Isle of Sanctum | The Aya Thrasher Chronicles | Book 1 |[Editing]

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY

AYA

I was brushing my hair when the sirens went off. Startled, I jumped slightly, trying to make sure I didn't fall backward. That would have been embarrassing. I set the brush down by the sink, turning around to face Piper, who was equally stunned. She had placed her hands over her hears to soften the annoying sound. I rushed to the door, pressing my face against the glass to see if I could get a better look. The guards were running around in a panicked frenzy. I banged on the window with my fist, to try to capture someone's attention, but the noises were drowned out by the sirens.

Fifteen minutes went by with no answers. My ears felt like they were bleeding from the constant screeching of the sirens. If we were going to have to wait, the least they could do was turn off the damn sirens. Piper and I both exchanged several glances, wondering the same thing: when would the torture finally be over? Just when I thought I was going to lose my sanity, the doorknob started to tremble. Serina and a guard finally unlocked the door. The sirens also ceased.

"What's going on?" I shouted. I couldn't hear anything because my ears were pounding. 

"We have a situation," Serina told us. "Let's go." 

There was no doubt Serina was angry. This was the angriest I had ever seen her. I couldn't help but wonder if was caused by something we had done. We followed Serina down the hall. "Is it Taylor, again?" I asked.

She didn't answer me, and we kept walking. Now, I was really worried I had done something to upset her. We turned the corner and entered onto an elevator. Then Serina finally broke the awkward silence. "No, it's Lake and Rayne," she said. I could hear the irritation in her voice. "Some kids just don't know what's good for them."

I felt conflicted. I was relieved that Serina wasn't mad at me, but at the same time, I worried about Lake. What had happened to her? I knew Rayne was a bad influence. 

After we exited the elevator, we were led into a meeting room. Lake was sitting in one of the chairs. Her wrinkled brow suggested she was distraught, but she seemed okay. Soren and Brennan were also there.

"Do you want to tell your friends, what you and Rayne did tonight?" Serina asked. Her face was stern and serious. It was the angriest I had ever seen her.

Lake crossed her arms. "You were keeping my friends as prisoners. We only intended to free them."

I had no idea what Lake was talking about, but it didn't sound good. Though we were becoming bored in the security tower, I hadn't expected Lake or Rayne to come break us out. That was taking it too far.

"They weren't prisoners," Serina raised her voice. "We were going to let them go back to the hotel tomorrow."

"I—we didn't know that," Lake said meekly.

Serina shook her head in frustration. "You didn't know that," she scoffed. " I'm sure Rayne was very aware. She was just using you to get out. To get to her friends," Serina explained.

"Wait, where's Rayne?" I asked. I hadn't even realized she wasn't in the room.

"She's gone. Outside the wall. Our guards are out looking for her right now," Serina said. "She put a few guards in the hospital and managed to damage a lot of property."

"What about Tayler? She abducted us—" I replied. 

I could understand Serina wanting to punish Lake and Rayne for their actions, but Tayler deserved the worst punishment of all. What she did was unforgiveable. 

"Aya's right," Serina said much to my surprise. "We were never expecting that. There's a lot of things we could have done better on our end."

"What about Rayne?" Lake asked. "If they catch her—"

It was honorable how much Lake cared about Rayne. That was something I really liked about her. She was loyal, and once you were her friend, she would go to the ends of the solar system to protect you. 

Serina shook her head. "We're going to do our best to catch her before she gets far." 

EDITED: 01/29/2020