echo [completed]

chapter 13

the place was too small for a large crowd, especially the common room during lunch time. according to cora, it was packed as hell. she even struggled getting out of the flock of inmates. her brother's plain gray shirt - his favorite - got stained with probably a week old mashed potato. her wolf wanted to tear everyone's throat out, but she restrained herself. she can't do it.

not yet at least.

"hey." a guy approached her. "dad said you haven't gotten lunch yet so.." he stretched his arm that was holding a paper plate filled with reheated shit.

"dad?" cora asked as she carefully took the plate from him.

his eyes scanned the place, trying to look for someone. and when he did found the person, he smiled.

"that one over there." he pointed towards the cluster of guards.

cora narrowed her eyes, trying to follow the guy's line of vision.

"mr. collins?" cora guessed.

"yeah. and i'm his son." he paused to look at her. "by the way, i'm andrew."

"well, nice to meet you, andrew, and thanks for the food, but i have to go."

cora placed the untouched food on the barely occupied table and stood up. she informed mr. collins about excusing herself out of the common room, which she didn't understand the reason to do so.

"hey!" cora turned around and refrained her eyeballs from rolling. "maybe i could help you finding your room." andrew offered with a lopsided smile.

"your dad already did that." she turned her heels on him and walked down the empty corridor.

"well, i'll do it anyway." cora groaned.

all the guy did was blabber - which she was absolutely thankful for. the conversation may be one sided, but her ears were listening to his stories. at some point she ended up snickering under her faux cough.

when they finally got to her room, they stood in front of the door awkwardly.

"nice talk." cora said sarcastically.

"you're not much of a talker, aren't you?"

"to strangers, no."

"we can change that." he smiled at her while he leaned against the wall.

"i'd rather not." her brows rose near her hairline and twirled around to unlock her door. "goodbye now." she closed the door and added, "and forever."

"so...dinner?" he laughed from behind the door and cora could only shake her head.

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cora was a consistent liar as she was growing up so the she thought the task would be easy. well, she was clearly wrong.

"and why would you want to visit him?" ms. eden questioned, elegant eyebrows raised at cora.

"i want to know where he's hiding the girl so you know...i could bring her back too." she reasoned.

"no need for the girl. she won't survive on her own for a long period of time anyway."

"did you know the reason why he wanted to escape?" now that caught ms. eden's interest.

"enlighten me then."

"his wife - she...they didn't find her body." the supervisor was confused, it was clearly written on her face. "he kept mumbling about wanting to find her wife. i told him to shut up a couple of times, hit him in the head once because his voice irritates me." cora and ms. eden chuckled at that.

"so...would you?" cora asked again.

ms. eden stared at her long and hard. it was like she was studying every curvature on cora's pale face.

"oh all right." ms. eden sighed. "besides, that man probably needs some company other than the one beaten up so bad."

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kyle was shaken from the sleep he never thought he had. as the metal doors were being unlocked, he tried to wake isaac up, but the beaten boy just growled at him.

he walked close to the door and placed his ears against it - trying to listen to the conversation going on from the outside - but all he could hear was a couple of mumbles and a loud laugh.

a little window slid open where kyle's ear were pressed on and it made him jump a couple of inches.

"relax, kyle, it's just me." cora smirked.

"for a second i thought it would be them." he sighed. "anyway, how's your first day here in hell?"

"it really does feel like i'm in hell." they chuckled.

"ok, but serious talk now." kyle started. "any plans on getting all of us out?"

"yes and - wait. where's your friend anyway?" she asked.

"he's sleeping. his state is really...bad." cora nodded in understanding. "but you know what the weird thing is?"

"what?"

"he doesn't have visible bruises."

"so?"

"so...why does his body act like it's about to fall at any given moment?"

"not all scars are visible, you know." she said it harshly.

"sorry," kyle cowered his head in embarrassment.

"anyway, i'm not here to talk about him." kyle looked up at the whiskey eyed girl. "i think i found a way to get all of us out here."

"it's full moon tonight, which means i would be twice as strong. i can control myself in werewolf form, but i don't know how long both of you have to wait for me to come and fetch you. i still haven't found the place where they hide the keys. i'm assuming they have hid it somewhere less predictable. i guess i have to visit ms. eden's office again to snoop around. after i find the keys for our only way out of this place then i would rush here and attempt to break this door." she tapped her knuckles on its rusty surface for emphasis.

kyle played out the plan in his head and plotted possible circumstances where cora would be stranded and isaac and him would be left to fend for themselves.

"kyle? kyle were you even listening to me?" cora snapped, her eyes shifting to gold again.

"y-yes." he coughed. "yes. i was just trying to think of plan Bs and Cs just in case..you know."

cora groaned, but she repeated it anyway. "full moon effects are at its highest at midnight, obviously, so the plan engages at that time. if i'm not back here in like...say 20 minutes, don't panic, i would probably just be stuck outrunning the guards. i'm pretty sure mr. collins wouldn't bother chasing me though." kyle laughed at that last bit.

as they said their goodbyes, they didn't notice the pair of ears listening to their conversation.

one behind the rusted, metal door.

another scrouching down the hallway a few cellar doors away.

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A/N: imma drop this early just in case i get carried away again and forget to post it :-)

12/29/2015

- lani