Project HALO

Chapter 48

Something's wrong.

At first I'm not sure what it is, but after I park the car and walk closer to the fence enclosing the building, there isn't a single Detector or regular guard in sight. The night is so silent, I can hear the breeze.

No one's here.

I faintly remember Malcolm saying there weren't as many guards working the night shift, but this? I'm pretty sure more guards than no one should be at work.

The fence grows taller the closer I get, and all I hear is my own breath and hesitating footsteps. I should probably be happy that no one's here, but unease and fear coil around my gut.

When I wrap my hands around the fence and stare through the bars, I notice that the entire lab is dark. The eerily green light shines in a few rooms, but other than that, it's jet black. Like it's been abandoned.

Does this mean Regina left?

Then, as if she heard me, a light switches on in a room on the third floor. It might not be her, but I won't take any chances. I need to get inside.

I jump up to climb the fence, but as I pull myself higher, a shrieking sound rings through the silence, and the gate slowly glides open. My forehead creases as I land on my feet again. Why would it be open? I don't have time to think twice about it. I sneak through the gate, expecting a Detector to tackle me at any moment or for an alarm to be set off, but nothing happens.

Anxiety and adrenaline twines around my limbs as I make my way over to the entrance. This time, I enter through the main doors, which also opens without me having the necessary code or key card to do so. I can't help but think I'm being lured into a trap. But how would Regina know I'm coming? She can't possibly know. There must be something else going on, but I don't understand what, and it makes me wary.

It's as empty inside as it was outside.

Lemon and chlorine hit my nostrils, and I have to breathe through my mouth to fight off the nausea. The lab feels like something out of a nightmare. The logical part of my brain knows I've been here before and that I'm back at the place they kept me quarantined, but even now, it's hard to believe any of it happened.

My footsteps echo through the large room, my soles squeaking against the polished tiles. It's clear that the room is empty of people, but what's weird is that it's empty of any kind of furniture as well. There are no chairs, no reception desk, no nothing. In the darkness, I find my way to the stairs and climb to the third floor in search of the room with the lights on.

When I enter the narrow hallway, a flash of me being wheeled between the gray doors hits me, and a paranoid thought enters my brain. Is she making me walk into the same room they kept me in? She's insane enough to do something like that, but there's no way to know except entering. My breath quickens, and the room seems to grow narrower around me, the building ready to entrap me once again. I swallow hard and stop in front of the door with the light shining behind it.

A woman's voice bleeds through from the other side.

Instead of being scared that this is really happening, a new sensation takes over. I'm relieved. A blanket of calmness wraps over my tense shoulders.

I'm ready to finish what Regina started.