Elements

Chapter Eleven

Ashley

Hazel's taken some turns, and I know I walked in a straight line this entire corridor.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" I ask.

"Yeah, I definitely came this way," she replies, brightly. What's up with her?

Turning a corner, we nearly walk into Brooke.

"Oh! What're you guys doing here?" she asks, a tone of doubt in her voice.

"She says she knows where Skye is," I reply, slowly. Suspicion begins to bloom inside of me. This isn't right. Something is wrong.

"What's up with you two?" "Hazel" says. "Come on, through this door."

Fear runs through me like a chill. I don't trust her. This isn't Hazel.

"Come on, she's this way!"

Me and Brooke exchange a nervous look, but follow. It feels as if we have no other choice.

Hazel

There's something wrong with this place. I've been walking for what seems like forever, and there's been no sign of Ashley, or anyone else for that matter. Maybe I'm just overthinking the situation.

Or maybe not.

I hear a distant and familiar scream. I take off running, twisting straight into a corridor in the direction of the scream. Whoever it is has fallen victim to a trap in this sadistic hellhole hidden as "Hospital Zone B".

The screaming continues, loud and piercing. It's actually beginning to get kind of irritating, but at least I know where to run.

"Shut the hell up!" a voice yells. The screaming stops, but I'm only a few doors away from where I need to be.

I burst in the room to see an operating table in the centre, with an assortment of instruments next to it. Brooke is tied to a chair and gagged. Ashley is also tied to a chair, but somehow managed to wriggle free of her gag to scream. And next to the table is... me?

"Hazel!" Ashley shrieks. Brooke seems to attempt to too, but all that comes is a muffled wail.

The Other Hazel by the operating table turns sharply to face me. She shoots a death glare, picking up one of the knives from behind her. I want to run, run to the edge of the earth, but I have to save Brooke and Ash. Their lives are more important than mine. I slowly begin to walk forward. It's everything I don't want to do and more, but I have to. I have to for Brooke and Ashley, for Skye, for Kate, for my dead parents.

Other Hazel backs away, holding the knife straight out in front of her.

"I can kill you," she snarls. "And I will if you step a foot wrong."

I say nothing. Suddenly filled with confidence, I walk forward further. Other Hazel doesn't move. I'm now face to face with her, my stomach touching the knife held in her hands.

"Then do it." I whisper.

She stares almost through me for a second, a look in her eyes that I can't read. Then, she pulls the knife back, ready to strike. I shut my eyes, ready to accept my fate.

I hear a noise, and see a flash of orange light, forcing me to open my eyes. Against the wall to my right, Other Hazel has gone up in flames, just like Skye did earlier. Ashley is stood with her hand out in front of her, grinning.

"Oh my god!" I run towards her and pull her into a hug. "You're freaking brilliant, you know that?"

"Alright, alright!" she laughs. "I think we really need to put that out before it spreads."

I nod, chuckling a little. Ash somehow summons the flame away, and I go to untie Brooke. She breathes out in relief.

"It's really you now, right?" she asks.

"Yes!" I reply insistently, giving Brooke a hug too. "Who was she?"

"She said something about how she was from the Biomantica, and she had to take something out of us to get rid of the evil," Brooke replies uncertainly.

"She sounds like a bit of a psycho, to be perfectly honest," I say. "And I really have found Skye. She wasn't so far from the entrance."

"I think I can remember the way back," Ashley says from the back of the room.

"Great! Let's go!" I reply.