Looking For Now↣l.h

8. Quinne

We wait. We wait in utter silence that makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs, simply because I'm not supposed to. I can't stand the tension hanging in the air as Walter, Ashton, and I huddle in the back corner of my room; away from the door and the window.

As soon as someone had yelled the warning, Walter had come in and ordered me to get back against the wall. Ashton came in minutes later because he had been walking down the hallway and wanted to make sure I was okay.

I part my lips to ask what was going on, but Ashton shoots me a warning glare that closes my mouth again.

One. Two. Three. Four. I count the seconds in my head until there is finally a sound again at three-hundred and eighteen.

There is a banging on my door, and Ashton's face pales. Walter holds up a finger to me, silently telling me to stay put and I do so as he quietly walks over to my locked door. My stomach twists in anticipation, but it also aches for an unknown reason to me.

My heart stops as Walter quietly demands to know who it is through the door.

"Luke. Let me in," I can barely hear the voice on the other side of the door. I turn to look at Ashton and watch as his face floods with relief. The door slowly creaks open just enough for Luke's slender body to slip through, then Walter locks it up again.

"What's going on?" Ashton breathes once Luke and Walter have joined us in the corner.

"I think a level three got out," Luke replies quietly, his eyes trained on the door as though he's expecting it to open at any second.

"Then what were you doing in the hall?" Ashton exclaims, earning a smack in the gut from Luke telling him to keep his voice down.

"I was checking to make sure everyone was in their rooms and this was the last room I had to check."

The room is filled once again by an eerie silence as we wait for I don't know what. Maybe we are waiting for someone else to give us the clear signal, or maybe we're waiting for the escaped psycho to barge right in.

Minutes fly by, and I look down at my watch, before I know it, it has been a full hour.

"I'm going to go check," Walter whispers, and Ashton grabs his arm before he can move.

"Are you kidding me? That's the worst idea ever, and do you know how pissed my mum will be?" Ashton hisses under his breath and Walter yanks his arm from Ashton's grasp, but doesn't move.

"Well if he can't check how are we ever going to know when to leave?" I surprise everyone by speaking up, although I keep my voice down.

"Someone will tell us," Luke answers without looking away from the door. His pale blue eyes are fixated on it as though he truly believes someone will come in at any minute. His towering frame is slightly hunched over with one foot in front of the other like he is prepared to lunge at anyone who steps in the room.

Minutes pass and soon it is 3:31 AM. I look to Ashton warily and he gives me a lopsided smile trying to reassure me it will be over soon. I hear shouts in the hallway and my heart race sky rockets as my palms begin to sweat. Two male voices are yelling at each other, but they are moving farther away from my room.

Soon they have completely disappeared, and a loud voice booms down the hallway, "coast is clear!"

I let out a sigh of relief as everyone disperses from the corner.

"Hey, Ash, can I talk to you in the hall? Then we need to report to Leigh Anne," Luke says in a hurried tone, and I'm almost curious to find out, but I'd much rather everyone leave my room and let me be.