Dominance

Chapter 26: Brother Showdown

Sara followed closely behind Tyson and Twister as they made their way down a short stair landing.

As short as it was, it was a struggle, and by the time she had reached the bottom, Sara was feeling worn out and lightheaded. Her fatigue was catching up with her.

The corridor led to a thick insulated door which also was conveniently unlocked. Suspiciously convenient.

The heavy door let out an obnoxiously loud creak as the silver metal was pushed open. Sara felt a damp coolness on her skin as the group made their way into the dark room it concealed. The sconces spread out along the solid walls did little to illuminate the area they were in. 

As she rubbed her goosebumps-ridden skin and her eyes adjusted to the light, Sara could see a clothes rack lined with white coats and scrubs to her right. Containers, freezer boxes, and locked cabinets clustered against each other along the wall.

The left side was much the same with the storage clutter, once again with crates and boxes, a chest freezer, and some empty cages.

As she, Tyson, and Twister continued down the hallway, Sara casually opened some of the boxes and trunks, curious to see what they contained. Many storage contraptions were empty, while some contained medical devices and consumables. Her nose scrunched up as she opened a bar fridge containing different coloured fluids, bagged fleshy pieces, and organs floating in jars.

When she absentmindedly opened the largest of the chest freezers, Sara froze. 

This chiller contained people. Their naked frozen bodies were piled on top of each other, haphazardly wrapped in plastic film. And at the very top of the pile, her face vacant and shadowed in death, was Kate.

It suddenly became hard to breathe as Sara's heart dropped like an anchor, falling deep into an abyss of dark water.  The memory of the last time she saw her friend replayed in her head; the scene of Kate falling, letting out a final scream, and Sara feeling helpless to do anything. 

A swirl of emotions; guilt, sadness, and grief curdled painfully in Sara's chest and she felt dizzy as little spots started to dance along her vision. She could hear Tyson's voice speaking behind her, but his actual words did not register. Sara simply continued to stare at the cold corpse that was once her friend and let her bitter feelings eat away at her. 

An hand suddenly loudly slammed the freezer lid shut.

"Stop it!"

It took Sara a moment to process what had just happened. Twister was staring, barely several inches from her face. His teeth gritted tightly together and his face was clammy. His pupils were dilated against the dim of the light, consuming much of the blue of his irises.

"Stop it." His voice croaked out again throatily, piercing through Sara's emotional haze.

Sara blinked a couple of times as her perception slowly warmed back. She noticed that Twister had one of his hands clenched around the front of her shirt. His fingers were trembling slightly, as they untangled between the fabric and Sara took back some of her weight which he had been holding up. 

"Sara? Is that you?"

Sara was on the verge of tears when another voice called out her name.

"Sara?"

It was Tyson who moved towards the voice. Pushing a crate out of view it was obstructing, he revealed a person sitting in one of the cages next to the freezer. Sara's senses instantly returned as she noticed this person wearing her school uniform.

"Math-whiz?" Tyson responded in surprise.

The blonde girl smiled and then began to sob as Tyson recognised her, addressing her as he always had done before.