Avi was the first to enter the office door and walked up to the front desk. Two ladies were typing on their computers, they looked up when they heard him tap on the marble surface. "Can I help you?" one asked standing up. Perfect posture, no emotion at all. Her eyes seemed to be looking past him, through him. The staff was wired for this. 'Get out while you can,' he thought.
"Excuse me, but did the Ayrton guards take Mitchell Coby Michael Grassi earlier today?" Avi made eye contact and kept calm. He felt as if he was speaking to a robot. And Robots are dumb, a little bit of work and they will lose it, they will dislocate their abilities and stop functioning.
The brown haired lady took a few steps back and typed the name on her computer. Mitch's school profile loaded and the word "CONFINED" was shown across his ID photo. She turned back to the group. "Yes, the person you are asking for was taken to confinement. But that's all I can tell you. He was reported for attempting to cheat."
Of course, they were right. Avi didn't want to believe it but he had too. No more running from the reality.
"What's their definition of 'confined'? Is it what it actually means." Scott whispered in Kevin's ear.
Before the wise could speak, he was interrupted by the lady who had been staring at them all. "Did you say something, mister?" she spoke loudly. Her eyes burned through them like laser beams.
Scott jerked up to look at her. "Oh no! I'm sorry I didn't mean for you to think--"
His sentence was silenced when Liza opened the door dramatically. "Hmm. I didn't think you guys would actually listen to me. How brave of you all." She walked to the back of the office into a small computer desk. Their eyes all followed the small figure.
"Usually students who dared to ask Ayrton what happens to the taken students experience the same punishment. But I will let you go this time because I heard how great your choir is doing. Just this one time though. Beware." Liza beamed at them, her image silencing them.
She willed them into listening, behaving. But they knew better. It was saddening, Mitch had been there for each one of them for as long as they could remember and now that he needed their help, they couldn't do anything. They wanted to revolt, to protest but their hands were tied. Madness.
The four left the office wishing someone had told them what they did shouldn't have been done. Their thoughts dissolved into anxiety when a scream was heard. The pitch sound was gone as soon as it came, not giving them enough time to maneuver the direction of it or what it possibly could be.
"Did that sound like Mitch? Or am I just hallucinating because of all of this?" Kirstin glanced at all of them with raised eyebrows.
Kevin held up his hand, they're movements quieted. Each listened with careful precision, could it really be Mitch? Were they hearing things?
They probed their thoughts to stop racing. When you really listen to the wild, to the unknown, it gets much more terrifying. Maybe that's why everyone ignored the major issues for so long. If you wait long enough and ignore it, it will go away. Wrong, that's not how it works. Their mindsets were changing with each second that passed without their friend.
~~~
They all returned to Avi's room and hurried to the couch. More silence.
What do they do now when their best friend is in confinement?
Finally, before any of them could speak, they heard sudden footsteps and muffled sounds, sounds of struggle. They couldn't quiet place where they came from though, the noises danced. Their faces scrunched up in confusion, it was so clear. So close but so out of reach.
"One sec-" Kevin whispered.
He stood up and they watched him slowly. It all hit them like a bucket of ice.
The vent.
He approached it with caution as if handling an animal of the wild. They all stood up in unison.
"Hello?" He whispered faintly through the dark vent. It was sure to be Mitch. That breathing can come from no one else but their childhood friend.
"Uhh, have you ever noticed anything about your vent, beardy?" Kevin turned around to Avi for answers. He was terrified. They were all terrified.
"I swear, I have n--"
All of their hearts stopped beating for a moment when a small "Hello" traveled through the vent.
~~~
I hope this wasn't too short.
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING. It gets better :)
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Escaping Ayrton
FanfictionA group of five choir friends were enrolled in a strict school since they were four. They didn't realize how manipulative the place was until the end of their senior year when a friend went missing. Every senior who graduated never returns the same...
