Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all the basics.
Rated M for several reasons.
Part One
Chapter 7 The Un-Fun Continues
BPOV
Theories abound on yesterday's events.
Someone else down here? One of us kidnapped Zafrina and then locked them in together? Zafrina kidnapped herself? Siobhan, who has quite a warrior spirit when provoked, pressed the panic button again and tried to grill Sam but he refused to answer any of her questions even though we assume someone up there saw what happened on the monitors.
None of us in the girls' dorm could get to sleep. We talked about what happened, how scared we would have been, how brave Zafrina was. We dissed James, good to know I'm not the only one who thinks he's a jerk. Alice tried to get me to admit that I liked Edward, but it felt presumptuous of me to like him somehow so I refused to confirm it. She admitted that she was 'smitten' with Jasper and Rosalie confessed that she thought Emmett had potential. Irina was predictably all about James and Siobhan and Zafrina were quiet as they sat together on her bed.
Eventually, after we'd tucked into some of our stolen treats from the first day we drifted off to sleep and it seemed only moments later that Em's large happy face appeared around our door exhorting us to get up because the 'grocery fairy' had been.
There was bacon, so today is at least starting well . . . .
RPOV
Searching the third level was carried unanimously when put to the vote so after breakfast we loaded up with lights, batteries, food and water and headed down the stairwell. In tense silence, even Shorty Biloxi who was noticeably the last to stop chattering last night.
I descended with Em since it felt natural to both of us.
Level Three, predictably, was totally black.
"I strongly suggest we stay together." James growls as we crowd around the door way.
"No arguments from me." Alistair agrees, pointedly using the large hunk of metal he carried down from the motor pool to wedge the heavy steel door open.
The first thing I notice is that there doesn't seem to have been a clean and orderly military withdrawal from down here. Broken furniture and smashed glass litters the corridor before us, which is also awash with about an inch of water. Foul, stale smelling, water.
"Ew, gross." Bella groans somewhere behind me.
"These boots are waterproof." Edward consoles her.
"I am going to fall down in it Edward." She sighs. "You know I am."
"I'll do my best to . . . ."
"Are you done sucking up Edward?" James snaps. "Can we move on?"
"Of course James." Edward responds politely. "Do lead the way, I'm sure we're all eager to follow you."
"Oh we so are." Em chortles. "Lead on James, we'll be right behind you."
Except we're not thanks to Em's long arms blocking the door and James sloshes a good ten feet before the laughter clues him into the fact we're not following him.
"Very funny." He growls.
"I thought so." I sing, flashing him an evil smile from under Em's considerable armpit.
Still joking aside we're here to search this sucker.
The floor seems to be the same facility concrete but the walls down here are plain old office dividers, panels at the bottom and glass at the top and since most of the glass is broken we don't need to leave the corridor to shine our lights and peer into the rooms . . . . .
"They look like labs." Alistair observes, confirming what we're all thinking.
"Trashed labs." Riley murmurs, training his light on a jumbled mass of equipment blocking one of the doorways.
"Why would the army want labs in a bunker?" Irina whispers as we inch forward.
"Um, Irina?" I drawl. "Haven't you watched any horror films?"
"They wouldn't, would they?"
"Put it this way." Edward chips in. "I wouldn't touch anything if I were you."
"Was it flooded in here yesterday?" I ask, not remembering.
"No." Zafrina and Riley confirm quietly.
"Oh god." Bella groans again.
Room by room it's the same story, scary under the circumstances laboratory equipment and apparent wanton destruction.
"We're going to have to search these rooms properly at some point." James points out as we slosh onward.
"We know, we know." A few of us respond.
We find our first closed door, which James opens cautiously to shine his light inside.
"Oh shit." Alice breathes. "It's a padded cell, what the hell did they need a padded cell for?"
"Fuck the cell." Em growls. "What about the heavy metal restraints, did they have Rhinos down here?"
James closes the door and moves on, to our relief.
More labs until the next closed door, our lights pick out the backs of a row of chairs, movie theatre like chairs. Intrigued we inch inside, bringing the water in with us. It is a movie theatre, a very small movie theatre . . . .
"Argh!" "Fuck!" "Jesus Mary Mother of Joseph!"
I scream along with the others and fall back against Em's massive chest as the screen before us springs into life, counting down in that black and white old timey way.
"What the fuck?" His chest rumbles against my back as he speaks.
An image appears of a naked man in what looks like the padded cell we've just passed. There's no sound but he's straining and thrashing at the metal tethers and it looks very much like he's screaming in terror at the top of his lungs.
"Oh Jesus." Alice whimpers as Jasper wraps his arms around her.
And just as abruptly as it started it stops, plunging us back into the semi darkness.
"Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck." Someone is chanting as we stampede back to the relative safety of the corridor and Alistair slams the door shut behind us.
APOV
My Mother was in an insane asylum and my aunt, never the sharpest tool in the box, took me to visit her once. All I can remember is the stark corridors, the screaming, and the padded rooms . . . .
"Alice? Honey? Are you okay?"
The corridors, the screaming, the padded rooms . . . .
"Alice?"
The corridors, the screaming, the padded rooms . . . .
"Someone get me some water. Stop shining that fucking light in her eyes! James, I am warning you . . . ."
The corridors, the screaming, the padded rooms . . . .
"Alice? Pretty lady? You're scarin' me darlin' . . . ."
The corridors, the screaming . . . . oh god I'm screaming . . . . the padded rooms . . . .
Not there, here. The Experiment.
I always thought I'd end up there one day, being led down the corridors, screaming, as I'm thrown into a padded room.
But that's not what's happening here. That's just a dream, a nightmare, and this is just, a game.
"Thank fuck." James growls as I stop screaming and open my eyes.
"Here." Edward urges. "Take a couple of deep breaths and then drink some of this."
I take the canteen and nod.
"Dr Cullen's probably got enough data for a whole publication." Jasper laughs in relief, wrapping an arm around me to pull me, unprotesting, into his side. "So you can relax now and feel vastly superior to the rest of us."
"Sorry everyone." I mutter between swigs of water. "Just got a thing about padded rooms."
BPOV
Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.
Instinctively I reach out for Alice's hand squeezing it until her tiny bones creak, but she squeezes back, just as hard.
"That was intense." Riley observes dryly.
And to my utter surprise they all actually start laughing. Laughing!
"Come on." Alice actually chuckles. Chuckles! "Let's finish this level and do the next one while we're on a roll!"
Edward walks beside me as we shine our lights into the last few rooms, all trashed, all medical looking in their origins, even the largely empty storerooms.
Eventually we reach the end of the corridor and another heavy metal door.
"Its lunch time." Em reminds us, just in case his loudly rumbling stomach hasn't.
Wanting to be away from the dank water we shuffle out onto the new stairwell which leads straight down into the abyss.
"It's cold out here." Irina objects.
"But it's dry." I respond firmly, sinking down onto the first stair to open my sandwich.
After an infinitesimal pause the others array themselves around me. And the conversation is comfortingly familiar, relaxing even, football, college life, movies and books. This is when I finally realise that we are either all orphans or estranged from our families, which sends a shiver down my spine that I can see reflected in Alice's.
Appetite gone I stow the rest of my sandwich for later and sip my water while the boys argue good naturedly about who is going to win the Super Bowl this year and whether or not some random celebrity's tits are real. I vote no but in fairness I only have a couple of modest ones to go by . . . .
RPOV
Here we go again, heading down through the un-funhouse.
Level four's door opens easily and all the lights are on.
Which is a terrible shame because all the walls and floor seem to be bathed in blood. Gallons and gallons of blood. The damn stuff is still sliding fatly down the walls for fuck's sake. I know its fake but it even smells like fresh blood, salty and metallic. Realistic enough for Bella and Alistair to hoy up their lunch anyway. No one has any words so we just stand and stare. This corridor is curved like the one on our floor, with the mildly buzzing electric lights encased in the same protective mesh.
"No." Siobhan declares moving back to sit on the bottom stair with her arms folded. "Absolutely not."
"Me either." Bella moans, collapsing next to her to take a swig of water.
"I'll wait with the ladies." Alistair whispers, wiping his mouth before sitting down with them.
I'm tempted to wait here too but James the Jerk raises his eyebrow at me so I step forward into the blood slick without another thought. And nearly fall onto my ass, the 'blood' is slippery on the shiny concrete. Fuck!
"Careful." I hiss at the others as I gingerly lead them to the left.
We creep along for what seems like hours before we find the first door, another metal monolith set flush to the concrete on the outer curve. Em pulls and it creaks open to reveal darkness. Why can't anything be fucking locked down here?
We shine our lights inside.
Empty. Completely. Not a thing to indicate its purpose. Strangely deflated, what with all the blood and all, we move on, eventually coming back to the stairwell door without encountering anything else, not even another door. So we go round again, because really, there has to be a purpose to all this 'blood', surely?
Big. Mistake.
By my calculation we're about halfway round when the lights go out to the accompanying sound of a firmly banged door.
"Shit!" Em growls, grabbing my hand and squeezing it.
Ludicrously unprepared it feels like forever before the first flashlight flicks on. And, damn, but the blood looks worse by dancing flashlight.
The only sound is our slightly desperate breathing but abruptly there are running footsteps and a large body forces its way between us, scattering us in all directions. Amid the screams and curses that follow I can hear laughter, dark and slightly demented laughter.
"Is that all you've got?" I demand, somewhat stupidly to the fading footsteps.
"Rosalie . . . ." Em begins but the steps get louder again all of a sudden and the large force blows through us again. This time I go down too, taking Em down with me since we're still attached by the hands. Death grip is the phrase I think.
I gag because somewhere between falling and screaming I've got 'blood' in my mouth and that's just . . . . ungh . . . . there goes lunch . . . . and breakfast . . . .
The stampede of slipping, sliding and screaming people is led by Edward who is already shouting for Bella before we reach the stairwell door. He yanks on it desperately but it doesn't budge.
Oh. My. God . . . .
