Bitter Blood (Morganville Book #2)

Chapter 12

We carried him through the portal - well, Michael and Hannah carried him; I concentrated on getting us to our target location, the basement of Morganville High. "Stay here," I said. "I'm going to get the doctor."

"We can carry him up," Michael said. He was being charitable; he could have done it on his own, no problem, but he was letting Hannah take half the weight.

"I know," I said. "I just don't want to lead a really obvious parade to a secret hideout."

I didn't wait for an answer, just dashed up the steps, through the broken-locked door, and out into the hallways, dodging around oblivious teens my own age who were hustling to and from class. It was early morning, but Morganville High was in full session, and I had to shove my way through the crowd with a little more force than usual.

Somebody grabbed me by the back of my shirt and hauled me to a sudden stop. I flailed for escape, but it was just like always - I was too small, and he was way too big.

My captor was wearing a shirt and tie, and had the drill sergeant hairstyle of school officials everywhere. He glared at me as if I was some bug he'd caught scurrying across his dinner table. "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded. "No shoving in the halls!"

"I'm not a student!" I yelled. "Let go of me!"

He got a glance at the gold bracelet on my wrist, and his eyes went wide; he quickly focused back on my face. "You're that girl - Anastasia. Anastasia Ian. The Founder's - Sorry." He let me go so suddenly I almost toppled over. "My apologies, miss. I thought you were just another of these rude punk kids."

There were a few moments in my new, weird life when it was all worth it - worth being the freak of nature with all the baggage that had been loaded on me in Morganville.

This was one of them. I braced myself, put my hands on my hips, and glared at him with the kind of icy calm that I imagined Amelie would have brought down like a guillotine blade. "I am a rude punk kid," I said. "But I'm a rude punk kid you don't get to order around. Now, I'd like you to leave me alone and go to your office. And shut the door. Now."

He looked at me as if he couldn't quite believe his ears. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I don't need you out here causing trouble right now. Go!"

He looked confused, but he nodded reluctantly and headed for a door marked ADMINISTRATION farther down the hall.

"Eat your heart out, Monica," I murmured. "Thanks for the bitch lessons." I broke into a full run, leaving him and his petty kingdom behind.

Myrnin had taken me through darkened corridors, but I remembered the turns; I also remembered a little too late that the way was dark, and wished I'd thought to grab a flashlight somewhere along the way. There was little light coming into the hall during the last leg, and desks and chairs stacked randomly in my path; I had to slow down or end up taking an epic spill.

Finally, I saw the locked doors at the end of the hallway, and lunged around a dusty teacher's desk to batter at the heavy wood panel.

"Hey!" No answer. I knocked again. "Dr. Mills! Dr. Mills, open up; it's Anastasia! I need your help!"

There was no answer. I tried the door handle.

"Dr. Mills?"

The door opened without the slightest resistance.

The room was empty. No sign of a struggle - no sign of anything, actually. It looked like nobody had ever been here. All of the equipment was back on the shelves, sparkling and clean; there was no sign of the production of serum and crystals that had been going on here. The only thing that gave it away was the lack of a coating of dust.