There was a muted popping sound, like a suction seal being broken and then…nothing. Apparently V’rone was just standing there. Again, Terra wished fiercely that she could see what was going on but she knew if she asked to be free, they would probably just spray her again and she didn’t want that.
“You,” the female guard said to her, poking her in the shoulder. “Will you be compliant if I release you?”
“I will comply.” Terra did her best to make her voice sound stiff and emotionless. She tried to hold still as she waited to see if the guard would believe the Peace Drops had worked on her or if she would have to endure another stinging spray.
At last the guard seemed to decide she wasn’t a threat because Terra felt her doing something to the white mask which had her face in a death grip. After a moment, the woman tugged on her shoulder, pulling her away from the mask with a muted pop!
Terra fought the urge to reach up and touch her face which felt swollen and hot. Her eyes and eyelids felt irritated and itchy, as though she had horrible allergies and it was the middle of pollen season. But she forced herself to hold still and tried to imitate the blank look she saw on V’rone’s face.
The male guard—who was also dressed in a white jumpsuit with black cuffs and a black collar—questioned both Rive and Tem in turn before letting them go. The female guard walked back and forth, peering into all their faces until she appeared to be satisfied. She nodded and tugged at Terra’s arm.
“Follow me, you will all be remanded,” she said.
Terra had no choice but to do as she was ordered. She and the Monstrum followed the guard out of the mask room and down another long white hallway towards who knew what fate.
TWENTY-SIX
Terra walked mechanically forward, trying to pretend that all her emotions had been wiped so the guards wouldn’t suspect the Peace Drops hadn’t worked on her.
She wondered if she ought to try and get away—maybe she should try to grab the guard’s weapon out of her hand and shoot her and run.
But where could she run to? She couldn’t leave her guys behind—they certainly wouldn’t have left her. And she had no idea how to get out of this monstrous maze of a building.
Then she saw another elevator coming up on their right. But was it an elevator that led down? Or one of the ones that only led back up to The Watcher? Should she take a chance? In just a moment they would turn the corner and be past it and her chance would be gone. Should she—
But as they turned the corner, she saw something else which wiped the elevator out of her mind.
It was the path—it was still glowing and golden, leading the way to the next world. And it was going in the same direction that the female guard was leading them.
Keeping her eyes on the path, Terra continued down the hallway until the guard led them around another corner and into a small room with a cell that seemed to be made of some kind of clear Plexiglas. And wonder of wonders, the path actually led inside the cell!
Terra could hardly believe her luck! Because on the inside of the cell, on the one wall that was solid white instead of glass, she saw that the path ended at a glowing blue door. A door that was clearly meant just for them to use.
It was obvious the guard saw nothing. She simply unlocked the clear cell door with a small wand attached to her belt and shoved Terra and the three Monstrum inside. Then she closed the door, relocked it, and nodded her head in apparent satisfaction.
“A meal will be brought to you momentarily,” she told Terra. “You must eat and regain your strength so that The Watcher may scan you further if it wishes.”
In your dreams, you bitch! Terra thought. That giant fucking eyeball wasn’t getting anywhere near any of them again! Because the minute the guard left them alone in the room, she was going to open the glowing blue door and herd her Monstrum into the next world.
Hopefully the effects of the Peace Drops would wear off or else she could find some kind of antidote there. But either way, she wasn’t staying on DY-12 one more second longer than she had to!
Keep your face blank, she reminded herself fiercely. No matter what you do, don’t let her know how you’re feeling!
Or that she was feeling at all, for that matter.
Finally, the guard left, closing the door to the plain white room and leaving Terra and her three Monstrum alone in the glass-walled cell.
Terra made herself count to ten, then she walked swiftly over to the glowing blue door on the white wall of their cell. Reaching for the knob, she tried to grasp it and turn it so she could yank the door open…