by K. J. McPike
“It worked!” Kai was by my bed in seconds, pulling back my sheet and undoing my restraints. “We can each take a section of the lab and map out all the exits,” he said breathlessly.
I nodded, wishing Dixon could go back to find the code to the room next door. But I knew we would have to pass a face scan to get the door open from the hall. Maybe that was why they’d set it up that way.
“Wait,” Elliot hissed. “If they can track us, they’ll know we’re out of our room. I don’t want them to know we’re trying to escape.”
The doors slid closed again, seeming foreboding all of a sudden.
“Maybe we can go in astral form,” Oxanna suggested. “Lali and I can explore while our bodies stay here with the trackers.”
“Oh, that’s smart,” Truman said. “Then they won’t know what we’re doing.”
“I’ll stay by the door,” Kai offered. “If you can’t permeate it, I’ll open it when I hear you start breathing funny so you can get back to your body.”
“Perfect.” I hadn’t thought of that. With the doors closed, the block wouldn’t just keep astral energy in—it would keep it out, too.
Oxanna’s astral form stepped out of her body as I closed my eyes and projected next to my own. Kai entered the code again, and I drifted into the hallway with my sister’s astral form right behind me. She had barely taken two steps when a computerized voice blared over a loudspeaker.
“Motion sensed in the hall,” it announced. “Activating Lockdown Mode.”
Chapter 22
Punishment
Sirens screamed as flashing red lights made the hallway look like a glowing inferno. I could hardly hear my thoughts as a steel barrier started moving down to block the entrance to our room.
“Let us back in!” Oxanna raced to bang on the doors. As soon as her astral fist connected with the metal, she bounced backward and fell to the floor.
The block. It must have repelled her. The double doors opened, the top quarter of the space between them obscured by the descending barrier.
“Oxie, get up!” I yelled, though I knew she couldn’t hear me in my astral form. I scanned the long corridor in search of something I could do to help, but there was nothing.
The barrier continued downward, threatening to keep us trapped in the hallway until the lab staff arrived. Even if they couldn’t see me out here, they would find my sister. I didn’t want to think about what they might do if they discovered her outside the room.
Oxanna scrambled upright as the doors pulled open again, the space now half obstructed.
“Come on!” Kai ducked to look into the hall, his arms waving frantically. “Get back in here!”
Oxanna dove toward the opening again, but her head skimmed the bottom of the barrier. She launched backward, letting out a cry as she collided with the tile.
“Lali!” Dixon’s shout was barely audible over the wailing sirens. “Oxie! Hurry up!”
I knew I should get back to my body, but I couldn’t leave my sister. She was on her feet again within seconds as the doors pulled apart once more, but the barrier was only inches from the ground. Before she could reach the shrinking opening, it was gone. The barrier locked into place, trapping us in the hallway.
But Oxanna wasn’t giving up. She charged straight at the metal, and her astral form bounced backward again. I silently willed her to stop. Hitting the block would drain her, and she wouldn’t be able to get back to her body. I had no idea what would happen if she ran out of energy while her astral form was trapped out here. Would it be deadly?
The sirens turned off suddenly, and the overhead lights came back on at once. Oh, no. They were coming; I was sure of it. The lab workers were going to catch my sister out here. What would they do when they did? I looked in both directions, dread building inside me.
Why did I let Oxanna come out here with me? I should have figured they would have a system to alert them if someone was out of place. They had everything.
“I am certain it is them.” Arlo’s voice carried down the hall, and my head snapped up. I could just make out the shape of his body and three others at the far end of the corridor. “The motion was detected along Hall Twenty-One, just in front of their room,” he barked. “Whatever they are planning, I will find someone who can tell me. For now, their punishment should deter any more escape attempts.”
Even in my astral form, I shuddered. Oxanna stared in the direction of the approaching figures, the terror on her face telling me she’d heard them too.
“Looks like someone was caught out of bed.” Two Astralii showed up from the opposite direction, and I whirled around to see their astral forms creeping up behind us. “Bad decision,” the one on the right taunted.
He grabbed Oxanna as the other entered a code into the door and stated his name to activate the laser scan. I knew neither of them could see that I was out here, but their presence made me want to run.
The barrier lifted, and the doors slid open to reveal Kai standing there. The second Astralis dove to tackle him, but he vanished and appeared across the room. While the guard holding Oxanna’s astral form was distracted, my sister disappeared back into her body. I returned to mine, too, gasping as I tried to sit up. The strap against my chest held me in place, and I could only look toward flashes of movement at the foot of my bed. Kai was fighting the Astralii.
“Stop or she dies!” One of the guards grabbed a fistful of my hair and jerked my head up so hard that I was sure he pulled a muscle in my neck.
Kai froze, and the Astralis let out a sharp laugh as he released me. “That is what I thought. I will make sure Arlo knows to punish you, as well.”
As if on cue, Arlo walked through the doors in his physical body. The two workers who had been with him were nowhere to be seen as he ran a hand along his beard and clicked his tongue. “Oh dear. An escape attempt?” His beady eyes sized up Kai. “I would be much more upset if I were not so eager to watch your punishment.”
The words sent a chill crawling up my spine.
“He did not act alone,” the Astralis near the head of my bed said. “The girl was in the hallway.” He pointed a silver hand toward where Oxanna lay to my left, and my heart thumped even harder.
“Well, well, well.” Arlo smiled without humor. “Then this will be twice as fun. Lift their beds.”
The Astralis near me hit the button to raise the top of my mattress until I was sitting up with my sheet bunched in my lap. Then he moved to lift the others while the second guard stood off to the side restraining Kai. Once we were all facing the wall at our feet, Arlo hit a small lever in the corner that I hadn’t noticed before.
“Now pay attention,” he taunted, as if we had a choice. The metal of the wall lifted soundlessly to reveal a window between our room and the next. On the opposite side of the glass were more beds that mirrored ours, all of them lined up along the far wall and facing us. Ulyxses, Macy, Caleb, Kala, Amber-Ann, and Bianca looked back at us, all of their mattresses put into sitting positions, too.
Amber-Ann cried out for her brother at the same time I cried out for mine. I heard her as clear as if she were right next to us.
“I warned you that your actions would not only affect you, but also those you care about,” Arlo said, though he was looking at the group in the other room. “It is a shame you did not heed that warning.”
On the opposite side of the glass, two lab workers wheeled in a table with an attached seat and a black box on the surface. I didn’t know what it was, but I tensed at the sight.
“Bring the offenders to the next room,” Arlo instructed. “Everyone else will watch and listen.” He punched in the code to open the doors and disappeared out into the hallway.
The guard restraining Kai followed, and the second went to work letting Oxanna out of her bed. My stomach tied itself in knots, and I had to bite down on my tongue to keep from crying out. I didn’t want to make it worse for them, but I couldn’t stand feeling helpless as I watched the Astralis march my sister out
into the hall.
“What are they gonna do?” Truman whispered.
I glanced at him, unable to find my voice to answer. I knew I couldn’t stop whatever was about to happen—even if I fought back, they could kill any one of us—but my brain still cycled through possibilities.
None of them were viable options to help.
Arlo stepped into the next room and looked at the group still tied to their beds like he was eager to pick out a lamb for slaughter. Oxanna and Kai moved in behind him with guards at their backs.
“The girl will begin,” Arlo said. “With this one.” He gestured to Ulyxses, and an invisible force punched me in the stomach. What were they going to do to my brother?
The lab workers pushed the table to the foot of Ulyxses’ bed so the chair faced him as they lifted the black box. Beneath it was a device with a dial on one side and a red button on the other. Coming out of the top were red and black clamps that reminded me of jumper cables.
The guard holding onto Oxanna threw her down into the chair attached to the table, and the workers in their physical bodies lifted the sheet over Ulyxses and tossed it to the side. They attached a clamp to each of my brother’s bare feet, and my blood ran cold.
Shocks.
They were going to shock him with that thing.
“No,” I whimpered. The room seemed to sway around me, and I told myself this couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be happening. I looked at the others, but their wide eyes were glued on the other room.
“Ten by ten,” Arlo sang. “Ten shocks, increasing by ten thousand volts.” He looked at Oxanna, sadistic glee lifting his features. “All you have to do is press the button.”
“No.” She shook her head desperately. “I won’t.”
Arlo shrugged. “It is either that, or the boy dies. We have no use for him other than leverage. If he cannot even serve that purpose, well…”
Every part of me went numb. I wanted to scream, but I feared that would only make it worse.
“Just do it, Oxie.” Ulyxses tried to sound brave, but the tremble in his voice gave him away.
“I can’t,” Oxanna cried, her strained breathing loud enough for me to hear from my bed.
“You should have thought of that before you tried to escape,” Arlo said. “Any more hesitation and it will increase to fifteen by fifteen.”
I clutched the sheet in my hands. The more she protested, the more they were going to make him suffer.
“Oxie, do it.” Ulyxses pressed his lips together, his brow furrowing in anticipation.
Oxanna’s whole body trembled, but her arms stayed limp at her sides.
Arlo heaved a sigh. “I am losing my patience. It seems killing him would be faster.”
“Oxie!” I shouted.
“I’m sorry, Lyx,” she choked out, lifting a shaky arm toward the button. “I’m so sorry.”
“Now!” the guard commanded.
Oxanna let out a loud sob and jammed her hand onto the button. I heard a zap, and Ulyxses let out a sound that made my stomach heave. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting back a gag. This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening. I repeated the thought over and over, trying to drown out Ulyxses’ cries.
The guard next to me elbowed me with his icy astral arm. “You watch, or you will go over there next.”
Tears dripped down my cheeks as I forced myself to look up. Everything blurred out of focus, and all I heard was my sister sobbing, “I’m sorry.”
“Again.” Arlo’s voice was cold and emotionless as he twisted the dial to increase the voltage. Rage burned inside me like I’d never known it. In that moment, I could have killed him. I could have killed every single Astralis who worked for that monster.
Ulyxses let out another scream that chilled my bones. His eyes rolled back as his head slumped forward, and for one horrifying moment, I feared they had killed him.
But Arlo moved toward my brother and wagged a finger. “Ah ah ah. You do not get to be unconscious for the fun.” He pulled something out of his lab coat pocket and jabbed it at Ulyxses. My brother’s eyes flew open, and then scrunched in pain.
The longest moments I’d ever experienced passed as Oxanna was forced to push the button seven more times. Ulyxses’ screams burned into my mind, and I knew I would never be able to forget the sounds. I could hear Amber-Ann crying softly, but I didn’t dare look in her direction for fear they would make me hurt someone.
After the last shock, Ulyxses lay motionless as the workers took the clamps off his toes. His labored breath was the only indication that he was alive.
“Remember this if you feel like trying to sneak out again,” Arlo said, sneering as the other guard lifted Oxanna out of the seat. She could hardly even stand.
“Now it is his turn.” Arlo nodded toward Kai. “Bring over his sister.”
Kai’s face went white.
No. I couldn’t watch this again.
Kala didn’t make a sound as they put the clamps on her toes, but Kai shook his head, muttering “no” over and over. They forced him into the chair, and he pleaded, “Let her do it. Put those things on my feet so she can punish me.”
Arlo narrowed his eyes. “You will do it this way, or you will watch her die. Take your pick.”
Kai made a choking sound, but Kala held her head high, not an ounce of fear showing through her smooth expression. “I will survive this,” she said. “You will, too.”
Arlo tilted his head to the side with something like fascination as he looked at her. Then he moved back into his cold, stoic demeanor. “Now,” he said.
Kai’s hands raked through his hair three times before he managed to press the button. Kala’s breath shook, but the most the shocks got out of her was a whimper. It made me wonder what they had put her through before. She had acted as if she was treated wonderfully at the lab, but if these were the punishment tactics, how could she have felt any loyalty to Arlo?
When Kai finished, Kala’s eyes had teared, but she wasn’t crying. I didn’t have the ability to cry anymore, either. Numbness settled over me like a thick fog as I watched the guards escort Kai and Oxanna back into the hallway. How could they go along with this? Were they just cooperating to make sure they didn’t go through punishments?
The doors to our room opened, and I couldn’t even look up. The guards strapped Kai and Oxanna to their beds, warning us that if they found anyone without restraints in the morning, we would pay. Then they left with a taunting, “Good night.”
The doors closed, leaving us in silence. No one tried to fill it.
No one spoke for the rest of the night.
Chapter 23
Polygraph
Nothing felt real the next morning. My mind had detached from my body, and it was like I was observing my life from the outside, like the metal walls around me held someone else prisoner. I wasn’t even sure if I’d slept. I didn’t care.
I stared up at the ceiling, not even bothering to squint against the painfully bright lights as I listened to the others breathe. Oxanna lay in the bed next to me, but she hadn’t spoken or looked my way since she came back into the room. I knew she was strong, but her silence made me worry that last night had broken her. Worse yet, there was nothing I could do about it. All the encouraging words in the world wouldn’t mean anything. We needed more than words. We needed a plan to get out of this nightmare.
The doors opened, and Cora walked into the room with the usual spring in her step. “Rise and shine!” Her chipper voice ignited the heat of loathing deep in my gut. “Today you all get new trackers.”
I lifted my head off the bed, feeling like my neck was supporting a bowling ball. “New trackers?”
She nodded, but her slicked back orange hair didn’t budge. “And a monitor.” Digging into one of her lab coat’s pockets, she took out something that looked like a small radio and set it on top of the cabinet. I pressed my teeth together. Now they were going to listen to our conversations, too? I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it felt like anot
her blow.
“Why?” Elliot asked as a fair-skinned female who I recognized as Kai’s nurse walked into the room.
Cora ignored his question and swiped a card to pull open the cabinet. When she turned around again, she was holding two devices like the one she’d used to inject my tracker.
Kai’s nurse moved to Oxanna’s bed, and Cora came to my side. Fearing what might happen if I put up a fight, I didn’t struggle as she held the device over my forearm. The tracker below my skin glowed green, and Cora centered the tip of the tool in the circle of light. Then she pressed the middle button, and something sliced into my flesh. I cried out, feeling a bite of heat as the device seared the same spot.
“One out,” Cora chirped as Oxanna yelped beside me. I winced, glancing down at my arm. A small burn mark had puckered the skin into a red line no more than a quarter of an inch wide. Tugging a black plastic bag out of her pocket, Cora held the device over the opening and pressed the smallest button on the end. I heard a click, and something—presumably my old tracker—dropped into the bag.
“And now, one in.” This time, when Cora put the thing to my arm, it delivered the same stabbing pain I’d felt when she’d inserted the first tracker. The new one glowed green just below the mark left from removing the old.
Cora moved to Dixon’s bedside, and my brother asked, “Why do we need new ones?”
The two nurses ignored his question, staying silent as they finished injecting the new trackers and dumping the old ones.
Once they were done with everyone, we got the explanation.
“You now have linked pairs,” Kai’s nurse announced, her wide face holding a small amount of the cheer Cora’s always seemed to have. I wondered if she was new, or just more conscientious. “Each holds inside it a poison that will be triggered if the other goes out of range.”
“What?” Kai gasped.
“If you go more than one kilometer from the lab, it will kill whoever shares your linked pair.” Cora spoke casually, as if she were discussing the weather. The walls seemed to close in on me as the reality of her words hit. The only way out of here was death.
