The Arrival | The House of Voices #3

Thirty Six - 3 AM

3 AM

 

Darren:

“Why have you dragged us down to the kitchen at three in the morning?” Sid asked as he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. Beside him, Kara yawned widely, not bothering to shield her mouth.

Grumpily, the girl said, “This better be good.”

Darren expected Sid to come to his defense, to chide Kara for her tone, but the boy simply nodded, agreeing with her. The both of them were alike in their dislike of being woken up in the middle of the night, apparently.

Darren sighed. He’d woken them up because he wanted to tell them about Parish’s breakout – he hadn’t had the chance the entire day, with Larkson stomping around. He didn’t want to risk not being able to tell them the next morning, and decided the best thing to do was to wait until Larkson left, and all the nurses and guards had gone to bed and then tell them.

“I would have woken you up earlier,” he explained, “but Patty takes an awfully long time to fall asleep.”

He’d had to skulk around the nurses wing for over two hours before the head nurse finally decided to turn in. How she managed to wake up at the crack of dawn every day was beyond him.

“What’s this about, Darren?” Kara yawned again, waving her hand impatiently for him to get on with his tale.

“She got Parish out.”

They were wide awake now.

“She did?” Sid breathed, blinking past his sleepiness and sitting up straighter against the kitchen counter. A smile tugged at the corners of the boy’s mouth.

Kara jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. “Don’t sound so surprised. We always knew October would get him out of there.”

“Yeah, totally!” He agreed, stepping away from her and rubbing his ribs. “I just… This is great news!”

Darren smiled at the hopeful expressions on their faces. He truly admired how supportive the both of them had been of October and Parish. Not once had either one of them resented the fact that their friends had been able to leave while they had to remain here. Kara and Sid, despite their own problems, had understood that their friends were in danger here, and were truly willing to do anything to help Parish and October.

It was the kind of selflessness that you didn’t find in most friendships. He had the utmost faith that, when these two finally left Abercoster’s and were reunited with the runaways, the four of them would remain close friends.

After a few moments of silence, Kara frowned. “Was this why you woke us up at three in the morning?”

Darren gave her an apologetic look. “I can’t talk to the both of you properly during the day, because Larkson’s always around. And the nurses are up till pretty late. This was the only time we’d be able to talk in private.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Sid agreed.

“October would totally suggest codenames. I think we should use codes.”

Sid rolled his eyes. “October would so not suggest codenames because she’s not stupid enough to actually believe that Larkson would fall for that.”

“Did you just call me stupid?”

Sid shook his head and turned to Darren instead. “Is that it? You look like there’s more you want to say.”

He hadn’t planned on even mentioning it, but Sid’s question reminded Darren about his conversation with the Warden yesterday. “Yeah, I need you to keep an eye on Larkson. Both of you.”

“Why? She up to something?”

“Somethings… off about her.”

“Um, duh.” Kara gave him a look.

“I mean that she’s a lot more volatile than usual. Violent, even.”

“You were there when she slapped October,” Sid pointed out. “You knew she was violent.”

“Not like this, though. This is different.” He sighed. “Just promise me you’ll keep an eye on her and let me know if you see something strange?”

They glanced at each other before nodding in unison. They promised.

With that done, there was nothing left to say. Darren led the way back upstairs, intending to see them back to their rooms before returning to his own. Just as they hit the second floor, where his office was situated, the three of them bumped into Patty.

“Dr. Michelson? Kara? Sid?” She looked at each of them, wide-eyed and in shock. “What are the three of you doing awake at this hour?”

Darren felt his brain freeze, unable to think of a lie quickly enough. But luckily for the three of them, Kara was quicker on her feet. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked pointedly at her feet.

“God,” she muttered grumpily, doing her very best to avoid Sid’s gaze. “Is everyone in this place an insomniac detective?”

Frowning, Patty looked at her. Darren watched as the nurses gaze drank Kara in – from her messy hair, to her cotton camisole and pajama pants. Blinking, the nurse turned to look sharply at Sid, who, after Darren had roused him, had shuffled out of the room in a baggy sweatshirt and the shorts he’d slept in. He watched as Patty connected the puzzle pieces Kara had handed her.

The head nurse frowned. “Kara. Sid. You know the rules. Absolutely no frat—”

“Relax, Patty.” Darren said, in this most soothing therapist voice. “I was just taking them back to their rooms. Nothing happened, so I don’t see the sense in waking up the house household. You go get some sleep, okay? You need your rest.”

She pursed her lips, but nodded. “It’s a good thing you’re around, Dr. Michelson. Who knows what would have happened if you had been off-site. Goodnight.”

They watched her turn on her heels and disappear down the hall, only moving once they heard the thud of her door shutting.

As they walked up the stairs, Darren turned to look at Kara over his shoulder. “Sorry about that,” he said. He didn’t need to mention that he was apologizing for having to pretend that he’d caught Kara and Sid sneaking out of bed for a midnight rendezvous. They knew what he was talking about.

Kara shrugged, her face impassive. “Whatever. I appreciate that you’re keeping us in the loop, but next time, maybe you should slip Patty a sleeping pill or something.”

Darren had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing at the way Sid nodded his head earnestly in agreement.

He hoped he wouldn’t have to stoop so low as to drug the head nurse, but if they had to keep sneaking around this way, it might be something he would seriously have to consider.