"It's better if we just show you…" Abigail said slowly, and Dylan could hear her shifting as she moved to get up.
"Before we get to that–" Saphris jumped in, and she seemed to falter for a second before she asked: "could we turn on some lights…?" The words trailing off, as if confused as to why it hadn't been done yet.
"Um…"
"We would…" Luci started after a moment. "But our phones died last night, and we couldn't find any chargers or chromebooks in here—just the Nurse's." She sounded sheepish as she explained. "And neither of us could really sleep, after everything that happened… we ended up draining the batteries trying to call people."
"Oh," Saphris let out.
"Sorry," Luci said.
"Dude, you're fine. Just wish you told us sooner," Dylan interjected. "We could've turned on our flashlights." She stated plainly, reaching back for her phone and pulling it out—turning on the light.
All of them winced the moment the brightness flooded their immediate vicinity, ducking away and shielding their eyes.
Dylan blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the light.
When she was finally able to look around without squinting, she took the opportunity to get to her feet—taking the light with her as she took in the rest of the room.
It didn't look much different than the last time she had seen it, when it was still in use by the Nurse. She noticed a couple of open cabinets, their contents scattered across the counters randomly. The door to the Nurse's private office was wide open, the room beyond was dark.
The doorway was thrust into shadow when Saphris shuffled out in front of her phonelight, moving to let Luci and Abigail out of where they were all huddled by the wall in between the medical beds. Dylan blatantly realized she was still in the way and hurriedly got out of Abigail's path, taking a couple steps away from the medical bed.
"Thanks," Abigail said, stepping further out into the room—walking over to the doorway without any fanfare.
Dylan didn't say anything, hanging back for a moment as she watched her friends wander into the Nurse's office. To think… not even a day ago I was sitting in a classroom with these people…
Her gaze drifted, and she stared into the darkened corners of the room—the unrealness of this—this new reality starting to pull at the unraveling strands of her mind–
She stared at the back of Saphris' head.
Her heart squeezed. Why does–?
She blinked and Saphris was staring back at her. "You coming?" The blonde asked.
She shook herself out of the spiral she fell in, and hurried over. "Yeah, sorry. Got distracted… excuse me—sorry Luci." She answered as she squeezed past Luci so she could stand in front of the computer with Abigail.
Luci rolled her eyes lightly, shrugging. "You're fine."
"Here—lemme have that." Abigail said quietly, snatching Dylan's phone from her hand.
"Hey!"
The girl ignored her and set her phone down against a pencil holder, angling the flashlight so that it lit up the doorway and parts of the main office. "There." Abigail said. "It was annoying seeing the light move around so much!" She explained, waving a hand around.
"Oh." Dylan voiced, already feeling the hot flush of shame coloring her cheeks. "You know… I totally forgot I had the light…"
"I noticed." Abigail said flatly. "Anyways," She continued awkwardly, forcing them back on track as she pushed the laptop on the desk to the center—making it easier for everyone to see. "When we came in here and realized she left this—we decided to snoop, because who knows what we'll find? Even if she's just the school nurse…" The screen flared to life when Abigail tapped the touchpad. "…and, well…"
Just like before, with Mrs. Lift's computer, the laptop was left open on Gmail. Unlike before though, she noticed right away that none of these emails were anything like the classroom emails—in fact, none of them were mundane in nature at all.
System, me 2
Protocol H53B
Permission Granted. Code H53B: INIT…
Head-Scientist Caldwell
EMERGENCY—BREACH
Overseer! We need to enact Code H5…
Head-Scientist Rosa
URGENT—HSE-592
Overseer, I'm seeing unprecedented…
Head-Scientist Caldwell
Lab Report—JOHNATHON RAMSEY
Overseer, here are the lab results…
To: Chairman Woods
Regarding HSE-738
HSE-738 is breaking through its re…
To: Head-Scientist Caldwell
Potential Candidate—JOHNATHON RAMS…
Dr. Caldwell, I want you to do som…
Her mind swelled with static; she couldn't process the words—she'd just read it and the letters would lose all meaning—because what the fuck was she reading?! Overseer…?Head-Scientist…?! "Are you sure this is even the Nurse's?" She uttered disbelieving, voice faint. "Cause this…"
Permission granted…?
There's a system?
She heard a scoff come from Abigail, but Luci was the one who answered her. "Yeah." She confirmed, solemn. "It's definitely her's—we checked."
"It's like something straight out of a sci-fi movie." Saphris whispered, sounding both horrified and fascinated simultaneously.
"Stole the words right out of my mouth." Dylan muttered back, still staring at the screen. Abigail was certainly right… hell-hole's a whole lot deeper than we thought.
She didn't even know where to start—there was so much information to puzzle together, and who knew what else Luci and Abigail knew? "Fuck, this is a lot." Dylan groaned, crossing her arms and raising her hand to bite at her thumb while she thought.
"Preaching to the choir," Abigail said.
She released her thumb, lightly holding up her chin instead. "Where–" her knuckles pressed into her lips as she reread the emails for the umpteenth time—overwhelmed. "Where do we even start…?"
Everyone was quiet for a long moment before Luci spoke up again. "Well… what we're pretty sure we know, is that: the Nurse is clearly not just a nurse; she's also the one that trapped us in here." She gestured vaguely, referencing the school itself. "We think she did that because something escaped–"
"Does that mean they were housing the monsters somewhere in the school?" Saphris interrupted.
"Huh?" Luci let out, her expression was quick to shift though. "Oh no."
"Why else lock down the school?" Saphris continued, and the very words seemed to shift something in the room.
"Fuck." Dylan spit.
"But where?" Abigail stressed. "It's a school. Where the hell do you hide freaking monsters and scientists?!"
It was involuntary, the way Dylan's eyes met Luci's as they both said: "The basement."
"Jinx," Luci said with a small grin.
Dylan huffed amusedly as she noticed the exaggerated eye-roll Abigail gave.
"That would make the most sense…" Saphris muttered, scowling lightly. "If the school had a basement."
Abigail's brow raised. "Bruh. They've been doing all of this–! " She flapped her hand at the laptop. "Under our noses, and you don't think they might also have a secret basement?"
"Mom would have said there was–"
"What if she lied?" Abigail interrupted. "She works here! The teachers are clearly in on it—hell—the freakin' nurse plays an active role! Who's to say that the subs aren't too?"
The scowl on Saphris' face deepened, but the anger wasn't really in it—it was something akin to woeful horror, like everything she had been worrying about was coming to fruition and she wasn't allowed to be forcefully ignorant of it anymore.
It looked like she was starting to crack again.
"Bro, you've been fucking rude lately—the hell's your problem?" Dylan accused, jumping in before more damage could be done.
"Dylan, we saw people die. What'd you mean—'the hell's my problem?' You expect me to be all happy-go-lucky after everything?!" Abigail seethed, tears brimming in her eyes. "After everything we've seen?!"
Genna's awful stained smile flashed in her mind's eye. Daisy's scream echoed.
Where's Daisy now? Is she still alive?
"No." She retorted, "But maybe don't take it out on us?" Her brows raised as she stared Abigail down. "We're all stuck here—can't start fighting with each other now, otherwise we're gonna get ourselves killed."
Abigail's glare deepened, but she turned her head—glaring at the wall. Luci reached across the desk, trying to get her attention. When Abigail glanced at her, Luci just gestured and said, "come on." She gave Dylan and Saphris an apologetic look. "Sorry, give us a minute."
"All good," she muttered, still annoyed even as she squeezed up against the desk so Abigail could shuffle past her and follow Luci out of the room.
Dylan and Saphris stared at each other as one of the doors clicked open and shut, fully separating them from Luci and Abigail.
"You okay?" She asked, unable to stand the silence any longer.
Saphris shrugged, her face smoothing out. "More or less. Is anyone okay? She certainly isn't." She jabbed a thumb at the open doorway. "I know I'm not. And while that shit was really starting to piss me off—I get it… I get it…" Her gaze lingered on the dark doorway.
Dylan sighed, knowing the topic was done and turned her attention back to the laptop sitting on the desk. What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?
Saphris shuffled over until she was standing with Dylan in front of the computer; Dylan side-eyed her. "… Just for the record…" She started, unable to let the topic go without saying one last thing. "I don't think your mom has anything to do with this."
Her best-friend grimaced. "Then where is she?" She whispered, voice quivering just the slightest bit. "She was working today."
She swallowed, the words sitting heavy in her mind.
I don't want to think about that possibility…
She took in the emails again, still not really processing them. She sighed. "We gotta get into the back-office somehow—all of this confirms that that's something."
"Do you think they found any keys when they searched the place?" Saphris asked lowly, glancing at the doorway with a strange look in her eyes.
"I donno… but it's definitely worth asking–"
"No!"
Dylan gave her a disconcerted look.
Saphris bit her lip, and glanced at the open doorway again, before looking back at her. "I dunno if we should trust them…" She whispered.
Dylan shook her head. "Why? We know them—there's no–"
"Do we though?" Saphris cut in again. "And think about it, do you really think they would just hand over the keys if they did? Currently, keys are a hot commodity—they–"
But Dylan didn't hear the rest because she snorted. Hot commodity. The laughing escalated from there.
Saphris glared.
"Listen," she started, still amused. "Tensions are high, yeah, but they still saved us. That's gotta mean something."
"Luci."
"Hmm?"
"Luci saved us." Saphris said.
"Dude. Abigail is just stressed. We all are. You know she didn't really mean what she said. Hurt people hurt people."
"Exactly!" She stressed. "Friendships mean nothing now."
Dylan raised a brow. "You mean that?"
Saphris paused. "You're different. You damn well know that."
"Damn straight." Dylan rumbled, satisfied, despite understanding what she meant the first time.
"Still," Her best-friend continued, irritable. "I think we should have our guard up. And besides… how long do you think they'll let us stay here?"
The words sparked an idea. "Here's a thought:" Dylan started.
Saphris crossed her arms, waiting.
"What if we offered a trade?"
Saphris' eyes widened and she let out a surprised hum.
"Because their phones are dead, no? I bet they might be willing to give up their keys for a laptop or two and some chargers…" Dylan explained, internally thrilled with her brilliant suggestion.
"If they have any keys." Saphris pointed out.
"If they have keys." Dylan agreed.
"It's definitely a good idea." Her friend conceded.
A door creaked open and the both of them jolted. "Fuck it." Saphris said. "Let's ask."
"Ask what?" Luci queried.
Dylan's head whipped over to the doorway—seeing Luci and a glum Abigail standing there. "Jeez, that was quick."
"We were just wondering if you guys had happened to find any keys?" She continued, feeling slightly awkward about the question.
Abigail's eyes narrowed. "Why do you ask…?"
"We were wondering if you'd be up for a trade?" Saphris answered, squaring her shoulders at the tone in Abigail's voice.
"A trade?" Luci said, her head tilting.
"A couple of computers and chargers for admin keys." Dylan elaborated. She watched as their eyes went wide—exchanging a look.
Abigail turned back to them. "Fully charged?"
Dylan shook her head. "Can't guarantee that—you know how shoddy those batteries can be. But we could find the ones with the best charge…?"
Abigail looked to Luci, and after a moment of eye-contact the girl shrugged, and Abigail nodded and looked back to them. "You got yourself a deal."
"So you guys do have keys!" Saphris blurted.