The hallway is too bright, December's hand instinctively comes up to shield him from its onslaught as he makes his way straight down the hall, passing a few glass windows and doors on his way.
Each one is nearly the same, just white on white on white on more white, a whiff of vertigo hitting the poor boy as he slows his decent down the hall. Placing a hand on his knees, he squats down to steady the dizzy feeling overcoming him from his venture down the maze-like halls.
Slowly, he returns to his senses and slows down from a sprint to a jog, nearly skidding to the linoleum as he takes each turn: a left, a right, two more lefts, yet another left. He passes the identical halls instinctively, the map of the facility practically etched into his brain from childhood.
He grew up in this facility, ran through its too bright corridors and smeared the white walls and glass with strange substances only a toddler can find. His parents are the creators of Haven after all, his mother taking over the business after her split from his father. December being groomed ever since to eventually take over the structure and its siblings that pop up all over the country.
As he passes each door a standard plaque catches his attention, the only item that seems to differ in this labyrinth. A square of raised silver metal sits screwed onto the walls between the viewing window and doors, the object smooth minus the black words engraved into its depths. Words like Lab C, Interrogation Dept, and Surgical Facility, flash by on his way down the never ending halls. Their large viewing windows giving a front seat experience to the actions going on inside each department.
Surgical tables, metal chairs, instruments of all shapes and sizes flash by in a blur as he picks up to a sprint. An ache grows in his thighs as he pushes himself harder, feels the pulsating of his heart as it struggles to keep up with his overworked lungs, pushing him harder, faster-
He's on the floor, a sharp pain taking over the center of his forehead as he slams head first into a shoulder. He gingerly presses his palm to the area, wincing and snatching the hand away as it presses too deeply into the wound. He attempts to stand, grasping onto the protruding edge of a wall for support in his venture. A newfound pain and wooziness washes over him as he does so, legs wobbling a bit on his way back up as he keeps his other hand pressed to his forehead to dull the pulsating pains.
"I-I-"
The voice is a familiar one, and as December glances up from his palm he notices the black shirt and dark jeans of a boy, a stark contrast from the white walls and his own all-white lab uniform .
A frown creeps onto his thin lips and a new headache forms at the sight of the child in front of him. There's a bile in the back of his throat but he swallows the poison, body plopping back on the ground with legs sprawled as he's hit with a wave of nausea, the pounding in his head still thumping at a steady rate.
"Ryder, you're not even authorized to be down here." He winces from the ground, the amount of pain he's in bleeding out into his words. "What exactly are you doing?"
December grabs onto the ledge again as he pulls himself to his feet, hopefully more successful at it now than his previous attempt.
The other boy, Ryder, ignores the question entirely and takes advantage of the woozy boy in front of him, merely ducking his head and attempting to continue down the hall unnoticed. However, December already has a grip on his shirt sleeve, gifting the boy a stern glare and repeating the question at hand.
A flush of red shame crosses Ryder's cheeks, fists stuffed tight into the pockets of his jeans as he averts his cousin's glare. "I wanted to see the delivery, okay." He admits sheepishly, a wave of heat pulsating through the room as his cheeks blaze brighter. "You can let go of me now."
December's grip doesn't cease, his attention turning back to the door of the delivery room then back at his clearly embarrassed cousin. They can get the first few boxes without me...
"Has Mom seen you down here yet? She was in my office, what, maybe fifteen minutes ago? You know if she sees you down here you're dead, right?" December raises a brow as he thinks on the situation, grip loosening a bit with his oncoming thoughts. "Also how did you get down here, exactly? The first three doors need a key code and after that you're down to retina scans." he quizzes, staring a hole into the boy as he awaits a hastily put together lie of an answer.
Ryder jerks his sleeve free of December's iron fist, dewrinkling the fabric as he thinks of a witty response, or rather a well thought of lie, to the onslaught of questions. With the passing of time he doesn't seem to have one to tell, instead letting out an exaggerated sigh and making his way down the hall towards the delivery room, despite his cousin's swat of disapproval.
"No, Jenn never saw me, yes I know she'd kill me, and," Ryder turns, facing his cousin with a fox's grin that encompasses his entire face, a newfound light shining within him. "I know you're head of Lab and all that, but your security is complete shiz. I hacked it faster than Jenn's computer and that's saying something."
December doesn't bother to argue with the boy, instead, following him to the one source of natural light left in the building: the delivery room. Even from outside the door the commotion of the room can be heard, men shouting over one another and the steady beep of trucks lowering their cargo audible from the other side. Ryder has a bearing of pure excitement in his dark brown eyes as he slyly stands on the tips of his toes to see through the peep hole of a window, his shorter frame not quite matching that of his taller cousin.
"If you're gonna follow me around could you at least try to keep out of sight?" December really only mutters the words to himself, the annoyance at his cousin bringing on the slightest of headaches. He presses his palm to the impact point once more, wincing the slightest at what will surely be a bruise tomorrow.
The other boy turns away from the window, the flame of excitement that once filled him immediately extinguishing at the remark. "Could you try to not act like my father?" he growls under his breath, lowering down from his tip toes and ducking his head to avoid any eye contact with the boy so close beside him.
"You never even-" December's throat closes mid-speech, some other worldly force halting him from saying what he would instantly regret. Turning his attention back to the delivery room door he hopes that the comment goes unnoticed, the boy nervously wringing his hands again as he awaits the response of his cousin.
They're the same age but sometimes Ryder seems so much younger than nineteen, December a middle aged man in comparison. His demeanor so much more, refined, than the other's. It's just the stress, he thinks to himself but knows it's something more, like living in a spotlight aged him quicker than it should have.
Ryder ignores the comment, relief spreading through December as he loosens the grip he held on himself, the knot in his stomach untangling as his heart slows to a respectable pace. His cousin is one of the only people around Haven under the age of thirty, one of the only people he can truly connect with.
"I just want to see the new deliveries and then I'll leave you alone, okay?"
There's a mumble of agreement on both ends before December heads to the side of the door, a tiny key pad hanging near the hinges just barely in sight.
December leans over, examining the key pad and it's nine number format, a small red ball placed on top and an 'enter' pad underneath. He presses in a few zeros and waits for the signature buzz of the retina scan, a blast of air shocking his eye before a line of red lasers scan it.
After only a few short moments there's the click of the door's locks letting loose and twisting back into their homes, a whoosh of air following afterwards like the delivery room had been vacuum sealed for freshness. December needs only to shoot Ryder a warning glance, the other boy laying low as he ducks into the delivery room and stashes himself behind a pile of wooden crates.
Standing at the entrance of the room December glances down into the small pit with a hint of satisfaction. The delivery room is smooth, a flawless and carefully concocted creation with each truck and man knowing their jobs before they arrive within Haven's vicinity.
The room is still technically inside the building but the front of the trucks face outside, the cracks in the wall letting in the slightest amount of daylight. December follows the beam of light that scuttles across the floor like a rodent until he reaches the base of the trucks down below. Moments like these are the closest December gets to the outside world, his fingers playing at the cracks and feeling the elevated warmth of the outside world.
He's at peace. Yet all around him is screaming. Terrifying, soul piercing, animalistic, screaming. It's a better delivery than last week he notes, almost deaf to the noise, grabbing a clipboard nonchalantly from one of the trucks and counting the figures.
Four hundred isn't bad, the catches increasing weekly. If they continued at this rate they'd have a solution within the next few months he notes, scribbling the thought on the empty margins of the papers he grips tightly, the clipboard balancing between his forearm and his rib.
December steps back and surveys the room. The outer walls are packed sky high with wooden crates while ramps lead from the Lab's facility entrance to the outer walls where the delivery trucks are stationed.
The ramps dip into a small holding level being loaded with barred cages, creatures screaming within each and every one, the noise deafening as a few newcomers plug their ears to drown it out. December is used to the chaos, squatting down in front of a few cages to survey the creatures inside.
It's always hard telling the front from the back when there are no visible eyes or even mouths, the screams just seeming to emit from the inner depths of the beast. Their hides range from slime covered to hairy and each charges at their cage as December walks by. The boy marking off lines on his clipboard and occasionally barking an order or two at the delivery men who happily do as expected of them.
Wednesday's are routine. The screams are routine. The creatures are routine. In reality it's dull but ritualistic as December makes his rounds once more, skipping past a beast or two with strange red footprints littering their cages, a metallic scent seeming to follow along beside him as he walks. It wouldn't be the first time Haven lost a delivery man to the cause.
Dully, he makes his way back up the ramp, making sure to stop between the stack of wooden crates, head jerking to each side to make sure that no one notices his abrupt stop.
"Delivery day is over, just like every week, let's go." December motions his fingers in a small beckoning maneuver, picking up the pace as he impatiently waits for his cousin to join at his side.
Yet Ryder doesn't move, his eyes wide as he peers beyond the crates.
"Ryder, I said let's go." This time a little more force flicks from the back of his tongue, a small hint of venom seeping through the syllables.
Slowly, he turns and December can't help but step back almost instinctively. A crazed look glazes over the boy's dark eyes, his breath quick and sharp as his chest rises and falls in a panicked stupor. His shaky hands clench his hair in fists, head falling into the heels of his palms as he nearly folds over himself, all the while still panicking.
December blinks in a daze before finally arriving at his senses, pulling at the boy's forearms to release the grip he has on himself. "Ryder, we need to go now!"
"N-n-o." It's just a whisper and barely even that, his teeth chattering and preventing him from speaking, eyes too hazy to truly focus on his cousin in front of him. It's hardly a movement but they slightly flicker to the side, December following the gaze to a final cage being loaded from the trucks, his own hands shaking at the sight.
Within the cage, bloody, folded over, and trembling in fear, lies a boy.
A human boy.
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A/N
Hey! This is my first story after 6months! (Feels like 3yrs) and hopefully will be an actual novel novel (lol haven't written one of those since 2015) but it's also my first time doing 3rd Person! Excited to get back to writing and hope to see you on the other side :)