Not looking back, I ran for the elevator and slammed the button for the basement, hoping they simply went to breakfast without me and this was a vast overreaction.
The elevator wasn’t stopped once on the way down, but when it opened at the bottom I was met with a wall of shadows. A scream escaped and I fell to my ass, scrambling away from it as they pushed forward.
These weren’t demons, they were my panic come to life. I hunched in on myself and took measured breaths, counting them down.
One.
Two.
Three.
Forcing my eyes open, I sagged in relief at the empty hallway. It was short lived, though, knowing I still hadn’t found a single person so far.
With my panic at bay, I raced to the doors and threw them open, shocked to find bored cooks behind the line and not a single patient. Even the high-security section was empty, not a patient, nurse, orderly, or security guard in sight.
“Where is everyone?” I called out. One of the workers poked her head through the line so she could see me.
“You’re the first down here, and breakfast ends in fifteen minutes. Grab you some to go, honey.” She disappeared, then popped back through with a few Styrofoam boxes. I loaded them up with breakfast, just in case.
“Thanks!” I called out as I tucked a few bottles of orange juice in the bag and headed out the way I came.
Monty was waiting for me on the elevator, and I picked up the pace at the sight of him.
“There you are. What the fuck is going on?” I demanded.
“I told the demons to feed last night, to prepare. This is the after-effect. They’ll all be awake in a few hours,” he drawled as if he were bored by my questions.
“Monty! What the actual fuck?! You can’t use them like this! And what about Drake?”
Monty let out a chuckle as he stared down at me. “He was causing a scene with that human you like, so I took care of them.”
Ice ran through my veins, and it took everything in me not to punch him right in his skeletal face.
“Where are they? If you hurt them then that’s the end for us, Monty,” I promised him with enough venom he took notice.
“It seems you found your fire today. You could fucking say thank you as I’m the reason you went untouched at night,” he bit out. My nightmare from last night had included him, and I narrowed my eyes, his smirk telling me everything I needed to know. It wasn’t just a fucking nightmare. Part of me was grateful for the save, the other part, furious I could have possibly saved the guys from whatever fate everyone else was forced to live through.
“Fuck you, Monty. We’re not fucking pieces on a chess board. Where are my guys?” I demanded again.
“If you’re going to be petulant, I’ll send you there with them.” His tone was sharper than I’d ever heard but I didn’t care. This was bigger than me.
“And if you try a stunt like this again, I’ll spend every fucking night in the hall standing vigil to keep them safe,” I countered. With the realization I did have ways to fight him, some of my own anger calmed. He wasn’t the only one in control, and I had to learn to hold onto what little I had and use it against the assholes like him in my life. Because I had a feeling that no matter where my life led, Monty and I would always be complicated.
“You won’t, I forbid it,” he yelled loud enough the lights flickered around us.
“Forbid? I’m not just yours, Monty,” I sang out. “Now, take me to them.”
Without warning, I was snatched off my feet in a swirl of shadows. When they cleared, I couldn’t see a thing.
“Hiro? Drake? Anyone?” I called out as I took a tentative step forward, feeling around so I didn’t crash into anything. “Monty, I swear to all that’s holy if you stuck me in a fucking closet somewhere to be a dick, I’ll cut yours off!”
“Harlow?” The voice was weak and muffled, and I rushed toward it, crashing into something on the way. My chest hit the ground hard enough the wind was knocked out of me, but I crawled forward despite the pain and lack of air.
“Hiro?” I called again, though, it was followed by a cough that forced me to stop and catch my breath. “Fucking hell, where’s the lights?!”
“There aren’t any, I have no clue where we are,” Drake answered. It sounded like they were on the other side of the door. My progress was slow as I used my hands in front of me to keep me from crashing again, crawling across the dirty stone floor and just praying a rat or something didn’t come running by.
When I finally hit the wood of a door, I stood and felt around for the knob. A key was still in it, so I turned it and opened, disappointed to realize it didn’t help add any light.