Ink

Chapter 43

"This is not suspicious at all." Caleb whispers to me as we face the service elevator to the isolation unit.

"I didn't think this place went any further down." I whisper back.

The large and old gate covering the doors was tainted with a thin layer of rust and I couldn't help but wonder how often people went down here.

Caleb takes out his ID card. I notice that he hasn't taken any steps towards the keypad and, actually, looks a little pale.

"Are you alright?" I whisper.

He shakes his head and puts his hand down.

"Y-yeah I'm good."

I bite my lip and look at the keycard that is dangerously close to his pocket.

"Are you going to unlock the door?"

His head falls back to side towards me.

"Eventually."

I roll my eyes and take the card from his hand.

"Allow me." I walk over to the pad and swipe the card. The rusted outer layer lifts slowly with a loud sound. Once the large doors open to reveal a chamber, I step inside.

Now I face Caleb's pale face.

"You coming in?"

He nods but makes no moves forward.

"You know I have your card right? That means you can't go anywhere else besides in this giant thing with me."

He takes a deep breath and takes a few more steps forward. It's like there's something inside of him that's not allowing him to continue.

"What if we just wait for him to come back?" He asks suddenly at the edge of the doors. "Like, he's gotta come back up at some point."

"What's the longest he's stayed down there for?"

"A week." He mumbles.

"You want to wait here for a week?"

He shrugs his shoulders.

"Well I'm sorry." I say before reaching out and grabbing his uniform. "But we don't have that kind of time."

I pull him inside and press the button for the isolation unit. The doors close a little slow for my liking, so I have to hold Caleb against the back of the wall while they close. If anyone else had seen us they probably would have assumed I was a hungry vampire about to go in for the kill. They could also have guessed by the way Caleb was screaming.

Once the doors were shut I let him go.

"This is not a good idea, Al." He says. "Do you even know what's down there?"

I raise a brow as a sign for him to continue.

"The isolation unit is where we keep our most dangerous war prisoners."

My expression shifts to concerned.

"Why would Ryder go down there then?" I ask.

"It's not called the isolation unit for nothing, Al." He responds. We make brief eye contact and I can see the fear beginning to leave his features and a new look of stress takes over. "It hold the most securely protected cells in this base. Thick soundproof walls so the others can't hear the screaming. Dark rooms and no sense of time cause them to go mad." He pauses and looks up at me. "It's a personal hell-" He shrugs. "But Ryder finds some sort of sick comfort in that—hence why he goes there—to remain in isolation until he finds a sliver of a reason to keep going."