Subject 0017

Chapter Three.

Straight, right at second junction, left, straight, wall vent, exit. She repeated the instructions given to her over and over again as if they were a mantra. She couldn't afford to think of anything else or she would break down. She couldn't afford to forget the directions that she had just been told, so she chose to focus on them solely.

Time seemed to pass in a weird void in these vents. Seconds felt like hours and minutes felt like days. Straight, right at second junction, left, straight, wall vent, exit. Her mind was so focused on trying to remember the list of imperatives given to her by Boy-man that she had completely forgotten that she had to actually follow them. When she had realised her mistake, she had stopped trying to crawl her way through the constricted passageway, but it was too late. She was lost.

Now she really was helpless. Her power was useless in this context; it only helped her to get into these vents in the first place, but there's no way that it could help her out. That wasn't her only problem. Not only was she lost in the middle of a giant prison that she had only seen with her eyes about ten minutes ago, or ten days ago in vent-time, but now there was nothing to block the inevitable thoughts from cascading into her mind.

She registered the fact that none of her thoughts could be completely blocked, and that she would have to ponder on them sooner or later, but her main goal remained the same as it was when he showed up at her confinement cell door: escape. She promised herself that when she was free from this ordeal, she would spend days, weeks, months, even years if she had to, on every piece of information that had come to light in the last few minutes. Keeping this in mind, she started to move again. With the list still memorised, she decided to try and improvise her way out, for if there was anything that she could use for an efficient evasion at this moment in time, it was hope and determination.

Her sheer will didn't last long however; although she was still on the move, she had no control over her mind as it started to deliberate over everything anyway. What had gone so wrong in her life for her to end up here: in a narrow ventilation system, above a ridiculously seedy prison, with hardly any light, and nothing to guide her except a set of directions that she couldn't even remember to follow? Would she have been safer in her confinement cell? Of course not. The only thing that she would allow to remind her of this place was the chalk that she had picked up on the way out of her cell. Well, maybe two things if she included Boy-man, but she didn't know whether she could fully trust him yet, or even if they would stay with each other after leaving this place.

Speaking of which, who the hell was he? Out of every door in this mundane building, why did he choose hers to unlock? If anything, he should have just done it alone, because surely she was a liability to him now, right? Had he planned to take someone with him all along? More specifically, had he planned to take her with him all along? Did he have any powers like her or not?

Then there were her parents. If he was right and they really were dead, then how? How were they killed? Was it murder? Was it accidental? Did they die together? Is this why she hadn't been visited for so long? Would she be able to see their graves? How did Boy-man even know that they were dead, and that she was their daughter?

She was so enveloped in her internal conflict that she hadn't taken in her surroundings. Clumsily crawling forward, her head bumped into a wall. Looking up, she stopped and stared at the sight in front of her in disbelief. A wall vent, that lead to an external exit. Acting on impulse, she decided against speculating whether this was the very exit that Boy-man had mentioned earlier, and instead, lifted the hatch and levitated out.

She ensured that her feet had hit the ground lightly, just in case any guards or official staff were around to hear her exit. The thought of how no one had tried to look for her even with the tracking device on her was astounding. Boy-man must have carried out a pretty effective distraction.

She was contemplating if she should stay where she was and wait for Boy-man to find her, or if she should venture off and try to look for him when, he came running towards her at full speed. God, does he even know the meaning of walking? He was completely out of breath yet somehow, his lack of respiration couldn't stop the smile on his face.

"Before you tell me what our next step is in this immensely dangerous plan, I suggest you learn how to breathe properly again."

"Wow... Nice to see you again."

"Same here. Now what?"

"I managed to ward them off for a bit but we have to run if we don't want to be seen. Oh, the name is Zaiden by the way."