Six Feet Under.

chapter sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: IN THE VENTS

Layla couldn't believe what had happened, but she was glad that it did. She was one step closer to going home.

However, guilt was building up in her stomach. All this time she had been thinking about going home, a small part of her was breaking down. She would have to leave the boys. They were her family, too. How could she leave her family?

Layla jumped—the sudden sound of metal creaking from beneath her bed caused her to go completely silent. She stopped breathing and listened.

"Psst!" Layla furrowed her brows as someone spoke from below her, "hey! It's Thomas, don't worry. You can trust me."

Layla let out a breath before she slowly peaked underneath her bed, coming face-to-face with Thomas who was in the vent. She almost laughed at how ridiculous it was. Of course Thomas would do some shit like this in the middle of the night.

Then, she glanced at the boy behind him. "Who's that?" Layla frowned softly as he wasn't alone. Thomas glanced at the boy behind him before turning back to her.

"That's Aris. He said he had something to show me." Thomas whispered softly, "and I said I'm not going without you."

Layla smiled softly. She was glad she could count on Thomas. Despite his impulsive and stupid decisions, he always seemed to come out on top. Maybe it was because he was one of the only ones willing to do something, and make the hard choices.

He was unlike Layla in that sense. Sure, she'd do what she needed to, but she would think things through more, sometimes causing her to hesitate. The two of them together seemed to be the way to go. They balanced each other out. It just... worked.

"Come on, this way." Thomas waved Layla into the vent as him and Aris quickly made room for her.

As they crawled through the vents, Layla's hands and knees began to ache from the constant moving, without any breaks. "Hurry, this way." Aris waved them over, not making any more to stop. Layla knew it was the right thing to do. They had to be quick—she just hoped it wasn't a waste of time. "Come on."

Thomas stopped for a moment. It seemed he was trying to figure out if trusting Aris was the right move. Just as Layla thought, he didn't think things through.

But they had already made it so far, so Layla sighed before crawling ahead of Thomas, quickly taking a turn in the vents. "Ladies first, I guess." She muttered. The sound of Thomas jokingly scoffing was heard a few feet behind her.

After countless turns through the vents, Thomas finally spoke up. "Hey," Aris turned to face him. "Wait a second. What the hell are we doing?"

Aris wasted no time in waving them over once more, an impatient look on his face. "Come on, we're gonna miss it." Layla groaned softly as he began to crawl away even faster, before she started crawling after him.

Layla could hear Thomas sigh in annoyance as he began to follow her. "What the hell am I doing?" He whispered to himself, causing the girl to hum. I've been thinking the exact same thing, she thought.

Once they made it to another turn in the vents, they quickly noticed Aris hunched over a vent cover. "What are we doing?" Thomas asked once more, causing Aris to shush him with a finger over his lips.

"Come here." He waved them over, again. Thomas and Layla sighed, but ended up doing as told. "Watch." Aris spoke in a louder tone, but still quiet enough to keep them from getting caught. The three of them looked down through the vent cover, watching as a familiar doctor walked by before glanced behind herself.