Shilan

Four

Were you to round the flaking wall I currently had my back against, you'd be met with a tall, wooden door. Through this door was a staff room and a silver key with a square top. And quite a number of attendants.

For the third time this afternoon, I felt a thrill spread all the way to the balls of my unsteady feet, my pulse feverish. "Come on," I pleaded to the still silence, wanting nothing more than for this interminable wait to be over. 

I scanned the empty corridor once more, praying Adam wouldn't get into trouble for this. That today's events wouldn't lead to another visit to the dreaded basement down below--this round, with me tagging along.

So many things could go right, yet so many things could go wrong.

I'd gnawed my bottom lip half raw by the time I'd heard a vibrant scream echo from the common room, unleashed by who I suspected was the oldest Screamer. This scream was promptly followed by four, five, six others--all equally shrill and resonating--and within mere seconds, they had a group of attendants dashing out of the staff room like hounds scurrying to a piece of meat.

I finally loosed a breath at that, allowing myself to sag a little. This much had gone to plan, Adam had predicted correctly.

At the late hours of the night before, a little disconcerted at the idea he'd just proposed, I'd questioned, "But how will you get them to scream?"

His voice had been steady as it'd travelled through the holes in our walls, confident. "By changing that horrific cartoon channel to channel eleven." I'd caught a corner of his lips twitch up in a smirk. "The static should press the right button."

With the way those Screamers prolonged their anthem in the common room, the static seemed to have pressed more than just a button.

Swallowing the knot in my throat, I clamped my hands shut and forced my back off the wall, suddenly wishing I still had to wait at least a few minutes more. No inmate here had ever dared to sneak into the all-forbidden Staff Room I now cautiously moved towards. I wondered where on earth I could flee to were there to be an attendant still in that room.

The door, to my luck, had been left ajar, though not wide enough for me to peer through. Placing a trembling hand on the dark wood, my brown eyes almost scrunching shut from the anticipation brewing in my chest, I slowly pushed it open.

A ripple of relief cut through me thoroughly enough that my legs almost gave way. My earlier prayers seemingly accepted, the room was completely void of attendants.

Just as I'd stepped forward, a razor-edged voice (belonging to Pauline, surely) sounded from the common room. My short-lived relief was exchanged for a crippling fear.

"Adam, was this your doing?!" she bellowed distantly. "Was your time with the electroshock machine not long enough for you?"

How did she know it was him? I almost yelled.

My heart thrashed in my chest, loud and chaotic. They couldn't--They wouldn't, would they? Two trips to the basement in ten days?

As my hands quivered unceasingly at my sides, Adam's instructions from last night rose in my mind. "You must be quick," he'd informed. "Once that room is empty, you get in, find the key, then leave. Don't think about anything but locating that key, Shilan."

I'd angled my head at him, parting my lips to protest, but he'd spoken before I could. "No. Whatever happens, you do not worry about me. You don't even come close to the common room." He'd bowed a little to peer directly into my wide eyes, his gaze softer. "I'll be fine," he'd promised, "you know I will."