CHAPTER SIXTEEN: IN THE VENTS

Layla couldn't believe what had happened, but she was glad that it did. She was one step closer to going home.

However, guilt was building up in her stomach. All this time she had been thinking about going home, a small part of her was breaking down. She would have to leave the boys. They were her family, too. How could she leave her family?

Layla jumped—the sudden sound of metal creaking from beneath her bed caused her to go completely silent. She stopped breathing and listened.

"Psst!" Layla furrowed her brows as someone spoke from below her, "hey! It's Thomas, don't worry. You can trust me."

Layla let out a breath before she slowly peaked underneath her bed, coming face-to-face with Thomas who was in the vent. She almost laughed at how ridiculous it was. Of course Thomas would do some shit like this in the middle of the night.

Then, she glanced at the boy behind him. "Who's that?" Layla frowned softly as he wasn't alone. Thomas glanced at the boy behind him before turning back to her.

"That's Aris. He said he had something to show me." Thomas whispered softly, "and I said I'm not going without you."

Layla smiled softly. She was glad she could count on Thomas. Despite his impulsive and stupid decisions, he always seemed to come out on top. Maybe it was because he was one of the only ones willing to do something, and make the hard choices.

He was unlike Layla in that sense. Sure, she'd do what she needed to, but she would think things through more, sometimes causing her to hesitate. The two of them together seemed to be the way to go. They balanced each other out. It just... worked.

"Come on, this way." Thomas waved Layla into the vent as him and Aris quickly made room for her.

As they crawled through the vents, Layla's hands and knees began to ache from the constant moving, without any breaks. "Hurry, this way." Aris waved them over, not making any more to stop. Layla knew it was the right thing to do. They had to be quick—she just hoped it wasn't a waste of time. "Come on."

Thomas stopped for a moment. It seemed he was trying to figure out if trusting Aris was the right move. Just as Layla thought, he didn't think things through.

But they had already made it so far, so Layla sighed before crawling ahead of Thomas, quickly taking a turn in the vents. "Ladies first, I guess." She muttered. The sound of Thomas jokingly scoffing was heard a few feet behind her.

After countless turns through the vents, Thomas finally spoke up. "Hey," Aris turned to face him. "Wait a second. What the hell are we doing?"

Aris wasted no time in waving them over once more, an impatient look on his face. "Come on, we're gonna miss it." Layla groaned softly as he began to crawl away even faster, before she started crawling after him.

Layla could hear Thomas sigh in annoyance as he began to follow her. "What the hell am I doing?" He whispered to himself, causing the girl to hum. I've been thinking the exact same thing, she thought.

Once they made it to another turn in the vents, they quickly noticed Aris hunched over a vent cover. "What are we doing?" Thomas asked once more, causing Aris to shush him with a finger over his lips.

"Come here." He waved them over, again. Thomas and Layla sighed, but ended up doing as told. "Watch." Aris spoke in a louder tone, but still quiet enough to keep them from getting caught. The three of them looked down through the vent cover, watching as a familiar doctor walked by before glanced behind herself.

It was the same doctor that was helping Teresa. Layla squinted her eyes, leaning forward.

A few more doctors walked by, and Thomas and Layla could do nothing but stare in shock as they held onto a bed with—what looked to be—a body on top. It was covered in a blanket, with a device overtop that was meant to read their vitals.

As they were wheeled by the vent, a strange feeling washed over Layla. It was frighteningly similar to the feeling of death, but... not quite. It was as if they were stuck in an in between. As if they could die at any moment.

It felt wrong.

Thomas leaned down to get a closer look as the first doctor swiped a card on a keypad. She moved out of the way from the door she stood in front of to let the other doctors wheel the body in first.

Much to Layla's surprise, more bodies were wheeled in behind the first. That strange feeling was getting stronger, and Layla had never wanted to leave a place more—but she did not move.

When the last of them made it inside the room, the doors slid closed with a loud bang.

Layla didn't realize her mouth was hanging open until she went to speak. "Aris, what did we just see?"

Aris turned to look at her and Thomas, his face being lit from the lights below them. "They bring in new ones every night like clockwork." He sighed softly. A chill ran down Layla's spine.

Thomas furrowed his brows, "you know what they do with them?"

Aris quickly shook his head with a defeated expression on his face. "I don't know. This is as far as I've ever gotten." He admitted. "The vents don't even go into that section. But once they go through that door, they don't come back out." Layla listened intently as the boy spoke, "I don't think anybody ever really leaves this place."

It was silent for a few moments as Thomas and Layla processed what they were told. Still, Layla wasn't surprised by the news. Of course they were still unsafe—she had already known that. It all seemed too good to be true. The beds, the showers, the food. It was all too... perfect.

She could only feel horrified at the thought of what those doctors could be doing to those kids that they had taken.

"Come on." Aris spoke up, "we've gotta go before somebody notices we're gone."

Thomas quickly stopped the boy before he could lead the way back, "why'd you show us this?"

Aris stopped before turning to the boy. "Because maybe the others will listen to you." He then turned to Layla and grimaced, "and if I'm being honest, you're only here because he wanted you here." He pursed his lips, "sorry."

Layla would've been offended if she didn't find his comment so funny. Despite what she had seen, she laughed softly. "Don't worry about it."

Aris smiled before continuing, "there's something weird going on here. And I know you think so too." Then, he began to crawl back, but Thomas being Thomas, stopped him once more.

"Hey, wait." He called out, causing Aris to look at him with a raised brow. "Thanks." He mumbled softly.

Aris nodded, "no problem."

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lizzie speaks...

sorry it's so short omfg i just realized

Layla when Thomas shows up under her bed:

the original (I assume it was a tweet) has been saved in my phone for 4 years. absolutely love it