UNDER EDITING 𝐺𝑅𝐴𝑉𝐸 𝐷𝐴𝑁𝐺𝐸𝑅 | 𝐴𝑃𝑂𝐶𝐴𝐿𝑌𝑃𝑆𝐸 ✔︎

The Power A Textbook Holds

(Jasper's POV)

As I munch on syrup glazed waffle, I notice how much more awake Noah looks now that he's been sleeping.

There weren't many places to sit today, so we ended up having to sit with Ryder and his friends. We would've sat with Lexi and Cooper but they decided to bring their breakfast to the medical ward. I don't really have a problem with any of them, except for Ryder himself. Especially for making Noah uncomfortable.

We were at the end of the table, not really making any conversation with any of them. Rae was reading a book as always, Ezra was staring at her, Aria was playing with her food and making Calvin laugh, and Ryder just eats his food while taking little glances at Noah and I.

Rae stands up and walks over to our end of the table without announcing anything. She pulls out the empty chair beside Noah and sits down.

"Oh Rae, hi-"

"I need to show you something." She interrupts Noah. She plops the book on the table. Now that I get a better look at it, it's not something she would normally read. We normally see her with romance or action novels but this looked like a text book.

Rae flips open the green text book. "Okay so don't mention this to anyone... but I stole this from the lab."

Our eyes both go wide. "What? How did you do that? They have a door guard there ever since the last incident." I whisper. She nods her head. "Yeah, but I got lucky. The guard passed out on watch so I snuck right in when the scientists weren't working."

Noah and I just nod. We were obviously both confused as to why she would steal a random text book from the lab anyway.. what would she want with it.

"Why did you do it?" Noah asks blankly. Rae grabs a sticky note attached to a page and flips to it. "I got to thinking about how long it's been taking the scientists to find a cure. Even before your sister got it, someone else had it. That was awhile ago though. They always say that they're coming close to an antidote but never get it in time."

I noticed Noah's face turn to worry. She couldn't of used a better choice of words?

"So why this textbook?" I mumble, trying to get to the point. She nods. "When I snuck in, I was snooping around trying to see if they were hiding anything. I looked at their bulletin boards, in files, and so many other places until..."

She flips the text book so we can both take a look at it. "...I found this." The page we were looking at was full of a bunch of sticky notes and equations I didn't really understand.

"Elaborate, please."

"Sure thing. I didn't really understand anything on this page until I lined it up with some things in their recent files. Basically, the files had said that the tests they were running on infected animals were working."

Noah's eyes widen. "They worked?"

Rae nods. "I was shocked too. Here look at this-"

She flips to another page which has two photographs. Both photos have 'test subject 008' written along bottom. The first photo was a cat, it's eyes were filled with pus and redder than a fire truck. It'a mouth was foaming and its whole body had an almost gray tone to it.

The second photo is the same cat but... normal. Its eyes are normal, mouth is normal, fur is white and fluffy, and it's tone was no where near gray.

"So we know they found a cure for animals... but what about humans?" I inquire.

"Getting to that..." Rae begins to flip to another page but halts. "Uh... this one is a little graphic. Just a warning."

We both nod and she turns it. There are another two photos taped to the page. The first was of a severed hand. Gray and veiny. The fingernails were extremely long and sharp and the blood leaving the hand was almost a black color.

The next photo was the same hand but yet again... normal.

"W-What does this mean?" Noah stammers. Rae tucks her dyed hair behind her ears. "It means that we are all being lied to. Your sister is being lied to."

Noah's breath hitches a little but he sighs in relief. "So there is an antidote... what do we do now? Who do we ask for help?"

"I'm assuming that if the doctors and scientists are working together on it... then neither of them can be trusted. We can't go to an important authority figure here. For all we know, the whole staff is in on it."

Noah shakes his head. "No it couldn't be the whole staff. My mom works here and she would never let Lexi be in pain if she knew she could stop it."

Rae quirks up an eyebrow in thought but nods. "Yeah.. it wouldn't make sense for your mom to go against your family. It's probably just the scientists and doctors."

I lean forward on the table a bit. "Do they physically have the antidote anywhere? Like in a jar or inside another cat or-"

"Right. Here lemme show you..."

She flips a page one last time and a picture of a very large syringe shows up. The tube is long and wide and the needle looks sharp. The liquid in the tube is a bright glowy red.

"This sticky note says that it's kept in a locked fridge in the lab." Rae then points at the side note. The note also has a small code written under it. '2 0 7 4'

I reach and grab the sticky note from the textbook. "We'll need this..." I say. She nods. "Is there anyone that can help us?" She questions.

Noah nods. "Well my sister and Cooper of course. I think that's about it..."

"Not even your Mom?" I interrupt. He shakes his head. "She would freak out and ask the authorities for help, as in the scientists, doctors, and security."

I nod. "Alright... we'll tell Cooper and Lexi privately in the pod."

Rae nods and stands up. "Just let me know. Ezra and I are here to help you." Noah and I both give her confused looks. "Ezra?"

"Yeah... he helped me make sure the coast was clear when I went in and out of the lab. He's a keeper." She smiles. Rae grabs her book and walks back to her original seat.

Noah and I exchange worrisome looks. This is a relief but it's also terrifying. How come everywhere we go, we can't trust anyone but ourselves?"

A/N- WHO LOVED THE PLOT TWIST BECAUSE I LOVED WRITING IT😈 ANYWAY STAY POSTED FOR ANOTHER CHAPTER 🥰