echo [completed]

chapter 6

the next couple of days, the bruises were becoming fainter on kyle's pale skin, which he was happy about. another thing was that james was told that it's been a week since his penalty and was finally able to join his twin in the common room for lunch.

kyle was munching down on the ever-so crunchy broccoli when james approached the table, chloe trailing behind him.

"mind if we sit here?" he asked, scratching the sides of the tray with his index fingers.

"not at all."

chloe chose to sit next to kyle and james, who rolled his icy blue eyes, sat next to a hiccuping isaac.

"thanks for...stepping up for her when i wasn't there."

"no problem." isaac chimed and chloe giggled.

"we can talk more about the thing when we get back." james said quietly as he gulped down a glass of water in a matter of minutes.

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"so the only way out is heavily guarded? and now that you've attempted to escape, the lookouts increased?"

james nodded his head, looking from kyle to chloe and back at kyle again.

"but here's the thing." james started. "if we create a distraction big enough to gravitate them out of that room, then it'll be a success."

"yeah. but the problem is that we don't know what that big distraction will be."

"we'll figure it out."

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kyle probably only had a shower once since he's gotten locked up in the cell and he was quite thankful for it. he was starting to smell like morning vomit.

"isaac.." he called out, pausing his hands from scrubbing his forearms with soap.

"yeah?"

"have you thought of anything yet?"

"yes." he paused. "but we can talk about it later."

after they've finished their shower and ate their dinner, the four of them headed straight to the cells, all full and sleepy.

the twins talked a lot, which was unusual. when they first got here it seemed like james always wanted to be in command over his sister. it wasn't a nice impression per se.

but hearing their jokes and laughters echo around the halls was comforting to kyle. it reminded him that even in the darkest moments of their lives, they have enough great memories to take over fear and loneliness.

kyle shared a lot about himself to the twins, except when he was zombified of course, and every now and then he would catch james' little chuckled underneath a cough. isaac talked about his life in california, a place called beacon hills, and james didn't hear it right and thought of it as "bacon hills". chloe laughed so hard at that and they all teased him for it. james was grumpy about it for a few minutes, but bursted into laughter anyway.

laughter drained their energy for the night, but isaac and kyle stayed up later than the twins.

"so... what's your plan, isaac?" kyle asked in a whispered tone.

"ok. so i have this tiny secret about myself that you should know. don't start looking at me differently after i say this, all right?"

"what? you're actually bald and the perfect mane sitting on top of your head is a wig?" kyle joked and isaac protested, "no!"

"is my hair really that good looking for you to think it's fake?" kyle laughed at his reply.

"anyway, i'm a -" he gulped. "i'm a werewolf."

"and i've been a zombie."

"i'm not kidding, kyle!"

"who said i was?"

"well, you just said - wait were you really?"

"if werewolves are possible, so are zombies."

"that's cool." chloe murmured from her cell.

"you're dreaming, chloe. those things you've heard - about isaac being a werewolf and me who used to be a zombie - they're not real. you're currently a princess riding a unicorn off to..uh.."

"to wonderland.." isaac added.

"yeah, to wonderland. and james is the mad hatter."

chloe tossed around to the other side and exhaled.

"that was close."

"agreed."

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the next morning, nothing appeared to be different. it was the usual routine of getting in line for breakfast, sitting on the table with the group, and talking.

before they left their respective cells, isaac and kyle made up a coded game where they would be able to devise a plan without looking suspicious.

"my turn!" chloe rolled the dice and it landed on a three. she gets to write three letters on a crossword puzzle.

so far they've written: "isaac distract" and soon erased them.

"i mean, it rhymes." isaac shrugged. "oh, c'mon, give me some credit for it." the rest of the group looked at him and continued on playing it.

after a couple more tossing and puns, the plan has been secured.

isaac would cause a huge commotion in the kitchen, where he swore he would be able to have access to, and direct all, if not most, of the guards towards him.

then, james, already near the office where it was usually empty during dinner, would snatch the keys for the first door and find the card that he would swipe on the last door

chloe and kyle wouldn't be doing anything big; just to keep the prying eyes on them and not on the missing people in their group.

it sounded like a promising plan to kyle...

but he never expected to be needing a plan B.

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A/N: i want to know what you guys think about the story so far! don't be afraid to comment haha :)

12/22/2015

- lani