Don't Scream (Original)

Chapter 19- Freedom

        Ever since Sunday, the days seemed to just fly by. I fully credited my anxiety and nervousness for the speedy time, and before I knew it, Wednesday morning was upon us. Today was the day I took my fate into my own hands, the day where a big change was hopefully going to happen. Eva and I had been planning this thing for three days straight, and I had been eating like a fiend to garner as much strength as I could.

        We had half an hour to go until the shift change, and as we ate breakfast, half the ladies in the dining hall exchanged knowing looks with us, but quickly averted their eyes upon seeing Eva's glare. We did not want to be given away. I even had to pretend I didn't know anything and not think about our plan, lest Avery overheard and foiled it. Speaking of which, he and Jensen were off for the day, and Crane would be coming in at nine, so that was a plus. The less vampires, the better.

        As we ate in silence, a sort of solemn depression came over me. I didn't think it fair to leave these people and Eva, my friend, here while I escaped. They were just as much a victim as me, but I did get a small sense of comfort knowing I was going to get help. Andrew also hadn't visited my dreams lately, so that was kind of bumming me out. Although in the back of my mind, I knew it looked better if my fully-grown dead brother wasn't coming and talking to me in my dreams.

         Half an hour came and went in the span of a breath, and I swallowed the sharp lump in my throat. As all of us left the dining room, a group of younger girls went into the washroom, and all the other patients dispersed throughout the common areas. Eva and I stood in the round room, glancing at the clock every few seconds. Then, Crane and Annabelle walked by in their winter clothes, headed for the break room. That's where they stored their belongings and clocked in, and that's where Tony and Tina would be clocking out. Sure enough, the latter two followed right behind them, chatting away amicably. Eva and I exchanged glances, then nodded once before staring at the clock on the wall next to us. After thirty seconds had ticked by, it would be time to go. I had already used the bathroom this morning, but between my clenched stomach and extreme nervousness, I may have forced myself to want to go in the near future. But I couldn't think about that now, I had to concentrate on what Eva and I had talked about a hundred times.

My adrenaline was already through the roof in anticipation of the big moment, and my palms were slick as my heart raced faster than a champion horse. Eva turned to me, a sad but hopeful look on her poor face.

"It's time."

I nodded, forcing back the tears that pressured my eyeballs. I squeezed Eva into the biggest hug possible, then pulled away and looked into her giant eyes.

"Thank you, Eva. For everything. I'm going to tell everyone, I promise."

She nodded, and I backed away, only stopping when I hit the doorframe. Eva took a deep breath, tilted her head back, then let out the most ear-shattering scream I had ever heard. There were a few previously planned ladies in the round room, and as discussed, they started screaming, crying, tearing the room apart and crawling on all fours while Eva grabbed handfuls of her hair and continued screaming, then ran around like she was in pain.

        I took one last look at my friend, then dashed across the hall into an adjoining one. Looking all over, I saw patients screaming, running, and all around causing mayhem as the nurses ran out of the break room, confused as to what was happening. I bolted down a long hall and made a right, jumping over some girl rolling around on the floor and hitting herself. I ran past the washrooms, where the girls who went in earlier had just come out of buck naked, screaming bloody murder while flailing their arms and splitting up in different directions.

I almost stopped and would have started laughing, but I had a mission to get to. Eva had asked half the patients here to stage a full scale freak out riot, and once they did that, the other half of them would get upset and panic too, causing a great diversion. Especially since the four nurses were in the back room, giving me more time to sneak out unnoticed.