After Dawn (Book 3 of the Into the Shadows Trilogy) by Karly Kirkpatrick Page B

door," said Peter. "It only answers to me now."
    They crept down the corridor, which led to a main hallway as wide as the entrance tunnel itself. Along the side, concrete walls were lined with smaller versions of the metal entry door they had just come through, each with their own computer system on the outside. Clipboards hung on hooks next to some of them.
    The corridor curved out of sight a hundred feet ahead.
    The group stopped, running into Paivi's back as one of the doors, three down, slid quietly open.
    "Dr. Todesengel will want to know the progress you've made, Jennifer. Well done," said a lab-coated man who emerged into the corridor in front of them. He stopped fast and stared at Paivi. Before he had a chance to move toward a red phone on the wall, Paivi flicked her wrist and hit him with a blast of energy. He froze mid-air. The young woman behind him was frozen to her place in fear long before Paivi hit her with another dose of energy.
    Paivi quickly admired her handiwork.
    The two grotesque statues, their features twisted in surprise, blocked part of the hallway.
    "Let's get these two back in the room." Peter approached the door they just exited and placed his hand on the box. It immediately slid open. "Take their clothes. Some of us can change into them so we don't all look like a bunch of prisoners."
    They poured into a small lab room, dragging the scientists with them. Two of the women from the group proceeded to start stripping the clothing from the two human statues and handed it around the room. The clothes fit Dennis and a woman named Lola. They quickly dressed and tried to neaten their short hair. Paivi knew the hair would be enough of a giveaway, but maybe out in the real world it would help them blend in.
    Paivi walked around the room and observed the instruments and computers that lined the walls. This room lacked the sharp torture instruments she had seen in the room her dad had been in. Her eyes landed on a drawer in the wall that contained a small window. She squeezed past a woman in their group and peered inside.
    "There’s someone in here!" she shouted. She tugged on the drawer but it didn’t budge. She had no idea if the person was dead or living, but she had to make sure it wasn't her dad. "Peter, I need you."
    Peter crossed the room to her side and placed his hands on the drawer. The drawer gave and Paivi yanked it open. The body in the drawer was a man, but not her dad. He was alive. His chest rose and fell beneath his hospital gown. His eyes were closed, the skin dark and bruised. Shadows clung to the hollows underneath them.
    An IV ran into his left arm and blue liquid dripped into it slowly from the interior of the drawer. It was connected to the computer just outside of the drawer.
    "What do we do?" Paivi asked. "Do we wake him?"
    "I say we don't leave him here to rot in this drawer." Peter tapped the man's arm, but he didn't respond.
    "He'll only slow us down," Dennis said. He adjusted the collar of the lab jacket. He almost looked human again.
    "If we can wake him, let's just send him to the exit and tell him to wait for us," Paivi suggested. "Look, these people may be in no condition to help us, but I would rather set them free. Even if they don't make it, I don't want to let them die here at the hands of a maniac."
    She put her hand on his arm and sent a jolt of energy through her fingertips. The man in the drawer made a loud honking noise as he lurched up from the slab and sucked in a deep breath. His eyes shot open. They were dark brown, the same color as the stubble on top of his head.
    "What happened?" he stuttered. "Who are you?'
    "We're here to save you." Paivi reached out to the man.
    "I don't want to be saved. I just want to die." His face crumpled in horror. "Can you please kill me?"
    Paivi stared at the man. "I know it's bad, but we're going to get you out of here. You're free."
    He looked at her hand like it was a deadly weapon and shrank back to. "Just leave me