subject 13 // h.s. au

chapter twenty-seven.

Sweat trickled down the back of my neck, the claustrophobia creeping in slowly as my breath traced circles of fog on my face shield.

I had never worn a suit before, and I felt trapped.

But as I stood outside of the old bunker, surrounded by a sea of hands toting massive weapons, the uncomfortable suit was the furthest thing from my mind.

I rolled my shoulders slightly, a dull ache appearing as I tried to relax my tense muscles.

The second the massive doors had come into view, they had opened, a militia quickly securing the entrance.

I had looked back and forth between their black suits, trying to catch a glimpse of their expressions, but my blood pressure had skyrocketed in fear, my vision blurring.

My breath came out in short pants as I laid my gun on the rubble in front of me, my hands slowly raising as I kicked it forward. The gun skittered across the ground, the wind already lazily blowing dust on top of it.

The sweat continued to travel down my back. I had come all this way, and if they already knew who I was, I would be dead in minutes.

Their guns continued to point at my head, my chest, my legs, and I sighed heavily.

"Hi," I called out feebly, unsure of what to do.

The wind whipped by steadily and the sound of my voice was muffled through the suit.

Could they even hear me?

My heart pounded roughly against my chest as the doors clanged open suddenly, the screeching reverberating through the barren landscape.

A figure emerged, stepping through the center of the men, the crowd parting as he brushed past them. My mind flashed back to where I had seen this kind of collective movement before.

I had seen it in the cafeteria when Harry had entered the room so many months ago, and I didn't have to look closely to know it was Asher.

I was surprised to find that he was much taller than I had envisioned, easily several inches taller than Harry.

Small rocks skittered away from his feet as his boots thudded against the ground, a cloud of dust rising up behind him. He stalked towards me, his face still obscured by the sun flickering across his face shield and I winced as he stopped several feet away from me.

I felt a flicker of shame at how intimidated I felt as his arms languidly crossed behind his back. He took his final steps toward, pausing only a couple feet away.

His face tilted downwards sharply, and a swell of emotions crashed through me. It was surreal to finally see him, but he was only a shadow of the handsome boy with cold eyes from the video.

The boyish softness was gone from his face, his features now hardened, and the roundness of his face had been replaced by the sharp hollowness of his cheekbones.

He still had the same long brown waves.

In the video, his warm appearance had been dampened only slightly by the whisper of darkness hidden behind his eyes.

But now, the sight of him sent a sickening chill through me.

The warm exterior had disappeared, the hollow coldness of his eyes on full display.

He was still beautiful, but even more haunting.

"Hello," he cooed lowly, and I felt like I had suddenly shrunk several inches.