BREATHE FOR ME

Chapter 26: Total Lockdown

"Okay." I say quietly. "We can walk."

"Um Gen?"

I look up and meet her eyes. They're looking back at me meaningfully, like she's trying to convey a message. With one of her hands, she quietly pats the front pocket of her jeans where I can see the rectangular imprint of her phone. Then, she raises her brows. I take the hint immediately, my body filling with a mixture of hope and anxiety, before stepping back into my room and grabbing my own cell phone. I quickly slide it into the pocket of my jeans, throw Lorrie's sweater over my head, and follow her down the dark corridor.

"You need to be careful about what you're saying around here, they have cameras everywhere and record everything that you say or do. This is their main base you see, their last one as well, The Rose Street boys and the local police have taken down the rest of them. That means that everything around here is pretty tight and orderly. If you step out of line, they know. If you say something out of order, they know. You've got to be careful. Right now, it's two in the morning and there's only one guard watching the security footage and he always focusses on the outside cameras. This is the safest time to defy the rules." Morgan whispers, as she leads me down the hallway, towards the elevator. It's two in the morning?

"How do you know so much about it all?" I whisper back, squinting in the darkness as we approach the window. It's completely black outside. Time really does fly by when you can't see outside for two days.

"Because," She turns left, away from the elevators, and leads me towards a door. The stairwell. "I like to shadow William when he's not watching. I like to know exactly what's going on so then I can plan against him." I can't help but doubt her. 

We make our way quietly up the stairwell; the dusty carpet masks the noise of our feet as we ascend. I notice that there are no flashing cameras on the walls so ask Morgan about it.

"The security cameras are dead on this stairwell, nobody ever uses it other than me, because it only leads to an old utility room that the cleaners used to use back when this was an actual hotel." She explains, smiling mischievously. "I discovered it a few weeks ago, when they first brought me in. When they noticed that I kept disappearing up here, they came to check it out but because there's nothing here, like an escape route or anything, they've just left it as it is and allowed me to use it as my own little space. They made me stay in your room as well. They locked me up in there, like they've been doing to you."

"And you're going against William now?" I ask in confusion as we ascend the final, dark stairwell. "But you've been working with him?"

"Yes." She stops at the top of the stairs, outside of a murky brown wooden door. It looks old and dusty, like it hasn't been used in a very long time. On the front is a little symbol of a mop, discoloured with age. "I never wanted to work with the Shelley's Gen. For me, it's always been about trying to save my sister. I love her more than anybody else in the world and I always will. I would do anything for her, even if that means hurting my best friends to help her. I wish that it was different Gen. I wish that I had told and trusted The Rose Street boys with this information, but I was too afraid that if I did, William would seriously harm Thea."

"Well, that makes two of us. How about next time, we just trust the boys we know?" I say quietly, giving her a sympathetic smile. "And Morgan?" she looks up from the dusty floor to meet my eyes. "I don't judge you for what you've done. In fact, I think it's kind of brave of you to put everything on the line for Thea. I don't know if we'll ever be friends again, I definitely wouldn't be able to trust you for a very long time. But that doesn't mean that I don't forgive you. I want to help you rescue Thea."

For a second, I think she might cry. She looks so vulnerable and torn, yet her small smile gives away her relief. Her large eyes become dangerously glossy as she shakes her head in disbelief.