Chapter 27
Kiara did not know what to do as the man laid on the floor face down. The doctors and soldiers walked around as if it was a normal occurrence for them to have a dead body on their floor.
"Call clean up," the woman holding the tablet said. "Make sure you check all the tags and gather as many of the tissue samples as you can."
The rest of the staff began to move. Kiara jumped out of the way, fearing they might be able to see her. She pressed herself up against the wall and gripped the sleeves of her sweater to keep herself from shaking.
The soldiers flipped the body over and dragged it across the room to a stretcher. The shattered glass on the floor scraped against the tiles making a horrific sound as the body moved. The man's head hung as a trail of fresh blood appeared along the path.
"Where do you want us to take him?" One of the soldiers asked.
"Third floor," the woman said. "Make sure the body stays warm during transport."
As the soldiers began to strap down the body onto the stretcher, Kiara caught a glimpse of something dark on the dead man's chest. She couldn't make out what it was from where she stood and she was too fearful to move. Her heart was slamming against her chets so fast, she feared the people in the room could hear her.
"Well, hurry up!" The woman snapped as she looked up from the tablet. "We don't have all day. I have to bring in the new subjects."
"Yes, m'am," the men said as they lifted the stretcher and began to head towards the door beside Kiara.
As they grew closer and closer, Kiara began to wish the wall would open up and swallow her. She held her breath and did not dare move as the body passed by her. Her mind was beginning to scream in panic when her eyes fell on the man's chest once more.
Qi Ren You Tian
All at once Kiara's mind snapped back into action. Before she could stop herself she pushed off of the wall and stepped forward. Her feet followed the soldiers out of the room, her eyes locked on the tattoo on the dead man's chest.
Qi Ren You Tian
A loud ringing started to rise up from somewhere inside Kiara. Her palms began to sweat as an intense heat like glowing amber started to flicker to life inside her stomach. She felt all the ice melt from her veins as she watched the body be carried into an elevator.
As soon as the doors closed, Kiara turned the ring around her fingers and opened a portal back to campus. Her vision blurred and her mind ran wild as she stepped through the portal and appeared on the top floor of the dome.
"Kiara?" Hayden paused in front of Clare's office.
"Is she in there?" Kiara asked, taking quick urgent strides towards the boy.
"No, they're both on Mount Olympus," Hayden said. "What's going on?"
"Where's Arla?"
"In her room," Hayden raised a brow as he watched Kiara march down the hall. "Kiara, what is going on?"
Kiara didn't answer as she shoved Arla's door open with so much force that the lamp on the table beside the door toppled over and shattered on the floor. Killian, who had been staging by the window, looked up in surprise.
"Ki?" He recognized the anger in those brown eyes immediately. "What's wro-"
Kiara didn't let him finish as she rushed forward and grabbed Arla's arm. Hayden ran into the room as Kiara pulled the girl to her feet and jerked her forward.
