Solo ◇Thomas◇

CH.02

The room was dark now. The small, tanned lamps were the only source of light. Everyone was asleep, except for Thomas and Spencer.

Thomas washed his face with the water from the sink before lying back down on his bed. He lay face up, staring at Newt's bed above his. He glanced over at Spencer's bed and saw she was clearly awake, though she made no effort to move.

A rattling noise caught both of their attention. Thomas tilted his head to the side, trying to locate where it was coming from, while Spencer turned over in her bed, waiting to see if he would go investigate. The rattling grew louder as Thomas propped himself up on his elbow. "Psst."

He looked at the other boys sleeping, trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. "Hey." A whisper came from somewhere. "Down here."

As Thomas lay on his stomach and leaned over the side of the bed to look underneath, he saw Aris in the vents.

Aris raised a finger to his lips, signaling Thomas to stay quiet, before gesturing for him to follow. "Come on, follow me."

Aris began backing up, and Thomas stared at him for a moment, processing. "What?" he muttered to himself before sliding under the bed and crawling into the vents.

He crawled down the dark, narrow vent and rounded a corner, finding Aris waiting for him. "This way." Without waiting for an answer, Aris crawled deeper into the vents.

The two of them continued down the dark passageway, Aris occasionally looking back to check if Thomas was still following. After a while, Thomas stopped him.

"Wait a second. What are you doing?"

"Come on, we're going to miss it." Thomas let out a deep breath, realizing he wouldn't get an answer just yet. "What the hell am I doing?" he muttered under his breath.

Aris stopped in a large, square section of the vents with a small dip where the vent opening was. Thomas followed, looking around before resting beside Aris.

"What are we doing here?"

"Shh. Just come here." Aris beckoned for him to come closer, speaking in hushed tones. Thomas crouched and moved as quickly as he could.

He peered down at the vent opening, then back up at Aris, who was watching him closely. "Watch."

Thomas looked at Aris, doubting him, but then focused on the vent. They waited in silence until a doctor walked beneath them, pulling a keycard from her pocket and swiping it. The doors slid open, revealing tables with silhouettes of human bodies being rolled through. The doctor followed, and the doors closed behind them.

Thomas looked up at Aris, wide-eyed. "What the hell was that?"

"They bring new ones in, every night, like clockwork." Aris replied.

"Do you know what they do with them?"

"I dunno. This is as far as I've gotten. The vents don't even go into that section." Aris paused, pursing his lips. "But when they go in those doors, they don't come back out." He hesitated. "I don't think anybody ever really leaves this place."

The two of them sat in silence for a moment.

"Come on, we gotta go before anyone notices we're gone," Aris said, beginning to leave.

"Why are you showing me this?"

"Because maybe the others will listen to you. There's something weird going on here, and I know you think so too."

"W-wait." Thomas spoke again. "What's your name?"

"Aris."

Thomas nodded. "Thomas."