Our Forgotten Souls

Chapter Twelve

Nobody explained to me why I had to hide inside my room.

Nobody bothered to tell me anything. The second I stepped into my bedroom that night after dinner, the door was locked behind me. Just as June had promised, a bundle of books had been left on my bed.

At first, I was tempted to throw each of the books out the window. Who even had books on how to spy? I guess a rebellion would but...

I stopped when I actually read the titles.

They weren't for learning. Each book was a separate book of fiction – mainly science fiction and fantasy. They were...enjoyable books. Meant for fun reading.

June hadn't intended to torture me. She simply had given me a pastime for today.

I still couldn't shake my annoyance at being stuck in my bedroom. I knew I was still their prisoner, in a sense. But they'd let me out yesterday, both for dinner and for the interview. I'd assumed that meant I'd be getting more freedoms, not fewer.

My resentment only built as the morning passed. I tried to start reading one of the books. It was about a super-powered girl trying to save her small town from an alien invasion. Somewhat out there if you ask me. It wasn't enough to keep my attention. I couldn't help my curiosity as I wondered why they were so determined to keep me here.

Technically, I had no loyalty to them. I couldn't escape the house...but maybe I could escape my bedroom. It wouldn't do any harm. It'd probably just piss them off.

So what? They already hated me for killing Stacey.

It wasn't hard to convince myself.

And it wasn't that difficult to escape my room.

I knocked on the door, and immediately it creeped open, Erin's face on the other side.

"I need to pee."

He narrowed his eyes at me distrustfully. "How bad do you need to go?"

I gave him a look. Seriously, I wasn't a freaking kid.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. But I'm escorting you. And you can't make any noise."

He opened the door quietly. It barely creaked, but it still seemed to pain him. I followed close behind as he softly padded down the hallway to the bathroom at the very end. The hallway also served as a balcony, overlooking the entrance below. I tried peeking over the railing but saw nothing of interest. It really seemed like nothing was going on.

It seemed like they were being overdramatic pricks. Really, why was I tiptoeing around when nobody was here? I wondered if this was a test of some kind.

I would gladly fail.

I didn't have a plan yet, so I quickly caught up to Erin and slid into the bathroom, locking it behind me. He seemed to protest for a second, then stopped. Yeah, he wasn't about to watch me use the toilet.

And then my plan hit me.

There was a window big enough to fit a human just above the toilet.

And even though we were still very high up, I wasn't trying to reach the ground. I just needed to get a floor down.

My climbing skills were mediocre. It'd never been my specialty in all my years of taking out the wealthy. I'd just have to give it my best shot.

And I'd have to be quick enough that Erin wouldn't get concerned.

I opened the window, letting a cool breeze float into the musty bathroom. I winced at the cold. Seconds later, I heard Erin knock. "What's going on in there?"

Oops.

"Sorry...uh...it's just smelly," I improvised, then winced at my own implication.

Whatever.

"Hurry it up," he ordered.

Perfect.

I climbed onto the closed toilet seat, and slowly inched my leg out the window. It was a bit of an awkward position. As I sat, straddling the opening, I tried to look for somewhere to put my feet. A brick stood out a couple feet down. I cautiously slid out the window and lightly pressed my foot against the chosen brick.

It didn't budge.

Awesome.

I moved the rest of my body out the window, and eyed my target – another window, just a few yards away. Definitely about a floor down.

My real predicament would be finding more footholds to get there.

It wasn't very far...but still. Very plausible that I'd die simply shimmying my way over there.

I avoided looking down. I knew it was quite far.

Somehow, I managed to find another foothold. And another. And another. I kept going until I was just above the window, fingers clawing into the wall for dear life.

That's when I heard Erin.

"Holy sh-," he half-shouted, before remembering to be quiet. I saw his head peek out the window.

I waved.

Then quickly grabbed the wall again before I died.

He stared down at me wide-eyed. "Come back here right now," he said in a furious whisper.

I just smiled up at him.

He glared at me. "I'm dead serious! We need to get back to your room...before..."

"Before what?" I egged. I hoped he'd give me some hint as to what was happening.

"I can't tell you! Just trust me, it won't be good."

I stared at him for a moment as if I were actually considering it, then dropped a foot onto the window ledge.

He then realized what window I was planning on going through. His face pale so suddenly I thought he'd faint.

"Jesus- Get off of there!" he said, much louder than the first time. "I'm not kidding...you can't go through there. Not that window. Literally any other window. I'll come find you, okay?? I will..."

He stopped speaking as I dropped fully onto the ledge and pushed the window open.

All I heard was an, "Oh shit," before his face disappeared. I was betting he was coming to meet me here.

But as I faced the window, I realized something quite horrible.

And quite awkward.

And explained exactly why Erin was so scared of me going through this window.

I'd stumbled into a very very official looking meeting with a very intimidating white-haired lady who was now staring me down.

With a pistol pointed at my head, of course.

"Who the hell is this?" she shouted.

Oops.