Through The Ascension Room***Book One COMPLETE***

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE ~PART FOUR~

A flood of excitement rushes throughout my body filling every bit of me with a twitching itch. One that I know I will never be able to fully satisfy. Caught deep under my skin.

I reach for the handle and begin to turn it.

It's locked.

Why would—

They must have to lock him up in here every night, after all he is just as much a prisoner in here as the rest of us—maybe even more so for him.

I pinch the lock switch and turn it counter clockwise until a Click sounds the deadbolt releasing the door from the threshold.

I take a careful glance. First to my left. Then my right. Making sure that there is no one around before I open the door.

At this point my nerves are firing on all cylinders as my heart pumps what feels like a gallon of blood, each beat, to my extremities. Numbness fills my hand and I give it a shake to regain feeling. I take a deep breath and continue to move the door ajar.

I lightly press on the door as it begins to move, swinging inward to another similarly dark room.

I blink my eyes a couple of times, hard, trying to see the layout of the room. I tighten my semi-relaxed eyelids until they are as wide as they can get. Giving the light of the room the best chance to enter my eyes and reveal Dr. Finley's position.

"Dr. Finley. . ." I wait.

Nothing.

I inch myself into the room, cautiously. On my tip toes holding my heels above the floor.

"Dr. Finley. . ." Again I wait.

A slow rustling sound of fabric on fabric begins to build in a corner of the room.

"Dr. Finley," I pronounce, hoping for a response this time.

"Wha—Alex! What in bloody hell are you doin' here?" The sound of his groggy voice puts my body immediately at ease. My heart pounds in my chest with unfiltered affection for the man in this room.

I've missed him terribly ever since he had been murdered. Not a day has slipped by without the ache of not having him stinging me relentlessly over and over again until I am on the verge of bursting into tears.

I've never felt so fond of any adult before him. He's the closest thing I have that compares to what a father would be like. Even though I have a father, I know Dr. Finley more. He's more of a father than mine had been up to this point. . . maybe he'll always be more.

"Never mind that. Let's get you back to your bed. Quietly. Before you get caught," he begins to climb out of his bed. He slips the covers off of himself revealing a multicolored pair of sleeping pants. He must notice me eying his pants, "What? They're very, very comfortable. I'll take comfort over style any day—or night."

I let out a halfhearted chuckle and realize this whole time I've done nothing but stare at him. I've not said one word since he has woken up, aside from his name.

It must be the shock of actually seeing him again. Alive. Maybe this is what it feels like to see a ghost, or being reunited with a long lost relative returning from somewhere far away. It takes me a few more seconds even after realizing that I have been frozen here in place the whole time, but I finally manage to get my first words out.

"Dr. Finley it's me—or not me, but well, me from. . ." I guess I should've used some of that time gawking at him to actually construct what I was planning on saying. I wish I could reach out and grab the words I just spoke, before they reach his ears, and shove them deep into my pockets so I can replace them with words that actually make sense.