My daily tray of food is placed on the small, metal sill located right under the opening. The opaque window slides shut and my short glimpse of the hallways outside was over. But then again, it never started in the first place. I walked over to my dinner and brought the tray to my bunk bed. I sat and the hard mattress dipped under my weight.

I placed the tray on my lap, the cold metal pressed against my bare legs. My dinner consisted of a portion of rice, boiled vegetables and meat cooked in soy sauce as well as a small glass of plain water. The white rice was stained brown due to the sauce that was probably poured over it. It was pooling around the rice. The only thing I am truly grateful for about being here are my meals. I am glad that they actually fed us – I assume Wil had the same meals as I did everyday – properly and not starve us.

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Something was missing from the tray. I lifted the porcelain plate and I grinned in triumph. I thought Wil had forgotten to sneak it onto the tray. Evidently not.

The light shone down on the two bobby pins and the shiny coat of black paint caught the light and it glinted, reflecting it into my eye. I picked them both up and spun them through my fingers, examining it closely. The paint was chipped at some parts, revealing the dull grey of the pin. I put them into my pants pocket.

I consumed my food as quickly as possible without choking, knowing that I definitely could not ignore having dinner. I would need my full strength for what was going to happen next.

I washed down my dinner with the glass of water. I set the tray on the mattress and pushed myself up, making a beeline towards the door, reaching into my pocket and producing the two bobby pins. I bent down until the keyhole of the door was on my eye level. I wondered why they still used keys to keep us in instead of some more advanced technology. Well, no time to question it now.

I thrust both pins into the keyhole. I knew the theory behind picking locks and that was about it. I knew that my goal while picking locks was to raise all the pins in order for the cylinder in the lock mechanism to rotate and thus, allowing the door to be opened. It sounded easy enough, though I knew from experience that it would be anything but. That and because I was horrible with my hands. I’m more of a book person than hands on.

I moved the pins around, my fingers crossed, hoping for the best. After several long minutes, I heard the lock click open.

“Yes,” I muttered under my breath in triumph.

The bobby pins fell from my hands and onto the ground. I kicked them towards the bed, not wanting any traces of my escape to be eminent. Aside from the fact that I was not in the room, of course.

Wil’s voice rang in my head. “No one comes down our corridor after our dinner is sent to us. We should seize the moment and use the opportunity to escape from here. When they realise the next day that we’re gone, we’ll be far away.”

I really hoped Wil was right. I certainly did not want to get caught red handed. Who knew what consequences that would bring to us.

My hands went to the door knob and I twisted it, pulling the door open. When it was wide enough, I slipped out of the room, closing the door soundlessly shut behind me. I didn’t know how to lock the door so I just left it at that.

My eyes darted around the hallway. Upon seeing no one else, a feeling of panic starts to grow in the pit of my stomach. Where was Wil? He was supposed to be here. Had he left without me? Or did they decide to take him away for some sort of experiment?

The sound of a door swinging open reached my ears. I jumped, clearly startled by the sudden noise. I hurriedly scanned the room, not knowing what – or who – to expect. The noise was just my imagination, right? There was no one here to catch me. There can’t be.

I let out a sigh of relief and my shoulders sagged when I realised that the sound made was just Wil exiting his cell. He leaned into his room and pulled the door shut. He accidentally used a little too much force while closing the door and the sound echoed through the whole corridor. I winced, hoping it did not alert anyone of us being where we were not supposed to be.

A few seconds went by and much to my delight, no one came. My heartbeat started to return to its normal heart rate.

I was having way too many close calls that day. At this rate, I would be suffering from a heart attack before we even successfully escaped from the building.

“Come on,” Wil whispered. “I think it’s this way.”

We turned right and kept on walking until we reached a dead end.

“Umm…” I started, unsure how to phrase my question. “What now?”

When he did not answer, I turned to look at Wil. Perhaps he did not hear my question in the first place. He seemed to be deep in thought, almost as though he was attempting to recall something important although he could not put his finger on it. Perhaps he was trying to recall exactly how to get out of the facility. I wished he could have told me the plan earlier but we barely had any time to converse anyway. The only thing he could tell me was when we could escape and the barest minimal details.

I sucked in a deep breath of air and exhaled. I hoped we could make it out of here on time. Our time was ticking away.

Wil turned his neck to look at me so quickly that I could hear a soft crack in his neck, a look so victorious on his face that I’m surprised he did not pump his fist into the air in triumph as well. “I remember now. It is in here.”

He walked to the room situated to the front and left of the dead end. He reached for the doorknob and twisted it, leaning his weight on the wooden door to push it open.

It did not budge.

Why was I not surprised?

Wil muttered something incoherent under his breath. I did not bother to ask what he had just said, knowing that if it was of any importance at all, he would repeat it when he realised I did not hear it.

He produced two bobby pins from his pocket – apparently he hadn’t disposed of them as I had – and picked the lock expertly. He quickly stashed the pins in his pocket once he had completed the task and pushed open the door.

He nodded towards the open door, silently gesturing me to go in. I ducked my head and watched my feet as they walked towards my destination: inside the room. Wil entered after me and closed the door behind him, thankfully, quietly this time.

“Where are we?” I asked, looking around.

There were shelves of items – I could spot the outlines of a couple of jars and bottles of different shapes and bottles – but that was about it.

“I am not too sure,” Wil answered nonchalantly. Clearly he did not care. “All I know is that the back entrance of the east wing of the facility is in this room.”

I bit my lip, willing myself not to ask him how he knew about all this. He must have either had a contact from the outside, somehow, or a sympathiser. I mean, he could have bribed someone, but, knowing him, that did not seem to be something he would do.

He already told me not to ask. He did it so that if, out of some unfortunate turn of events, something happened, I would not be in that much trouble as I did not know all the details. They couldn’t penalise me for that, could they?

Though, more often than not, I preferred knowing and paying the price for it rather than being in the dark.

We made out way to the very back of the room, guided solely by the rays of moonlight that were streaming in from the outside.

Soon, the exit door came into view. My lips curled up into a wide smile. Finally. I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins as we slowly but surely approached the exit door. The exit door from this dreaded building that we have been cooped up in all our lives.

Finally.

We could finally have our own freedom.

The journal falls from my hands and onto the floor with a muffled thud. I collapse to the ground, burying my face in the palms of my hands. I know this should not come as much of a shock to me, considering we know that we are failed experiments – at least they did not withhold that information from us – but I guess when the truth – finally – hits a person in the face, especially one that that person has been dying to know, these kinds of reactions are natural.

I wonder what it means when they say that they will keep us. Does that mean that they had the choice to release us, to actually give us a chance at life, but chose to keep us caged up for their pleasure instead?

The very thought that they could have given us a normal, torture-free life angers me.

I inhale deeply in an attempt to calm myself down and to control my emotions. I have got to forget about it. It does not matter anymore, now that it is all over. It’s not like I can reverse time and rewrite history. What’s done has been done and can’t be changed.

But I know that, deep down, I will never be able to fully forgive them for what they have done to us.

I bend down to pick up the book and replace it back to its original spot. I run my fingers through my hair and pull it back. It falls on my back, cascading around my shoulders.

I wonder when Key will finally reach here.

I desperately need to get out of this room. It is starting to feel stuffy in here. The air is getting stale and musty and it’s suffocating to breathe.

Someone knocks on the door once, twice, then twice again.

Speak of the devil.

I make a beeline towards the door and open it for her. She seems uncomfortable, her eyes darting around all over the place, as if on the lookout for something. She seems jumpy and ready to pounce if something were to happen. I wonder why.

“Come on. Let us go. We really need to make a move,” she says hurriedly before taking off, not even bothering to wait for me.

I go out and quickly close the door behind me, remembering to switch off the lights before exiting the room. I trail after Key as fast as my legs permit, trying to keep on the same pace as Key, not wanting to lose sight of her.

She walks all the way to the end of the wing. Instead of coming face to face with a wall as I had expected – just like in the East wing – a door stands in place of it, expectant, almost like it is waiting for someone to open it. Key reaches out and pulls the door open. I did not need to be told to get out.

I do it automatically.

The moment I step out into the open once again, a cool breeze hits me, sweeping across my face. I look around, wanting to know who is with us.

Aries, Aristelle and Wil.

No surprise there.

“Miri,” Wil says when his eyes finally land on me.

He heads towards me and takes me into a bear hug. I giggle and hug him back tightly, reluctant to let go.

“It’s so good to see you again.”

“It’s so good to see you again too,” I reply to my friend.

I cannot imagine life without Wil. He is like my other half. He is the only one who knows how it is like in the facility. He is the only one who understands all the horrifying and agonising experiences I have gone through while in that very building.

And, for everyone’s sake, I hope no one else does.


Hey all! Sorry for posting late. I was going to update on Sunday but I fell sick after I came home from church and have been pretty sick til now. I'm getting better though. Really sorry once again. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it :)