FULL OBLITERATION (Book #3)

𝕿𝖜𝖊𝖑𝖛𝖊

It's Hélène with the instructor. They're voices seem to get louder as if they're coming up the hallway.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Bray panics. "What do we do?!"

I quickly lean over Ella and clear the history from the last hour, closing all the tabs before turning the computer off from the screen as shutting it down right about now is gonna take too long and get us busted. The type of busted we're they're gonna drag us out by our ears and into the light with them phoning our parents.

This cannot happen.

We sit in the dark, hiding behind the computer screen. Hélène and the instructor's voices get closer and closer. Ella grabs my hand and squeezes it.

"What?" Hélène asks the instructor as they stop in front of the office.

"Hm," the instructor replies. "I coulda sworn I shut my office door."

Hélène laughs, "oh Mary, I can't even remember what I had for breakfast."

So that's her name. Mary. And it is as if Mary is about to take a step inside but she changes her mind and closes the door instead. Their footsteps head down the hallway and into the dining room on the other end of it.

"Why the fuck are they awake at 1 AM?" Bray mutters.

"It's your mum, Bray," Carmen shoots back. "...How do we get out now? They're right down the hallway."

"Shh..." Ella puts her hand up. "Sounds like the kettle is on. They're making coffee."

I heave, "surely, they can't be there forever, right? Jace and Amber are gonna be back in like 4 hours."

"No, no," Ella calms me. "They have roll call at 9 AM. They need sleep. Maybe they're just there for like a late-night coffee."

"What if they do a room check right now?" Bray stresses. "They'll know we're missing."

"It's okay, Bray," Ella calms him too. "They don't have reasonable doubt for that. Let's just let them have their coffee. Everyone stop worrying, it'll be okay."

"We can't stay in here," I state. "It's too risky. The instructor might come inside to get something then we're busted for good. We have to go back into our dorms."

"Dean's right," Bray agrees. "All the paperwork and stuff is here, what if they're gonna go over it for this morning's camp activities or something?"

So with that, we silently twist the doorknob and open the door again before closing it shut after ourselves. I cringe, making sure not to make a sound as my hand lifts off the doorknob. We tiptoe down the hallway, the opposite end of where Hélène and the instructor are. We can exit out this way and get back to our dorms which are located in another section of the camp surrounded by trees.

"What's wrong?" the instructor asks Hélène.

We pause dead still in our tracks, there's no way in hell they can see us in the dark.

"Thought I heard something," Hélène squints into the darkness, right at us.

"Fuck..." Bray cringes. "We're so screwed."

We don't move.

"Oh, it's nothing," the instructor sips her coffee. "Probably the raccoons out in the back. Sanctuary Lakes is filled with them at night-time."

"If you say so," Hélène laughs it off, returning to the conversation.

Once at the boy's dorm, Bray heads inside. I then take the girls to their dorm. The doors open for them when the reader turns green. Carmen sneaks inside. Ella is still hanging onto my hand, she gives me a warm smile.