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.

wasn't any heat in her voice. Just a quiet acceptance, like she had already resigned herself to that fate. "Maybe," I said, and my voice got

We might find some leads or answers there." Cylan stayed silent, and the tension between us grew thicker. Finally, she let out a

muttered. "But if we get caught, this

feeling both relief and fear wash

We waited until midnight.

the only sounds were the occasional creak of the old building settling and the soft

glanced at her,

her face set with grim determination. "Let's

the girls, all sleeping obliviously,

than the last, like the air

we stood in front of

ran down my spine as I reached for the handle, and my fingers trembled. This wasn't my first time but it was still unnerving.

her face unreadable, but I saw the tension in

not...whatever. I was already on

creaked loudly in the silence. My heart leaped into my

But no one came.

beyond was dark, and the shadows looked long and menacing. The air smelled sterile, like

muffled on the linoleum floor. My skin crawled with the feeling that we shouldn't be there, that we were trespassing in a place where we didn't belong. "This place is creepy as hell," Cylan muttered in a

nodded as my throat

and the sound of our 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 my

mechanical hum came from somewhere

whispered and stopped

her eyes narrowed.

because I

the end of the hall. The door was slightly open and a faint light spilled out into the hallway. My heart raced

was filled with medical equipment. Machines I didn't recognize beeped softly and their screens showed numbers and graphs I couldn't understand. But that wasn't what made me freeze. It

patient files were piled high on a desk

toward them and my fingers trembled as I reached for the

My blood ran cold.

the hell?" I whispered and

My daily routines. Things I'd

I felt sick.

faintly. "They've been

as her eyes scanned the room. "This place is

could respond, there was a sound. A

My heart stopped.

to go," Cylan hissed and

bolted for the door as our footsteps were loud in the silence. The hallway seemed longer now and darker. Every corner felt like a trap. We were almost to the exit when

and my heart pounded in my