CLANG
CLANG
CLANG
The old man in the next cell over was at it again. Rattling on the cell bars in stringent defiance. He was a haggard old man. Once an apprentice at one Frostein Academy, but now reduced to nothing but a shell of the man he once was. His teeth were stained a moldy green and his hair was white and brittle.
"I'd rather they killed me than spend another moment locked in here."
But they never would. They were always in need of "volunteers." For what? No one knew. Day after day we would see masked people clad in pristine lab coats that were so white that it would make your head hurt if you looked at them for too long. They'd walk the halls, peering into the cells from behind their expressionless masks.
They'd come in the night. When all the prisoners are asleep and provide little resistance. Each night after dinner we'd fall into a death-like slumber from which we wouldn't wake until the lab coats were long gone. I had long since held a suspicion that something was far too coincidental about how we'd all fall asleep so soundly.
So when night came along, I didn't eat. I let Mr. Prospero take my share of dinner. When it came time for all the prisoners to get back in their cells for the night, Fusarium was out cold. I only caught a glimpse as I was ushered into my cell but he was sprawled on his bunk, eyes vacantly looking out at me as I passed. His chest no longer heaved up and down, his face was pale and it was at that moment my suspicions were confirmed.
I suppose the extra dose of whatever they put in our food finally gave Fusarium his wish. The lab coats dipped into different cells, examining each inmate until they finally arrived at mine. I pretended to be as limp as I could while they poked and prodded at me.
“This one meets the requirements for Project Kross,” I heard one of them say.
More footsteps shuffled into my cell. Cold fingers wrapped around me as I was hoisted up and carted out of the citadel with several other inmates into a small truck. The windowless walls and feeling of limbs smothered me. Memories of unease from when I was first brought to the citadel came flooding back. I could feel myself getting nauseous, struggling to drag any amount of air into my lungs as I swatted unconscious bodies away to get a sliver of space for myself.
I could feel the vehicle twisting and turning. Like even though they believed us to be asleep, they didn't want to take any chances. So they continued to drive about for what felt like hours. Sweat beaded down my forehead. The longer I was in there, the smaller the space seemed. By the time people started to wake up, I could feel the suffocating sensation getting to me. I began gasping for air, trying to dispel the feeling of my lungs being crushed. I was so distracted with trying not to pass out from a lack of oxygen that I hadn't even noticed that we were no longer moving.
The doors swung open, letting in the binding sunlight. I flung myself out of the truck, gasping as relief flooded me. Rough hands found their way around my arms, yanking me to my feet. I was silently ushered into a line of prisoners. When all of us were neatly lined up and no longer heaving for fresh air or fighting heat stroke, a man in a long white lab coat came down the steps of the looming building in front of us. His voice was smooth and his face held a warm expression, but his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“Welcome, welcome! I know this must be very confusing for you. Do forgive us for abruptly calling for you all. You may call me Doctor Nirvana. You see here at Vespertine Academy, we like to give second chances to…” his eyes traveled down the line, taking in our confusion and worry. “Less fortunate individuals. We work with the Citadel to accomplish this. That’s where you lot come in! Our partnership with the citadel dictates that for every study you participate in, you will have a bit of time shaved off of your sentence.”
Whispers rippled down our line.
“So why’d you have to kidnap us?”
A voice piped up from my side. I turned to the source of the voice. For a moment I thought I was losing it. Maybe I was hallucinating. The boy that stood next to me looked like a slightly taller copy of Kayne. He spoke again, his deeper voice breaking the illusion.
“What study are we even being made to participate in?”
The man in the lab coat smiled even wider. “Good question! I’m sure you must have many of those. The answer is quite simple really. We deal with a lot of confidential information and…sensitive subjects, it stands to reason that we must take every precaution when it comes to keeping things…discreet. But rest assured, if you can trust one thing it's that Vespertine Academy values those who are ambitious. As long as you deliver on your end, we will deliver on ours. A thirst for knowledge, or at the very least a desire for more in life should be rewarded no?”
Doctor Nirvana folded his hands behind back and began walking towards a large winding path branching from the main academy walkway. He paused momentarily and looked back at our line up. He jerked his head towards the path.
“Now that introductions are out of the way, why don't we get going? We have a study to conduct.”
The armed guards eyeing us from behind him was enough to let us know that we didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Slowly, we began trickling onto the path behind him in single file. The Kayne lookalike was in front of me, head swiveling from side to side as he took in the grand, maze like architecture of the academy grounds. Not unlike the way Kayne would light up whenever we went exploring in the orphanage.
Guards would shut each gate behind us, obscuring our view of any path of escape. Doctor Nirvana led us to a small dilapidated structure. It looked like a temple that had long since been abandoned.
Nirvana clapped his hands once, drawing our attention back to him. “Here we are!” He said in his falsely chipper voice. “Since this is your first time here I hope you'll indulge me in a little history lesson.” Nirvana gestured towards the temple behind him.” Our academy was built on historic ground. Chairman Vespertine thought it wise to preserve such a culturally significant part of this town and had this area sectioned off, building the academy around it. The many bright minds that passed through the halls of our academy would often visit to leave offerings and the like during their time here in pursuit of higher knowledge.”
My gaze wandered to the building behind him. It awfully unkempt for the kind of place he was describing. Cobwebs and rotting wood littered the steps to the entrance, the railings were bent so far outward that it looks like the slightest tap would snap it from its hinges and send it crashing to the ground bellow.
“Sorry what does that have to do with anything? That doesn't tell us what you want us to do here,” said the Kayne lookalike, arms crossed in impatient protest.
It looked as though the guards were beginning to get fed up with his outbursts, but before they could move to shut him up, Nirvana raised a hand. “You ask the right questions but do be patient. After all, it would be remiss of me to send you in without giving you the necessary information no?”
Nirvana gestured again and the guards proceeded to affix a watch of some sort to each of our wrists. The numbers 0:0:0 flashed in a dull green light on the screen. Once the guards were finished, Nirvana began to speak again.
“Our maintenance crew reported unusual things within the temple walls, mainly a specific ore that was used in the construction of the statues inside. However, due to the incredibly long and ancient history of this place we are reluctant to move in with equipment and risk doing irreversible damage to the grounds. It came to our attention that these ores contained particularly high levels of magnetic attraction. Higher than any metal we know of. As such, our research team has developed a special sensor that is meant to detect these ores using their magnetic force.”
Nirvana walked over to us and separated us into 5 pairs.
“That's where you all come in! We want to test the effectiveness of our sensors. To avoid any potential interference and increase our chances of finding more ore, we will be sending you in, in teams of 2. Since these sensors are only prototypes, you will know that it is time to exit the building when the timers on them begin to flash red, indicating an excess of use.”
“....so how do we know it's sensing this ore of yours?” Asked the Kayne lookalike.
Nirvana sighed, looking as though he was hoping nobody would ask any further questions. “Simply report to us what you observe inside and with the sensor when you exit. We will take care of the rest.”
Before the Kayne lookalike could pipe up again, Nirvana turned on his heel, the stark white of his lab coat hurting my eyes as he walked away. He waved over the first pair who hesitantly climbed the stairs and entered the building. Looking down the line of “participants” I could see that I would be the last to enter. An annoyed huff caused me to look back over my shoulder at my partner. The Kayne lookalike turned his wrist, examining the sensor strapped to it.
“Doesn't make much sense does it?” I said quietly.
His big round eyes looked up at me and I was struck with a sense of nostalgia. It felt like I was looking at my little brother again.
“No I guess not…”
“...I'm Victor by the way…” I mumbled out an introduction when he averted his gaze, probably put off by my staring. “And you?”
He glanced back at me, a toothy smile making its way onto his face.
“Abel! My name's Abel!”
“It's nice to meet you Abel.” I smile at him, clocking the little dimples on his cheeks that Kayne never had.
We fell into an uneasy silence neither of us quite sure of what to say given the situation.
“So…how did you end up in the Citadel?” He asked.
I shifted uncomfortably on my feet. “My little brother saw something he wasn't supposed to and I took the blame,” I said plainly. I looked back at him, expecting him to tell me why he had been imprisoned next.
He looked at me with eyes full of pity. “You've got a brother too? So do I…except well… I was thrown into the citadel for murder so I haven't seen him in a while…”
My eyes widened and I remained silent. “Your brother didn't come looking for you or anything?” It was an empty question. Nobody looked for people discarded in the citadel, but the conversation, despite its grimness, still distracted us from the dread that nagged at us as we looked at the building.
It was Abel's turn to move awkwardly as he answered. “I lived with my older brother and dad but my brother was a really sick kid. So when I went off to college he had to stay with my dad. I came back to visit one weekend but the door was unlocked…” Abel frowned, forehead wrinkling as a glassy eyed recollection veiled his face. “There was blood...everywhere. I don't know how long the apartment was empty but there was already mold growing…well…everywhere. I was so shocked I just stood there all spaced out. That's when the woman next door came outside and spotted me. It was her that called the cops. Next thing I know, I'm being accused of murdering my family.”
I put a hand on his shoulder. “That's awful…”
“I don't even know…if they're actually dead or they got away from whatever struggle was happening there…”
We watched the group who went in first emerge from the building. They looked relatively unharmed, annoyed if anything. It seemed to reassure those of us still waiting in line. As they were escorted away by guards and the line moved forward, I nudged Abel.
“Well maybe we can get enough time shaved off our sentences to get out of here. Then we can both go back to our families.”
Abel smiled up at me. “We'll have to do more of these stupid studies for who knows how long though.”
“Yeah but if they're as simple as walking around and finding rocks then maybe it won't be so bad.
He laughed this time. We spent the next little while waiting and listening as each group entered and exited. The first couple groups to exit looked like the most perilous thing inside was the lack of light, their pained squints as they looked out at us was enough to let us know that inside must be just as downtrodden as the outside. The third and fourth pair also looked as though they didn’t exactly come across anything which was slightly worrying.
Sure, they want us to go in and make sure the sensor works, but what happens if we don’t actually find anything? Do we just get sent back to the Citadel? Does the promise of lessened sentences hinge on the success of these studies? Before I could rationalize an answer for myself a shrill scream echoed from within the temple.
Everyone went silent, straining to see if they had actually heard a scream or it was just their nerves playing tricks on them. The dread that had been pooling in my chest returned stronger than ever when another scream ripped itself from the temple.
Abel took a step forward, only to be stopped by the guards keeping us in line. “What’s going on! I thought you said this was safe?” His voice trembled as he spoke, whether it was because of anger or fear, I couldn’t tell. Perhaps it was a mix of both.
Nirvana shared a knowing look with the guards on the steps to the temple entrance. “Every scientific endeavor comes with risks wouldn’t you say?” He looked down at the small timer he held in his hands. “Fret not. Time is almost up for them anyway. Ready the next pair.”
The next group meant to enter didn’t move. Their hesitation caused the guards to grab them and drag them up the stairs. All while screams bounced off of the walls of the courtyard and echoed back at us. Although, by then it wasn’t just the pair inside screaming. The next group were pleading with the guards not to send them in, resigning to their sentences at the citadel, saying that it wasn’t worth facing whatever was inside this place.
The guards ignored them, forcing them towards the temple entrance and pushing them inside. I was surprised that the force of their pushing and kicking didn’t break down the doors given how run down it was. The guards stood against it, preventing them from running back out.
“Wait! The other group isn’t out yet! Weren’t we supposed to wait for them to come out!” Cried another “participant.” Nirvana’s smile had long since dropped from his face. In its place was a bored expression. He didn’t answer them, nor did he bother to acknowledge that he had even been asked a question.
Screams followed the group that was thrown inside. The same, chilling cries that came before them. Just as they went silent, the next group was forced inside and the next, and the next, until finally it was the ninth pair’s turn.
The screams hadn’t stopped and part of me wondered why nothing had happened to the groups before them, but I didn’t have time to ponder the reasons as my ears began ringing. I turned around to see that the pair had tried to make a break for it. One of them managed to make it back to the gate but was promptly shot dead. A bloodied hole graced the back of his head as his body sprawled to the ground like a ragdoll. The woman meant to be his partner gasped, choking back screams of horror as she got to her knees in front of the guards.
“PLEASE! SPARE ME! I PROMISE I’LL LISTEN!”
“A shame,” said Nirvana lazily. “Unfortunately since you no longer have a partner, you won’t be allowed to participate in this study.”
Relief washed over her face, her chest heaving out her sobs like she had just been granted a new life. It didn’t last long though. When Nirvana opened his mouth to speak again, only horror was left on her face.
“I’m sure you can understand that we cannot allow you to simply leave. Confidentiality is very important to us after all.”
Before she could start begging again, another gunshot rang out through the courtyard. Blood coated the ground as her body folded into itself and the blood pooled around her head like a halo. The guards turned to us and wasted no time in grabbing hold of our shoulders.
“I trust there will be no more disruptions,” Nirvana said, his lips curling into a smug grin.
We were yanked towards the temple entrance, the corpses behind us, and guns readily trained on us a taunting reminder of what would happen if we got the same bright idea to try and escape. My heart thundered in my chest and my ears still rung from the deafening pops of the gunshots as I stumbled up the stairs and was pushed inside, Abel following soon after.
Abel took a sharp breath as he fell to his knees, bracing himself as he fell. The temple doors screeched shut before we could even find the strength to stand again. Helping Abel to his feet, I let my eyes adjust before taking a look around.
Before us was the darkness of winding corridors and maze like walls that almost made the temple look like it was a much bigger structure to have been able to fit all of this than it looked like from the outside. An eerie silence greeted us. No screams, no creaks, only the sound of our frantic breaths as we struggled to calm ourselves.
Our sensors lit up, the dull green being our only light source. It no longer flashed 00:00:00 but was set at 06:06:06, the time beginning to count down, giving us a sense of urgency.
Abel looked at me, eyes wide and sweat beading down his forehead. “We need to hurry and find whatever stupid stone they want. We need to get out fast!”
Turning to the maze in front of us, I held my hand out so that the sensor could serve as some kind of light for us. “Okay. Lets go.”
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