believe | aris jones

chapter 2

i get taken back to my room, and teresa, my roommate is already there. i'm not very close with her as she only joined the glade a week ago and has been taken away to do weird tests all the time here.
"thomas has been looking for you for the past few days" i remark. she sighs.
"i know and i want to be able to see you all so bad but they won't let me" she replies.

teresa goes to sleep and i am left staring at the bunk above me. i decide to explore a bit, and find a vent directly under my bed. 'this is perfect i thought'. i gently pull the vent off and crawl inside quietly. i keep going, making sure i remember where i went, until i find a bigger space. there is a vent in the floor, and i kneel by it hoping to see something interesting.

just then, a figure appears from the vents and is crawling towards where i am. i stop breathing for a few seconds and freeze, trying to figure out whether i am hidden in the dark. as the figure gets closer, i gasp. the figure - who i now recognise to be the boy in the cafeteria - freezes. i realise i must have been hidden in the darkness and have just terrified him.

"who's there" he whispered, tentatively.
"sorry" i whisper back, moving out of the shadows "i didnt mean to scare you."
he breathes a sigh of relief and we sit in comfortable silence for a moment.

thats when a trolley was pushed past. and another. in total, 8 trolleys were pushed past, each with a body shaped bag lying on top. i could feel myself tensing up and look across the boy and he was the same. i slowly move over to him, seeking comfort and we sit next to each other in horror.

neither of us dared speak for what felt like eternity.

"were they.. bodies?" i ask, and instantly regret because it was a stupid question
"this place is not what they say it is" the boy replies. "we need to get out of here"

we quickly form a plan on when we will escape, and i agree to tell my friends and meet with him at lunch.

as we say our hushed goodbyes, the light catches his eye and it glitters. i can instantly feel my cheeks heat up and am so grateful its dark. this is NOT the time to catch feelings.