The Phantom School

After running into a wall I didn"t notice in the dark, we stopped to breathe. Suddenly, I heard a buzzing sound. Lights on the ceiling came back to life, illuminating everything around us. Speakers began making clicking sounds echoing through the whole facility. The facility had power once again. This was a double-edged sword; it was now easier for us to identify the dangers and find a way out, but it was also easier to get caught.

A loud squeaking came from the speakers.

"ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL, PROCEED WITH THE SECURITY LOCKDOWN PROCEDURE."

White lights turned into a dimmer red. Sirens began wailing.

"PERIMETER BREACH IN CELL WING B. ALL PERSONNEL, REPORT YOUR WHEABOUTS TO THE CENTER."

"Did you do anything weird before you found me?" Idil asked me. She was worried.

"No." I responded. "Well, except I broke out of my cell, but you already know that."

"Yeah, yeah." she said. "Then it might be a simple coincidence after all."

"What is your point?" I asked her.

"We are in the cell wing A, the cell wing B is on the other side." she said. "It seems like the entire facility is under chaos, not just this side."

We heard some people running towards our position. We had two paths we could use, and one of them was now blocked.

"We have to keep moving." I said and I was about to begin running.

"No, we can"t go back that way!" Idil held me back.

"But they are coming from the other side!" I argued.

"Running that way will simply get us back in our cells." she said.

"Shut up and listen!" Cansu said. Now that the speakers were functional again, she could talk to us. "You have to surrender."

"They are probably going to shoot us!" I yelled.

"You have been flanked, they are on both sides." Cansu said. "Both corridors are blocked." she repeated.

"We can just hide for a while." I said.

"I am not going back in there!" Idil shouted.

"Just surrender, and leave the rest to me. My plan is running perfectly." Cansu said.

"What? Your plan!? I thought you would tell me before doing anything!" I cried.

"The devices had no power, smarta.s.s." Cansu replied. "We can run from the facility by ourselves, but we can no longer face The Community alone. Now that the old man is dead, we will have to inform the scientists ourselves. Despite the evil on both sides, we NEED their help!"

"How will we do that?" I asked.

The footsteps were getting closer.

"You just surrender, I will handle everything. In case something goes wrong, be ready to take action." she said.

"What a nice plan!" I said with my sarcastic voice. "That is the worst leap of faith I will ever have to do."

Some people were just around the corner.

"Don"t shoot, we surrender!" yelled Idil, without giving me much time to think. Two man armed with rifles appeared in the corridor, and aimed at us. I was about to run.

"Stop where you are, hands in the air!" one of them yelled. I stopped there and complied.

"On your knees!"

We were handcuffed. One of the men held me by my arm, the other one held Idil. We were blindfolded. After that, they walked us for a while and opened our blindfolds. I was brought to a simple room that only had a wooden table in it. The table was standing in the middle of the room. The walls were colored yellow and red fading into each other, and the room had no other distinct features. It was an abstract construction work.

"Behind the table." one of the armed men said. When I was walking towards the table, I noticed that Idil was no longer with me. We were separated once again.

After I got behind the table, a man in white clothes entered the room and signaled the armed guard to get out of the room. He had brought a black suitcase with him. On closer inspection, I noticed something... It was my suitcase.

We looked into each other"s eyes as he came closer to the other side of the table and put my suitcase on the table. He opened the suitcase and grabbed the leather-covered book I was given by the old man.

"Where is the young lady? What did you do to her?" I asked him.

"No need to strain yourself." he said. "Just tell me who gave this to you, and we will be done for today."

Cansu had told me she would handle everything, so... What was I supposed to do here? I decided that I would keep my secrets.

"I don"t know." I said.

"You are not even trying. That was like... the worst lie you could come up with." he said. "Come on, I"m in a very good mood today. Just tell me and I will go away."

"Seriously, I can"t remember." I said. "It"s been a while."

"When did you get this book?" he asked.

"You said "just one question"." I told him.

"Well, let"s say that I was not satisfied with the answer to that one." he said.

"I can"t remember much about the book." I said. "It"s been a long time, really."

He sighed.

"Do you know this man?" he said and showed me an image. It was a photo of Mr. Kenan in front of the school building. I wasn"t sure if I wanted to tell him about it, but it seemed like they were already aware of a lot of things about me.

"No." I said. He didn"t say anything for a while and looked into my eyes. Two armed men came into the room and the man in white gave them a signal. The men held me by my arms. I struggled, trying to run away, but I wasn"t powerful enough.

The man in white grabbed a syringe from my suitcase, filled with a green-yellowish substance. I couldn"t take my eyes off of the needle, terrified. I was breathing heavily.

"Okay, okay, I will talk!" I cried. The man didn"t listen. I felt his hand on my arm.

Contrary to my expectations, it didn"t hurt much as he injected the substance. Instead, it felt more like a very powerful local anesthesia. The men on my sides released me. I could no longer feel my left arm or my shoulder.