Lost

6

It all happened so fast. One second you were pacing around the room, the next you were punching a random stalker in the face.

The girls shout and drag the boy away from you as he clutches his now bleeding nose.

"What the fuck!", you shout at the kid that fell out of the vent above you.

"Chill Y/N, it's Aris!", Sonya shouts back, rubbing circles on the hunched boys back.

Now that the moment of chaos is over, you can see that it is in fact the hooded-boy from the cafeteria. His hood fell down during the fall, and you can now see his fluffy brown hair better. It's quite cute. And his adorable face, with his faint freckles, and his slightly flushed cheeks. Your eyes drift to his lips, with their perfect Cupid's-bow shape and pale pink colour. You notice him staring back at you, and your eyes meet. His dark brown eyes seem very familiar; they remind you of someone, you just don't know who...

"Heeellllooooo?? Earth to Y/N?", Harriet chimes, waving her hand in front of your face.

You shake your head as you emerge from your trance, snapping back to reality.

"W-what?"

Sonya and Harriet both give you a look, pumping their eyebrows with a smirk on their faces. You roll your eyes.

"So Aris, why'd you decide to drop in?", Miyoko snickers, causing everyone to groan.

"I just wanted to see you all...", he says, looking very obviously at you, which makes you blush, "and I have some news. I've already told the boys from Group A".

"Well, out with it then", one of the girls says. You don't know who, you just hear their voice; you're too busy studying Aris.

"I... it's kinda hard to explain. These people.. they're doing bad stuff. I don't know exactly what, but I know that they're using us to do it. So we need to get out of here. Like, now".

"What? Why would we leave? They saved us from the maze", Harriet remarks, but there's a hint of doubt in her voice. She clearly trusts Aris' judgement.

A heavy silence falls over the room, until you consider something.

"What if they didn't save us... what if they stole us?", you utter, and everyone looks at you.

You make eye contact with each person in the room individually, then stop to look at Aris.

"Show me".

———————

You crawl through the tight space with Aris, scooting on your stomach like a snake.

The vent system goes throughout the whole building, and Aris discovered on his third day here that it served as a convenient passageway.

He leads you through twists and turns until your stomach is sore and your elbows are bruised. He hovers over a grate, looking intently below, so you look too, and just see a regular hallway.After a few minutes of confused silence, you speak up.

"What are we looking for?", you whisper, but in the tight metal corridor it echoes like crazy.

His head snaps up and his eyes meet yours. Slowly he brings his finger to his lip is a silencing gesture. Usually, when people shush you, you get mad, but when Aris did it you just nodded and looked back down at the tile floor of the hallway beneath you.

After a few more painful moments, you hear a rattling noise in the distance. It scared you at first, but Aris shows no alarm, so you don't worry.

Then you see it. Below you, a lab technician dressed in all white walks below you, and she opens the door. Then people file into the room, all pushing long carts with white sheets over them.

Your eyes widen and you look up at Aris, who already had his eyes fixated on your reaction. He seems to understand what you're thinking and he nods.

Those are bodies.

You stare at the place where the bodies had wheeled past, and then focused on the door they had entered. The keypad on the side requires a key card, and thumb print ID. Clearly they don't want anyone getting in there. 

Aris starts to make his way back, but you grab his wrist and nod to the door, your expression pleading. He seems to understand, and with a roll of his eyes, he helps you open the grate.

You grab the edge of the hole and slowly lower yourself down, your muscles straining with effort. Once your only a few feet from the ground, you drop down then wait for Aris to follow.

"What now??", he asks urgently and then you realize that you hadn't thought that far ahead.

"I... I don't know!", you whisper-shout while looking around frantically.

Suddenly you hear footsteps in the distance and without warning Aris grabs your wrist and pulls you into a closet.

It happened so fast, you barely comprehend what you're doing until your body is pressed against his in the confined space. His warmth spreads to you; it's actually comforting.

The footsteps get louder as they grow closer, and you find yourself holding your breath as they walk past. But then they stop, and for a moment you think you've been made, but then you hear the click and beep of the keypad and the door swinging open. You quickly burst out of the closet, despite Aris' protests and you see the door to the lab swinging closed. You jam your foot between the door and the wall, stopping it from closing and look back at Aris. He smiles at you and let's out a slight laugh.

"Good job", he muses and you can't help but blush.

You wait a few minutes before peeking and making sure all the lab techs were gone. You nod to Aris, signalling that the cost is clear and you both step cautiously into the lab.

Word Count: 978

A/N— hey! Sorry this chapter is shorter but it's all I've got. Take it or leave it.

And no, this is not becoming an Aris x Reader, but what would this story be if I didn't play with everyone's feelings a bit, right?

Ok, that's all. Thanks for reading and tysm for 10k on my other story. And 400 reads on this one. That's fucking crazy.

—A3