The Sinister Shadows [Prequel to White Noise]

3. Research and Development

I fumbled with my keys, excitement coursing through my veins. I had never shown anyone my research before; I had never wanted to. If I could get it right, it could berevolutionary – it was like my own little secret. Yet, for some reason I couldn’t fathom, I had never wanted anything as much as I wanted to please William Harper in that moment.

As the keys rattled in my shaking fingers, I could see my surroundings flickering. Another hallucination.  I knew what it would be; I remembered the cold, metal bars of the abandoned prison, the hard bed against the wall, the cheery tune the guard insisted on whistling, winking as he walked past my cell, and the way he would wave to me, the keys in his hand jingling away as if to tease me. I stopped trying to unlock the door, taking a deep breath as I closed my eyes. I would not have another hallucination.

I felt a warm pair of hands wrap themselves around mine, and my eyelids fluttered open, heat tingling through my fingers and up my hands, melting away at the wrist where his touch stopped. “Is it happening again?” Will asked softly.

“No.” I snapped, more to myself than him. I sighed and met his eyes. “I’m sorry. I just… I want it to stop. The hallucinating.”

“What’s bringing it on?” He asked carefully. “Do you know?”

My gaze dropped to my hands, resting somewhere beneath his on the door handle. “The keys.”

He rubbed the back of my hand almost affectionately. “Let me unlock the door then,” he offered, “just tell me which key.”

I did as he asked, grateful that even though I never told him how the keys were causing the hallucination, he was careful to make sure they made the least noise possible until he dropped them into my hand with a clink, pushing the door open wide and holding it for me.

“Ladies first,” he smirked.

“Well it is my room.” I pointed out.

“Exactly my point. Don’t you want to make sure you have no dirty underwear on the floor? What if it looks like a bomb went off and you want to quickly tidy the place up?”

I closed my eyes as my breath caught in my throat. I could hear the echoes of explosions in the back of my mind, and the whispers of long-forgotten screams. I heard the chuckles of the other soldiers as they laughed at the soldier their Head had just punished for making advances on me. I forced myself to breathe, in and out, in and out, trying to clear my head. No, no, no, no, no. I will not go back there.

“Codi,” I felt Will’s hand on my cheek, his touch soft as I fell against the wall of the alcove behind me. “Codi, shit, I’m so sorry. Don’t give into it. Stay here. Stay with me, come on—!”

“Stay with me.” The Head Soldier told me harshly under his breath, his rough, calloused grip on my elbow tightening. “Don’t let the other men get their hands on you.”

I nodded stiffly, wondering why he seemed to be protecting me from them. In front of us, the soldier who had been punished by the Head Soldier in the bunker had a tight grip on Eli. My brother kept glancing back at me, his face pale. I tried to tell him with my eyes that I was okay, but how could I convince him when I couldn’t even convince myself? Instead, I trained my eyes to the floor beneath me, focussing on not tripping over debris. No matter how nice the Head Soldier seemed, I doubted he would like me falling over and wasting his time.

I don’t know how long we were dragged through the wreckage of the bombing, but every collapsed building we passed was being raided by other American soldiers, looking for survivors to send to other camps like the one Eli and I were now destined for. I wondered if my parents would be still alive, but a stern voice in the back of my head told me no. There was no way they could have survived. They had only just left the bunker when the first bomb hit.