by B L Teschner
“Don’t say yet. It’s not gonna happen to us; we’ll get out of here before then.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I am,” she said, moving us down to the next metal door. “We just have to try and stay positive. Now that I’ve seen Blue, I’m set on getting us all out of here.”
I pulled my sleeve down and quickly dusted off the little square window. “So am I.” I was so fueled by finding people that I wasn’t even afraid of looking into the rooms anymore. If we were to get caught, we would fight. And I was sure we would win. Standing tall, I peered straight in through the tiny window. It was Dwayne, fast asleep on his bed. “Dwayne!” I shouted as I slammed my palm against the glass.
He jolted awake and sat upright on his bed; he was wearing the same clothes we had last seen him in. “Toby?” Once he realized I was actually standing there, he jumped up and ran over to the window. “Damn it’s good to see you!”
Millie scooted in beside me. “You look terrible!” she told him. “Are you okay?”
“They’ve barely given me anything to eat since I’ve been in here; only water and a slice of bread yesterday.”
“What?” I blurted. “Are you serious? It’s been four days!”
He nodded. “Martha said she’s teaching me moderation. I’m so hungry you guys. I, I just try to sleep to pass the time.”
“Well we’re gonna get you outta here, but we found out that Martha and the doctor are the only ones who have the keys for these doors. We’re going to have to get them somehow.”
“I don’t know how that’ll work. The guards, they have no problem using their taser guns. They used one on me.”
“What?” Millie raged. “Are you okay?”
“I’m better now, but at the time it was brutal. Like I said, I’m just so hungry; that’s my biggest struggle.”
“Did they say when they’ll give you more food?” she asked.
“No, Martha just said she’s not feeding me anything else until after the procedure.” He came closer to the window. “You guys, I’m scared.” His confession momentarily fogged up the glass.
Millie moved closer as well. “Dwayne, I’m so sorry. It’s my fault you’re in here.”
His head shook from side to side. “No, it’s not your fault. I knew the rules, and I broke them.”
“But I—”
“It’s not your fault.” His words were stern and final. Millie nodded, her eyes dropping to the floor as she stepped back. Dwayne’s eyes cut back at me. “Just get me out of here. Please.”
“We will. We’re working on a way to do that.”
“They’ve been taking kids up the hall; I think that’s where they do whatever it is they do.” He paused, and his forehead creased. “They scream in that room.”
“We’ll go check it out,” I told him.
“Just be careful.”
“We will.”
Millie came back up to the glass. “We found Blue in here.”
His dry lips managed a small smile. “That’s great.”
“We’ll be back for the both of you, and the others as well.”
He nodded once, almost as if he didn’t believe us. “I’ll be waiting.”
“Let’s go.” We hurried up the hall to the last room. The door was metal like the rest, with rusted spots peppered around it. It was windowless.
“I’m afraid of what’s in there,” she confessed. “We can’t see in, and that scares me even more.”
“I don’t even know if we’ll be able to get in. It’s probably the same key as the other doors.” I took the set of keys from my pocket and started the routine, sliding each one in and giving it a turn. When the last one didn’t work, I let out a sigh of defeat. “Dammit.”
“How are we gonna—”
Her sentence was cut short when we heard movement from the adjoining hall. “Someone’s coming!”
“What are we gonna do?” she shrieked in a whisper.
I bit my lip and frantically scanned the hall of rusted metal doors. “Let’s try a door that doesn’t have a light on in the window. Maybe those ones are unlocked.”
We moved as silently as humanly possible, crossing to the other side of the hall and trying the closest door with a blackened window. To our relief, it was unlocked. We hurried in and closed it gently behind us, sucking ourselves to the wall as the familiar sound of Martha’s heels echoed off the tiled floors, getting closer by the second. I pulled the knife from my pocket and flashed it to Millie before holding it beside me, ready for a fight if they had seen us go in.
“This security breach is absurd,” Martha growled as we heard her step in front of the door across the hall and hastily unlock it. “Is it so hard to protect your keys so those snotty little teenagers don’t get them?”
“You know they’ve always been the stereotypical strong men with no brains about them.” That voice was from Dr. Sigtile; it must have been just the two of them.
The sound of the metal door they opened slamming against the wall made us both jump. “Surprising to hear you admit that about your sons. Still, it’s no excuse,” Martha huffed.
“I told you we should install card locks in the entire building with keycards so when something like this happens, all we have to do is re-key the cards. It’s simple.”
“And I’ve told you that it’s out of the question. Everything about this building is sentimental and most of it is original. I want to keep what’s left of the integrity of the building. Look at these keys we have; they’re magnificent. So old and unusual. It would be a pity to change them out for modern keycards.”
“We don’t have to change the locks down here, just in the main part of the building.”
“Those are old as well, and I like them.”
“But this has to do with security.”
“No it doesn’t,” she butted in. “It has everything to do with taking responsibility for your job duties, which is something Troy and Steven have a hard time doing around here.”
The doctor sighed, and I could almost imagine him lifting his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I told you we need to have security cameras that actually record footage, not just monitor it.”
“What, and risk our work being recorded? The kids coming out of my office in wheelchairs after going in completely unscathed?”
“We could delete the recordings at the end of each day.”
“It’s too risky.”
“Well what about non-recording monitors down here? We need to install them so we can keep an eye on things better.”
“And I’ve already told you on several occasions that it would be unwise. What if by chance someone goes into the security room where the monitors are and sees these very halls on those screens? Hmm? How will we explain that then?” There was a long pause. “Recordings make evidence. And so do non-recording monitors when put where people can stumble upon them.”
Someone tossed something down on what sounded like a metal tray. “I’m getting too old for this program,” the doctor admitted tiredly.
“Are you getting too old for the money?” Martha hissed in return. “Kids are getting much worse as time goes on. You’ve seen the rise in signups yourself. When we first started out after altering the program, it was only a handful of teens that were sent here. Now we have patients coming out of our ears.” Her heels clicked slowly around the room. “We have a good thing going here, brother. It’s the perfect program; you know that.”
“Yes, yes I know.”
“And look how successful you’ve been with your procedure,” she went on, working hard to stroke his confidence. “You’ve made it to where they wake up and don’t even remember what happened during and before their procedure. You are spectacular!”
“Mom and dad would no doubt be proud of what we’ve accomplished,” he admitted. “But this security breach can potentially expose us and we’d be locked away forever. Then how would mom and dad feel about us?”
“Is this our first rodeo?”
she asked. “Because you’re making it sound like this is our first rodeo. Kids have tried to run before and we’ve handled it. Don’t worry,” she assured him. “We keep good tabs on those spoiled brats, and we’ll find the key.”
“Well, you need to have a talk with Troy and Steven and tell them to finish putting back the closet the way it was left. The carpet wasn’t even pushed down in the corner.”
“They’re your children; why don’t you tell them?”
“They’ve never listened to me, even when they were young.”
“That’s very true… I’ll be sure to remind them.”
“And I’m tired of going down that damn ladder!” he exploded out of nowhere, once again making us jump. “I’m getting too old; we need another entrance!”
“Now Gordon, we’ve talked about—”
“It’s not easy for Troy and Steven either. They have a hell of a time forcing the kids down the ladder—”
“Which is what the taser is for,” she assured him firmly. “A taser to the neck will make even the toughest kid go down the hole.”
Millie and I held hands in the dark, thinking of what Dwayne had told us earlier.
“Last year that one little hussy almost broke her arm falling down the ladder when Steven tasered her,” the doctor recalled. “She had that large bruise you had to explain.”
“And because of your work—and Sarah’s persuasion afterward—she remembered that bruise as being from a hard fall while outside playing tennis, isn’t that right?”
It was silent for a moment before he answered, “Yes. But I’m still wanting another entrance in.”
“It’s out of the question. Any other kind of entrance could blow our cover. It stays how it is. Besides, if I can make it up and down that ladder in these heels, then you should have no problem at all.”
He scoffed loudly. “How many times are you going to say that to me?”
“Until you stop being a little crybaby over everything!”
“Crybaby?” he shrieked. “I’m not a crybaby!”
“All you do is cry about the problems you think we have: ‘Martha, the key system should be updated; Martha, we need better security’.”
“Well we do! And not just for situations like what we’re dealing with now.” He paused and moved something around in the room. “I just wish you would take my ideas seriously for once!”
“Which ideas?”
“Like security, for one. The implants.”
“The implants,” she repeated woefully. “Not this idea again.”
“It’s a good idea.”
“No, it’s not a good idea. You want to implant tracking devices inside the teenagers and risk a scar we can’t explain.”
“We can make a small incision along the hairline—”
“And when someone eventually realizes that every patient to ever grace our wonderful halls has the same scar… What then?”
He sighed with defeat. “It’s better than what we’re doing now for escapees.”
“The alarm along the perimeter of the property works just fine. It hasn’t let us down when someone has tried to escape; not even once.”
Fourteen
Millie
Martha and Dr. Sigtile finally left after another fifteen minutes of bickering. We waited in the dark for a long time afterward; we weren’t sure how long it was exactly. I sat with my back against the door and my knees drawn to my chest. The little square window above us let in a small beam of light that filtered through the musty-smelling room and landed on the wall directly across from us. That small patch of brightness faintly illuminated a spot that had the words “help me” written in blood that was so time-worn it was almost completely faded away. It was eerily dark; we couldn’t even see the corners of the room to know what else was in there with us. We just stayed with our sides pressed together and our eyes focused ahead on that small little patch of light that illuminated the history of someone else’s previous nightmare in the very same room we were hiding in.
The building was quiet when we finally decided to make a run for it. It was past bedtime and the halls were empty, including the inner halls of Martha’s office. We had poked our heads in the window of the surveillance room and had seen the guards on the screens in different areas of the building, which helped us figure out where to steer clear from. Getting out was easier than we expected it to be. It even gave us time to make sure the keys worked for the front door. Not wanting to set off an alarm, we only slid the key into the lock to make sure it released it; we didn’t crack the door open at all. We breathed a sigh of relief to find that it retreated from its lock, that we didn’t need the old skeleton key to get out.
Toby walked me to the entrance of my room. “Here,” he said after fishing around in the pocket of his dark-blue jeans and pulling out the set of keys. “Take them.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Yeah. And this, too.” He slid the knife from his pocket with his other hand and flipped it around, offering me the handle. “I’d feel better if you had this on you for protection.”
I took them both and stared down at them. “They, they’ll have my head if they catch me with these things.”
“Then don’t get caught.”
My mouth pulled down in one corner as I looked back up at him. “Easier said than done.”
With a sigh, he put his hands on my shoulders and pulled me closer to him, leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. “We haven’t been caught yet; maybe we’re better at this than we thought.”
My eyes met his. “I’m glad I have you with me.”
“I feel the same way.” He lowered his lips to mine and lingered there for a few seconds, letting our mouths dance together in a new way. When he pulled back, his thumb caressed my chin. “Tell Layla we found Dwayne and I’ll tell Connor.”
“I will,” I nodded.
His hands went back to his sides. “Keep an eye out tonight. Try to rest if you can and brainstorm about a way to get Martha’s key from her neck.”
“Do you think it’s possible?”
“We have no other choice. And we’re The Virtuous Five; anything is possible.”
“The Virtuous Five,” I repeated. “If anyone can figure this out, it’s us.”
With a sullen smile, he left me and hurried back to his room. Going inside my bunk room, I used the filtered moonlight that was shining in from the window to see where I was and find my bed. I slid the keys under my mattress, choosing to keep the knife with me. I stuck it in my back pocket and pulled my shirt down to cover over the handle before turning around and heading out to find Layla in her room. As I was leaving, Jill came out from the restrooms.
“Look who’s back,” she said.
I hurried out as quickly as I could, basically running as I left my room to go find Layla in hers. When I found her she was wide awake in her bed, staring at the ceiling.
“What the hell happened!” she shrieked, sitting up on her elbow. “I was worried sick about you!”
“Shh! I’m fine. We found Dwayne.”
I could see her eyes turn rounder in the darkness of the room. “Is he okay?”
“No. They’ve barely been giving him food.”
“Are you kidding me!”
“Shh! You’ll wake everyone up.”
“Too late.” We turned to see Jill at the foot of Layla’s bed with her arms crossed in their usual fashion. “Glad to see you’re back, Millie,” she smirked. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Back off, Jill,” Layla defended me while throwing the covers off her and standing up. “Go back to bed.”
“I’ll be happy to, after you give me that knife you stole from the cafeteria.”
Layla and I eyed each other. “What knife?” Layla bluffed.
“The knife you used to cut off the guard’s keys. Which, by the way, I’ll be taking those keys off your hands as well.”
“I don’t have it,” I lied.
“Y
eah, sure you don’t.” Her voice was loud; too loud.
“I, I don’t. Toby has it.”
“Well I know for a fact you have the knife; I saw you put it in your back pocket when I was coming out of the bathroom.”
Layla moved closer to her. “Why don’t you leave her the hell alone, huh?”
Jill matched her steps. “Why don’t you make me?”
“If you want a knife,” Layla snapped, “go get one yourself.”
“I am; from Millie!”
Layla lunged forward and pushed Jill back as hard as she could. “I said leave her alone!”
Jill’s face contorted with rage as the other girls in the room began to wake up from the commotion. “I’m taking that knife!” Jill yelled as she retaliated with a thrust to Layla’s chest, which made her arms cross over her breasts in pain.
“That’s enough!” I shouted as I pulled the knife from my back pocket and threw it on the ground away from us. “You can have it.”
Jill scurried over and picked it up. A devilish smile formed across her lips as she held it in her fist and slowly moved back over to us like a wolf stalking its prey. “I haven’t liked either of you since I first laid eyes on you,” she snarled.
“The feeling’s mutual,” Layla shot back.
“Why don’t you try and take me, huh?” Jill antagonized her while moving the knife in a come-hither motion. “I promise I’ll play fair.”
“No thanks. I don’t get my kicks from violence like you do.”
“No, you don’t,” Jill agreed. “You get your kicks off of any boy who’ll look at you.”
Layla’s eyes narrowed. “How dare you!” Unafraid of the knife Jill was clutching, she dove forward and slammed into her, taking her to the tiled floor with a loud thud; a heavy grunt left Jill’s mouth before she even had an idea of what had happened. More girls were now awake and they screamed at them to stop as Layla tried to wrestle the knife away from Jill.
The lights flicked on and their fighting halted. We all drew our attention to the front of the room. Troy was standing in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, a tired look on his face. “What the hell is going on here?” his voice boomed out from his mouth, making my hair stand on end. He walked in and stared down at Layla, who was straddling Jill and now had the knife in her hand. Troy’s eyes were ablaze as his arms uncrossed and he sauntered forward, bending over and holding his hand out. “Give it here!” Layla quickly obliged. “Sylvia was right!” he raged down at her as he wedged it under his belt at his side. “Someone did take a knife from the kitchen!”
