?

Everything spun in my head, and it felt like I was trapped in a nightmare I couldn't wake up from.

My body moved on autopilot, and I walked down the hall to my dorm room. The flickering lights cast shadows that felt too long and twisted. I didn't even realize where I was going until I stopped in front of our room.

I knocked once, then twice. My heart pounded.

I wonder why I was knocking but I was thinking of ten different things at the same time, so I didn't even know what my body was doing.

The door creaked open, and there she was. Cylan. Her face was blank, as always. But there was something in her eyes, something curious. "Why are you so up late?" she asked, and her voice was low, barely above a whisper.

I stepped inside quickly. The air in the room felt thick and heavy.

"I need to talk to you," I said, and I closed the door behind me. The other girls were asleep.

Cylan crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "About?"

I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice steady. "The noises in the West Wing."

Her eyes flickered for just a second, then she looked away like she didn't care. But I knew she did.

"I've heard them," she said, and her voice was flat.

I knew it.

"And?" I pushed and stepped closer. "What do you think they are?"

She shrugged, and her gaze still avoided mine. "Does it matter?"

"Yes," I said, more forceful than I meant to. "It matters."

Cylan finally looked at me, and there was something dark in her eyes, something haunted. "What are you trying to say, Angel?"

"I want to find out," I whispered, and the words tumbled out before I could stop them. "I want to know what's going on in this place."

She watched me, and her expression stayed unreadable. I couldn't tell if she was considering it or if she thought I was insane.

like she had already resigned herself to that

you care about what they did to her? We might find some leads or answers there." Cylan stayed silent, and the tension between us grew

"But if we

both relief and fear wash over me.

We waited until midnight.

quiet, and the only sounds were the occasional creak of the old

at her, my

nodded, and her face set with grim determination.

the girls, all sleeping obliviously, before

and the darkness pressed in around us. Every step felt heavier than the last, like the air was thick

of the door

reached for the handle, and my fingers trembled. This wasn't

stood beside me, her face unreadable, but I saw the

Dr. Nixon's warning. Maybe....or maybe not...whatever. I was already on to

heart leaped into

But no one came.

the shadows looked long and menacing. The air smelled sterile, like a hospital. Cold

our footsteps were muffled on the linoleum floor. My skin crawled with the feeling that we shouldn't be there, that we were

my throat was

breathing was the only noise in the heavy silence. Doors lined the walls and each one was closed and locked. But it wasn't the rooms that caught

from somewhere ahead

you hear that?" I whispered and stopped

as her eyes narrowed. "What

because

was slightly open and a

beeped softly and their screens showed numbers and graphs I couldn't understand. But

patient files were piled high on a desk in the

them and my fingers trembled as I reached for

My blood ran cold.

hell?" I whispered and

Detailed descriptions of me. My medical history. My daily routines. Things

I felt sick.

murmured faintly. "They've been watching us

scanned the room. "This place is a

there was a sound. A loud clang came from

My heart stopped.

to go," Cylan hissed and

The hallway seemed longer now and darker. Every corner

and my heart