For you, I'd Burn the World

chapter 1

Chapter 1 – The Girl in Room 027

The hallway was cold and clinical, washed in flickering fluorescent light and lined with white tile that echoed every step. Claire Bennett had lost track of how long she'd been walking. Since they had taken her from her home in the middle of the night, it had all been a blur. There had been whispers of "special abilities" and something called "testing," but no one had explained anything to her. They had brought her here with no answers, just orders.

Hawkins National Laboratory.

Claire, eighteen, with long, somewhat curly brown hair and piercing dark blue eyes, tried to keep her breathing steady. Her hands were trembling despite her efforts to appear calm. Her instincts told her to run, but where would she go? She was locked in. Alone.

The orderly walking beside her didn’t speak. He was tall, blonde, with an unreadable expression. Cold eyes. Not the type to confide in. So she didn’t ask questions. Not until they reached the door marked simply: ROOM 027.

He opened it, revealing a sterile space with a cot, a small desk, a sink. No windows. Claire stepped inside slowly, her eyes scanning every corner. It was a cell, plain and simple.

“This is where you’ll stay,” the man said.

She turned toward him, swallowing her fear. “What is this place?”

The man didn’t answer. He just nodded once, then left. The door hissed shut behind him, the sound final.

Claire stared at the door, her pulse loud in her ears.

Time passed—minutes, hours, she couldn’t tell. A buzzer sounded, and a different orderly came in. This one had a softer appearance, though his face was guarded. He had pale skin, shoulder-length blond hair, and wore a badge that read: PETER BALLARD.

He offered a slight smile. “Claire Bennett, right?”

She hesitated before nodding.

“I’m here to take you to orientation,” he said. “Doctor Brenner wants to meet you. And after that, you’ll receive your number.”

“Number?” she repeated. Her voice was hoarse.

Peter nodded. “Everyone here has one.”

As she followed him down the hall, Claire noticed the way he walked with a certain quiet confidence. The way he glanced at her when he thought she wouldn’t notice.

There was something strange about him. Not just the way he looked at her—as if he understood something she didn’t—but a weight behind his gaze. A sadness. And something else.

She would learn, in time, that this man—this "orderly"—was not who he claimed to be.

But for now, she followed him in silence, unaware that her life was about to unravel, thread by delicate thread.

And it all started in Room 027.