Exciti

Chapter 7 (Adam)

"Adam?! What... How did you get here?!" breathed his mother

HOW did I get here? Adam looked behind him. His closet doors hung open after he had burst through them and no one but his mother was in sight. Thinking of Eiserne, he ran to the closet doors to shut them, then leaped to the window to draw the blinds. 

"Adam?" his mother insisted, sounding somewhat panicked.

He looked back at his mother and forced a toothy smile. "Hi, mom!"

"Hi.. mom!?" The normal greeting seemed to help her get over her shock, "Adam Dunton! Did... did you esca..."

Adam saw no other choice, he had to lie. Who would believe what he'd just been through?! "Look, mom, the fire alarm went off in the hospital. We had to evacuate, and...ummm it was dark and...and crowded... and cold...I just walked home." He didn't have to try too hard to sound pitiful, the tremor in his voice was genuine; The adrenaline was washing off now and his body had finally caught up with the terror of the night.

Seeing him shiver, his mother's expression fell and she rushed to hugged him. "Oh my God! Are you okay?" He managed to nod. She sat him down and got him some water. "it might've been a false alarm. Let me get my keys, we need to get you back to the hospital!"

Adam's heart sank. He had barely escaped that place with his life. "No, mom. Can't I stay home? I feel much better now."

"But, Adam..."

"I miss being home."

"Oh, sweetie..."

"Please, mommy." Yep, he'd even sink that low.

His mother sighed. "At least, let's talk to the hospital."

She went back to her room and brought her phone, dialed the ward number and put it on speaker. When a nurse answered, his mother explained the situation.

"He's with you?! Thank goodness...we've been looking for him for the last hour," the relieved voice of a man came from the speaker.

"He showed up in our apartment, gave me quite the fright. He said he had to evacuate?"

"Yes, it seems the oxygen tank exploded on the roof. The roof is now caved in. The damage is serious." His mother's arm tightened around him for a second before she took the person off the speaker to start yelling, "I should have been informed right away! What if he was hurt?" Then something the guy said turned her expression vicious, "Under control?! Really? Well, thank you very much, but I think my son should be staying home from now on."

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Later, Adam sat on his bed and rubbed the Barber coin, which never left his pocket, with his fingers. A million questions ran through his mind, giving him a headache. Sick of not knowing, he decided to think of what he knew instead. His sister is alive, and those who had her were now after him. He was also relatively sure that Tam's part-time job had something to do with all that.

There's somewhere to start, but first. He pulled out his laptop, turned it on and typed the words iron maiden into his search engine. He thought for a second then typed, not the band.

The definition came within seconds, "Iron maiden were human-shaped coffins. Equipped with metallic spikes on the inside. In medieval times, they placed the victim inside and forced the lid closed. It caused..."

He closed his eyes when he saw the images, then opened a new browser window and set to work. He knew what to do.