“I didn’t,” Crew admitted. He almost looked angry at himself. “But we avoid the staff hallway out of principle.”
“That makes sense. I’m glad we know now, who knows what he’s hiding in this place,” I said with a sigh.
“This place was an actual school before it became a hospital. A boarding school, that’s why it’s called Dark Haven Institute instead of institution,” Layne supplied. It was random but not at all surprising for her.
“What does that have to do with secrets?” Roman asked. She rolled her eyes at him.
“Everything,” she said as if that answered the question. “That’s why it’s so big and why there’s whole areas we don’t have access to, like a library they keep us out of.”
“Where’s that?” I asked with sudden interest. “And why, if we do classes here, wouldn’t we have access to their library?”
“It’s on the second floor, east wing,” she explained. “They store records in there too, that’s how I found it. Who wouldn’t want to see their file?”
“Dark Haven hasn’t been a school in like a hundred years,” Crew pointed out. “Those books would be useless to us now.”
“But the records wouldn’t,” I countered. “We might be able to dig something up on Vane or Bradley we can use against them. I’m not above blackmail at this point to keep myself safe.”
“Then we go tomorrow night, that’s when Corey is on security and he falls asleep,” Layne said with an excited clap of her hands. “This will be fun.”
“We’ll likely get caught,” Roman pointed out.
“So stay behind,” Layne suggested with a grin. He grunted at the challenge, and I bit back a laugh, knowing he’d definitely be joining us. Roman might seem like a big, strong, indifferent protector. Yet he had curiosity that could rival mine. And honestly, I loved having him with me as much as Hiro. They were all quickly becoming important to me. “But then you’ll never have answers as to what’s in your file.”
“I bet Hiro would be curious,” I added. We’d talked about how he couldn’t remember other personalities, maybe it would give him some answers his psychiatrist wouldn’t. Then again, if his psych was Dr. Bradley, he likely didn’t know. The man was incompetent.
“Alright, we go to bed like usual tomorrow, then sneak out while the night nurse goes on her smoke break. The stairwell would be safer,” Drake said. The others went back to their food, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what else Dark Haven could possibly have hidden. What did Vane do with the empty wings, and were there more spots he was keeping patients? And what plans was he moving ahead with?
Though, the real question is, what is Vane planning, and how the fuck do we stop him before he destroys us all?
ChapterEighteen
Hiro
Tuesday Early Morning
Basement
Waking up and checking outside my door was possibly the stupidest thing I’d done to date. The moment the demon spotted me I was transported into this dark, stone room. There wasn’t enough light to see anything but I could feel the cold stone under my fingertips.
Roman tried to take over but this time I fought him off. I was curious what was happening and I didn’t have a lot of explanation other than his journal entries to really make sense of it all and I wanted to witness the demons for myself. This was the time for me to be strong for once.
A thud sounded before a hand brushed over mine, then was snatched away just as quickly.
“Who’s there?” Drake’s harsh voice thundered in the previous silence and I let out a relieved breath.
“It’s me, Hiro,” I answered. Drake let out a soft sigh of relief.
“Did you check the hall too?” he asked in a bitter tone. I nodded, then realized that he couldn’t see me either.
“I did.” He let out a dark chuckle but it sounded more exhausted than truly amused.
“Then I’d say we’re stuck here until morning, or until Harlow sends her monster to retrieve us,” he answered. A soft thud sounded as he shifted, his head likely hitting the stone wall behind us. “No Roman today?”
“I wanted to see this through. I’ve missed a lot lately,” I admitted. Drake and I weren’t usually this forthcoming, but in this moment, I found myself scooting closer to him, seeking comfort despite who it was. My jaw dropped as he wrapped an arm around me. The fact I didn’t tense had me questioning everything. Touch was something I was starved for, sure, but on my own terms. When others touched me in my life, it wasn’t with the intent to comfort or be kind, and I’d learned to not trust it. Except my brother… when he was alive. But with Drake, it was different. He was always standoffish, but at least to me he wasn’t a complete dick. That was the one reason I liked him, he was honest, blunt, and you knew what you got. Everyone else, I had to read their emotions and demeanor to gauge if I could trust myself around them. My therapist said it was a trauma response but I couldn’t control it. At this point it was a habit.
“You have, I’m glad it was you in here with me. I’ve seen enough demons to be good for the rest of my life,” he admitted.
“I’m still trying to make sense of it. Demons…” He tensed next to me and I started to move away, assuming he was uncomfortable, but he stopped me by tightening his hold.