Lost Horizons

Chapter Twenty Seven

She was in such a rush to get to Tristan that she didn't even bother to order food at the cafeteria. Eating was not one of her priorities at the moment. She power walked so fast that she was practically out of breath when she reached her destination. To her satisfaction, Tristan was there waiting for her. She smiled when she saw him but he didn't return it. He approached and without a word hugged her to him. He held her for a few seconds before letting go.

"What was that about?" Sienna asked. It was unusual for Tristan to show affection that way.

"Nothing," he said and then motioned for her to sit beside him on the grass. She noticed how the grass had begun to turn brown in some parts. She remembered when she had first arrived to the school and everything had seemed perfect. Now as time passed the illusion had started to fade. The grass wasn't bright green anymore, the students didn't seem okay and the school wasn't even a school. So many lies.

Tristan was silent for a moment. He couldn't decide where to start. There was so much he needed to tell Sienna but he didn't want to put her in any extra danger. He didn't know what he should and shouldn't tell her.

As if reading his mind, she spoke up.

"So...what did you want to tell me?"

"It's about our plan," he said without elaborating. He was still trying to organize the thoughts in his head. He wanted to believe that he could trust her with anything but could he tell her about his father and his involvement in the plan? What would she think? Would she believe him? Would she think he was crazy?

'She hasn't run off yet and you've said some pretty crazy things in the past. That has got to be a good sign', he reminded himself in encouragement.

"I found out about some new information involving the school. Things are more serious than we thought. They're planning to inject all the students with a high dose of the some new medication that's supposed to be for treating every mental illness but the problem is that they don't know what the side effects will be and my d-" Tristan stopped himself before he uttered the word dad. He didn't feel comfortable telling her about that part. "And I have strong proof that it will be terrible for everyone but since we're just lab rats, they don't care about us. What does it matter if the world loses some crazies? We're disposable. They're going to administer the meds through an injection and they're going to say it's a new vaccination for a virus that's going around."

"Oh Gosh, so everything is true?" Sienna said in fear. In some deep part of her mind she had hoped Tristan had been wrong about it all. He confirmed her question with a nod. "Do you when they plan to do this?"

"It starts tomorrow,"

"So soon...how are we going to warn everyone in time? What are we going to do?" Sienna wanted to know.

"You're going to follow through with the original plan and escape. I've arranged for a vehicle to wait for you at midnight tonight. I'm going to help you get out of here, Sienna, I promise. You're going to be okay." He said in a serious tone as he stared into her eyes. He grabbed both her hands in comfort.

"And what about you?" she asked. For some crazy reason she felt as though he wasn't including himself in this plan.

"I'm going to meet up with you later on,"

"What do you mean later on? We're leaving together right?" she gazed at him with big hopeful eyes and he felt like a complete jerk for what he was about to say next.

"No Sienna. I have to stay behind and warn everyone and if people don't believe me then I have to find a way to stop the school from what they're going to do. This place is inhumane. It needs to be shut down."