Incarceration

Chapter Fourteen

We slide out of the room, making sure to stay quiet as we creep down the various hallways. Taking one turn after another until we finally arrive at the deep staircase.

"How is this going to work again?" Wyatt asks.

"No one pays attention to Solitary," I say. "Guards avoid it as much as they can. They only go down there to give out food. No one will notice you don't belong."

"I don't think this is a good idea. Solitary prisoners are the most dangerous. Surely the guards will be down here more often."

"Trust me," I say, confidently, "they won't. I've been here before. I assure you, you'll be properly neglected."

We start down the staircase, slowly descending into the darkness. I see a light shining down below. It's moving toward us.

"Wyatt!" My heart stops, and I stand frozen. Suddenly Wyatt grabs my wrist pulls me back up the stairs away from the light.

"Hey," the voice echoes from down below, and I can feel knots in my throat. Wyatt keeps pulling me, turning me, and we scramble our way up the stairs.

There's someone behind us getting closer, and then there's a hand wrapping tightly around my arm. It yanks me back, and I almost fall off the staircase.

"Wyatt!"

He spins around, a look of complete horror on his face.

"Maxwell?" The guard lifts the visor on his helmet.

"Grayson," I say weakly, collapsing against the wall.

"What are you doing exactly? Whoa!"

I turn to see Wyatt bolting down the stairs, fists clenched and raised.

"Wyatt, it's fine! It's just Grayson."

"Do you want to explain?" Grayson asks me again.

"It's a long story," I say, but proceed to explain everything to him. "Can you unlock a cell for him?"

Grayson sighs, and for the first time, I notice the dark rings under his eyes.

"Yeah. And I guess I'll volunteer for guard duty down there, too. None of the others will mind. They all pretty much hate it down here."

When I get back to the hospital, it's completely silent. I slip through the dark hallway. A few feet away from my door, I feel my heart pause as I catch a glimpse of the nurses preparing to enter my room to check on me. I begin to panic, racking my brain for what to do. Throw a shoe down the hall? No. Too obvious.

So I do the next thing that pops into my mind, the only thing I can think of that will prevent them going into my empty room. I jump into the air and come down quickly, crashing my feet against the hard ground and sending echoing bangs throughout the hospital.

I watch in a state of shock as the nurses begin to turn around. What did I just do? Again, acting on instinct, I quickly dive into one of the empty rooms. This time there's an empty bed with a balled up old blanket lying on top. I grab it and move to the far corner of the room, pulling the blanket over myself and lying on the ground. I stay completely still as footsteps come closer and voices become louder. My heart pounds; I hold my breath, fearful that even the slightest movement would give away my hiding spot.

"Check the rooms." I hear one voice say. They come into mine first. I hear them step closer to me as a bright light sweeps over me, making me feel completely exposed. The light lingers on me for a moment before continuing. Then, thankfully, the steps fall away as the nurses move on to rooms farther down the hall. I remove the blanket from my head and creep around the perimeter of the room to the door.