The Haunted Orphanage

Chapter 51

Dan's POV

I stared at the shadow of a person against the wall for a few seconds before feeling the wall next to the doorway for a light switch. After not finding one, I entered the room and continued searching.

"Hello?" Nate called.

The kid against the wall mumbled something. It raised its head a bit, but it fell back down a moment later.

Jason walked to the middle of the room, reached up, and pulled down on something. A single lightbulb in the ceiling lit up the room dimly.

"How'd you see that?" I asked.

"My eyes adjust to light changes quickly," Jason replied, smiling.

Behind Jason, I saw Nate cover his mouth as he stared at the kid. I looked back toward the wall I had been searching for a light switch to find it covered with blood.

I stumbled away from the wall, back toward Jason, and looked at the kid sitting against the far wall. The boy was breathing heavily with his head down and had blood stains covering his body. His clothes were torn open in several places and had blood oozing out from the gaps.

He tried to lift his head again but it fell back down. He coughed up blood and grunted.

"Percy!" Nate and Jason yelled as they ran over to him and knelt down. Phil and I followed closely behind.

Nate lifted Percy's head and moved his blood-covered hair out of his face. Jason looked behind Percy and reported, "He's tied up to this metal bar."

Phil and I untied Percy while Nate and Jason held his head up. He continued to cough while Nate mumbled, "We're going to save you," repeatedly.

Once we had untied Percy, Nate and Jason helped him stand up. He stopped coughing a few minutes later, and murmured, "Hey." Jason grinned while Nate dove into a hug. Nate seemed to be sobbing, but Percy chuckled, "You're as emotional as ever."

Nate pulled away from Percy. "You're just as rude as I remember you."

"You two can joke-bicker later," Jason commented. "Right now, we need to get out of here."

"Are we sneaking out?" Percy questioned.

"Yeah," I replied. "Someone needs to go grab Alex so that we can discuss the escape plan."

"Wait, I have two questions," Percy stated. "One, are you two of the people who were going to foster us?" he directed at me and Phil.

"Yes, and we still plan to," Phil replied. "What's your other question?"

"Did you say Alex was here?"

"Yeah, she's right outside the door," Nate answered.

"Like, her body?" Percy asked.

"Wh–no, she, soul and all, are outside the door. We decided to save her too–"

"I don't think that's Alex," Percy interrupted Jason.

"Why? You haven't even seen her yet," Nate replied.

"The scientists killed her yesterday."

I whirled around to face Phil. "I told you something about her seemed off!"

"Okay, you called it. Whatever," Phil responded. "Shouldn't we get out of here? And how is Alex even here if she died?"