The Haunted Orphanage

Chapter 45

Dan's POV

None of us said anything as we stared above ourselves. The ceiling had completely disappeared, but there was still a wall behind Phil. I glanced at Nate to find him sniffing himself. "What are you doing?" I asked.

He looked up at me. "I smell like Febreze or something."

I sent him a confused look, but Jason spoke before I could, "I do too. Maybe that was what the spray was?"

Phil shrugged. "Probably. We are going to a laboratory, after all."

I sighed, "How many people do you think know we're here? I'm willing to bet that the alarm wasn't just going off in this room."

"Just go along with it," Phil replied. "Act like we belong here, I guess."

"Do you think we're supposed to climb out of here through the hole above us?" Jason asked.

Before anyone could answer, the floor began shaking. "Well, it was nice knowing you guys–"

"What the heck are you talking about?!" I yelled at Nate. "We aren't going to die!"

"Actually," Jason started, "this is probably an elevator. If the scientists heard us and know that we aren't supposed to be here, they could likely press a button that drops the elevator–"

"Stop freaking everyone out!" Phil demanded. "Why would they go through the trouble of spraying us with that stuff if they were just going to kill us?"

"They want us to smell good as corpses?" Nate suggested. Phil facepalmed, and a few seconds after, the platform we were on began rising. "Uh, no thank you," Nate mumbled.

"Alright guys, team plan. When we get up here, we're likely going to be asked a bunch of questions or killed. Don't try to hurt the people up here. Go with what they say. We might still have a chance to rescue Percy," I whispered.

Everyone nodded at me and got ready to stand up. Once the platform stopped moving, we got a clear view of the room it had brought us to. There were several people, who seemed to be dressed in guards uniforms, walking around the room. There were two tables and, what appeared to be, a metal detector. Instead of walls, glass encased the room. Through the glass, I could see a gymnasium-sized laboratory with tables in rows. Children laid on the tables with wires connecting them to machines while scientists roamed between them, writing things down on notepads.

Two guards approached the four of us and I felt Jason tense up beside me. I smiled at him as calmly as I could before standing up. The guards glanced over me before one of them asked, "Name?"

I heard Nate snicker quietly as I answered, "Uh, my name tag says Jennifer–"

"Your name's Jennifer?" the other guard asked with a raised eyebrow.

"N-No. My name is, uh," I paused as I thought for a second, "J-Jeremy."

"Then why does your name tag say Jennifer?"

Nate began snickering harder, but quieted down once Jason elbowed him. "The name tag company misheard me."

The guards sent me questioning glances before the first one asked, "Why are the two kids with you guys dressed in lab coats?"

Before I had the chance to stutter out an answer, Phil spoke, "They're young college graduates who want to be scientists. We were told to let some of the more experienced scientists show them around."