PLEASE READ: 

I'm so terribly sorry for my long absence! I posted a message about it on my profile, but in short, I got a puppy and good grief, she's a handful! However, I've missed writing and she's getting a bit more laid back, so I finally managed to get a chapter up. Oh and also...

THE TRAILER IS HERE! 

Please check it out above! It's an absolute masterpiece by brookieismyname. She did The Inception trailer as well. She's the best ♡

Anyways, thank you for being so patient, and thank you for 26,000 followers! Enjoy the chapter ツ

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN

SHE WISHES ROBBIE'S LIFE isn't currently on the line so she could've turned back and avoided the big reveal. So she didn't have to see the victim behind the agonizing whines and cries. The victim she recognizes despite being sickly pale and connected to many wires, seemingly on the fine line of consciousness and death. Her body jerks every so often, her fingers twitching at her sides.

The same fingers that constantly scribbled in a notebook. The same fingers that were determined to record the present so it could be history for future civilization. Evelyn hardly had hope in the present, nonetheless the future, but Maxie had faith in humanity. Too much faith. Because now she lies on a metal table in a square, white room with a sheet of glass on the side for people to observe.

Disgusting, inhumane people.

Evelyn had figured Maxie hadn't made it when the attack occurred back at Erik's camp and no one spoke of her. Poor thing, she probably would've been better off not making it instead of enduring this.

Micah said to save Robbie and Robbie only, but Evelyn can't turn her back on a teenage girl she's grown to somewhat admire. Especially when Maxie is such a kind person with big dreams of the generation after them. She doesn't deserve whatever this is. No one deserves whatever this is.

Harry apparently feels the same way as Evelyn. The second the three of them absorb the scene, he punches the glass. Micah snaps at him to not be stupid--he could bring the whole place down--but when Harry looks to Evelyn and she doesn't tell him to stop, he doesn't. She doesn't have the heart to. Sometimes she wishes she did. Sometimes she misses how she could easily blow off another dying person, but this is different. This isn't just a dying person.

This is a tortured child.

Then a terrible thought strikes her; how many others are here? How many innocent children look like this? How many innocent children have died from this? How many innocent lives did that sick bastard destroy?

Harry breaks the glass as if it's nothing but flimsy plastic. When the sheet shatters, he jumps over the edge and begins to unhook Maxie from whatever the hell she's attached to. Micah growls behind Evelyn, obviously very annoyed.

"I told you this isn't a rescue mission," he snarls.

Evelyn challenges his glare with her own furious one. "And I told you, you didn't have to come. You may have lost enough of yourself to stop caring but I haven't."

His jaw twitches, but he doesn't argue with her. In fact, he looks away as if he's ashamed. Good. Let him feel guilt so he comprehends how awful it truly is. Evelyn has been down that road plenty of times, but she's taking a different turn at this intersection. She'll suffer guilt again when there's absolutely no other choice.

Harry climbs back over with Maxie cradled in his arms, her body limp. Her arms dangle and her head flops, even though Harry is trying to keep her still by holding her tightly. He starts walking down the corridor once more, leaving Micah and Evelyn to follow.

"What if there are workers down here?" Micah asks her. "What if they heard the noise?"

"I'll gladly meet those bastards with my dagger lodged in their throat."

"Eve, I'm serious."

"So am I."

"We don't know who is down here. We don't know if there are Normals or experiments. We could be walking into a damn trap, for all we know."

"You know what, Micah? If you're going to keep complaining like a baby, you can turn around and leave. I don't have the time nor the patience to listen to shit I'm already aware of." Angry, she stops to face him. His red eyes are dark and pierce into her. "The difference between you and I is that I'm not a coward. I used to have a rule about looking after myself and only myself, but guess what? There are bigger things out there than me."

"I'm a coward?" he scoffs, utterly offended. "You have no idea--"

"What you've been through," she finishes for him with her famous eye roll. "I've heard that sob story about a million times now. Look at Harry," she says, waving her arm at him. He stopped not too long after they did when he realized they weren't caught up. His eyebrows raise at the mention of him. "He's had God knows how many operations, yet he's still risking his life to save another. So before you act like you're the only victim here, open your damn eyes and stop feeling sorry for yourself."

She notices how his hands curl into fists at his sides. She notices how his stare had steadily filled with rage throughout her rant. She notices his shoulders are pulled back for a fight. She notices all these things that should scare her, but the scary part is that she doesn't care. Sure, she cares a lot about Robbie and Sasha and Maxie and all the kids, but herself? If she can get Robbie out of here, she doesn't care at all what happens to her.

Hell, she probably deserves to die from some of the things she's said and horrible acts she's committed. She knows she's a terrible person, rotten inside-out with minimal hope of finding the light again. She knows no one would miss her anyways.

So let Micah hurt her if that's what he wants to do.

She doesn't care.

But she also doesn't have time for his pity party.

"Look," she says coolly. "Let me save Robbie, then you can kill me however you want. But for now, get the hell over yourself."

She walks away from him, glad Harry catches the hint and leads the way again. She grits her teeth in frustration, but keeps her thoughts solely on Robbie. She's tired of everything. Tired of Micah, tired of being treated like she's a damsel in distress, tired of people dying, tired of people being scared, tired of psychopaths running rampant--she's tired of being tired.

She makes a vow to herself randomly in the heat of the moment: the next time darkness attempts to consume her, she'll help it win.

***

If Evelyn had been creeped out before, she's completely unnerved now. Their quest to find Robbie has led them further underground, down an ominous staircase into total darkness. Evelyn resorts to clutching the back of Harry's shirt so she doesn't fall or run into something, considering both he and Micah are practically bats and can see clearly in the dark. She ends up running into Harry, though, when he stops abruptly.

"A door," Micah says from behind her. He maneuvers in front of her since Harry is still holding Maxie, and then metal begins to creak.

"Did you get it?" Evelyn asks.

He grunts. "Whoever made this door did not want it to break easily."

"Well, I figured that. But can you do it?"

Another shriek of metal grinding against metal. Then Micah huffs in annoyance. "I can't even break the handle off."

That's great. If Micah can't open it with his inhuman strength, then how are they--

Harry shuffles past Evelyn to Micah. She wishes she could see what's happening. Instead, all she hears is Micah growl in defeat before more metal creaks. Then there's a loud, piercing sound that nearly makes Evelyn cover her ears. Micah grumbles something incoherent under his breath, then Harry is grabbing Evelyn's hand and gently tugging her forward. She holds on tight, staying close should they come by any more obstacles.

Or at least, that's how she reasons to herself why she's holding a beast's hand.

Harry doesn't walk far. He leans over and a light switches on. Evelyn frowns, her eyes skimming from the ceiling to the floor. Then her lungs constrict and it's hard to breathe. Tears well in her eyes despite her mentally scolding herself that there's no reason to cry. She shouldn't be crying. She hates when people see her cry.

But staring down at a deathly pale Robbie, wincing and covering his eyes against the bright light, she can't help it. There's bruises up and down his bare arms and legs, nothing but a flimsy hospital gown covering him. The stench in the room is pungent, a pile of feces in the corner opposite his face. He's pinned up like an animal.

The tears dry quickly and anger rapidly takes place.

She rushes over, kneeling next to him as he continues his struggling to see properly. There's dirt smeared all over his face and his eyes are bloodshot. He gapes at Evelyn as if he thinks he's dreaming while she continues to ask what happened to him. He cuts her off mid-sentence by flinging himself onto her, his arms instantly latching around her neck tightly. Though she can hardly breathe, she hugs him just as tight.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, her face pressed against his small, bony shoulder. God, the poor kid smells awful. "I tried to save you. I tried so hard."

"I knew you would come for me," he whispers back, his voice hoarse like he hasn't had anything to drink for a while. He sees Harry over Evelyn's shoulder and grins. Even in his terrible state, his smile is bright and contagious. "I stayed strong like you told me to."

Evelyn glances back at Harry who appears expressionless. However, his massive canines surely make it hard for him to express anything other than rage and hunger. The thought makes Evelyn shudder, and she quickly turns back to Robbie. Robbie is now looking at Micah, though, who is now holding Maxie.

Robbie's eyes sadden. "What happened to Maxie?"

"We don't know," she tells him. "But we're getting you both out of here."

She goes to stand, but Robbie grabs her wrist. "Wait! We have to save Caroline too."

Evelyn frowns. "Robbie, I'm not sure if--"

"Caroline," Micah suddenly murmurs behind her. Confusion floods Evelyn as Micah's face scrunches, unreadable. She follows his stare through the bars in the middle of the room, locking eyes with a girl seeming slightly older than Robbie with dingy red hair and pale, dirty cheeks.

Caroline notices Micah, and tears instantly run down her cheeks. "You!" she shouts, grasping the bars tightly. "You did this to me!"

Micah averts his eyes to the floor.

"What did you do to my brother? Where is he?" Caroline continues to yell.

"Hey, hey, calm down, all right?" Evelyn cuts in. "Let's get out of here, then you can beat him up as much as you'd like, okay?"

Caroline sniffles, staring at Micah but nodding to Evelyn.

Harry takes initiative, stepping forward and grabbing two of the bars in either hand. He pulls them apart as if he were drawing back curtains. Caroline gawks at him, but immediately takes his hand when he offers it to her. He helps her over, and she doesn't let go.

Robbie stands with Evelyn. "Eve, there's other people here."

She avoids his eyes, her chest tightening. "I know, kid. But... we can't save everyone."

"We can try."

"Robbie, I came here for you. Only you. We're lucky we've gotten this far without any incidents, but I really don't want to push that luck."

"Eve... These are kids too."

She sighs heavily, then shakes her head. "We can't. Not tonight. Maybe we can come back more prepared."

Robbie looks disheartened, but doesn't argue any further.

"Let's go," she says to no one in particular, yet both Harry and Micah nod.

Micah leads the way this time, Harry lingering behind with Caroline as she does her best to stay as far away from Micah as possible. Evelyn and Robbie linger with them, Robbie also not appearing to be a fan of the beast. Granted, the last time Robbie saw Micah, he was on the verge of killing Harry back at Quincy's camp.

"Is it just me," Evelyn starts quietly, catching Harry's attention, "or has this been a little too easy?"

Harry's jaw clenches as he nods in agreement.

"Do you hear anything?"

He shakes his head.

She sighs.

Robbie tightens his grip on her hand.

Shockingly enough, they climb back out of the hole just as smoothly as they climbed in. Harry attempts to cover it back up to make it as inconspicuous as possible, then the group hurries back to the lab. Michelle is still hovering over her ill son, her cheeks wet though she doesn't look to be crying anymore. She skims over the three children, dirty and skinny, and she asks if there's anything she can do.

"You can fix him," Evelyn says, jabbing her thumb at Harry before anyone else has the chance to speak. "We need him talking again."

Michelle looks like she wants to roll her eyes, but she gives a curt nod and motions for Harry to follow her upstairs. She pauses, glancing over her shoulder. "I brought down extra IVs. They're all probably dehydrated. Do you know how to hook them up?"

"I do," Micah mumbles.

Michelle nods again, then disappears with Harry.

"What are the chances of finding food in here?" Evelyn ponders aloud, raising an eyebrow at Micah.

He snorts. "If you like rat, then the chances are quite high."

"Not sure I've reached that point of starvation yet."

Robbie cringes. "Me neither."

"So you actually know how to hook them up to IVs without hurting them?" Evelyn inquires, still holding Robbie's hand. She's scared to let go again.

Micah gives her a look. "All of us do." By "all of us" she supposes he means every beast. "We were taught basic medicine practices for the war if one of our Normal comrades needed a quick fixing."

Evelyn clears off a desk so he can lay Maxie on it, then he begins the process of the IVs. It takes a lot of convincing for Caroline to allow Micah to help her, and she glares at him all the while, but she obliges nevertheless. With all three kids now being hydrated again, Evelyn lets herself plop down in an office chair to take a breather. She wishes she had some food for them, but this is the next best thing.

Micah sits across the room from them, staring out the window as if he expects to see someone arriving any moment now. Truth be told, that's how Evelyn feels. Surely they hadn't just snuck in a secret underground laboratory, kidnapped back the children that were kidnapped from them, and made it out without any disturbances. It just doesn't work that way.

Life doesn't work that way.

She finds herself tapping her foot on the oddly clean tile, chewing her bottom lip. She's very anxious all of a sudden. She wishes she could shut her brain off. When had she last slept? Her head starts to throb.

She's not sure how long it's been when Harry and Michelle come back down. It had to be a while, though. She thinks she dozed off. Micah is still gazing out the window, but he glances over at the two descending the stairs. Caroline and Robbie have fallen asleep in separate office chairs, their IVs still pumping liquid into them. Maxie is still unconscious as well as Michelle's son. Everything is spookily silent.

Until Michelle speaks, of course. Evelyn is actually grateful to hear her. "His throat is going to be really sore for a few days, but we might have a bigger problem..."

Evelyn narrows her eyes and spins the chair around to face them. "And that would be?"

Michelle wrings her hands together. "You see, Doctor Stevens injected him with an aggression serum to keep his humanity from interfering. I knew it wasn't possible for me to completely get rid of it--it has to gradually drain out of his system over time--but I thought I could contradict it with a serum of my own--"

"Can you get to the point because I'm really not one for science talk," Evelyn snaps.

Michelle huffs, glaring at her. "He's going to have mood swings. Bad ones--violent ones."

Evelyn isn't surprised, but she definitely isn't pleased. She remembers his strong hands wrapped around her neck and swallows, her throat suddenly dry. Harry is staring at her like he had earlier when he first showed back up. She doesn't like it. It feels like he can read her mind and it makes her uneasy.

"Well," Evelyn says to ease the tension. "Can you talk or what?"

He shrugs. "Kind of." His voice is hoarse, raspy. It sounds painful.

"He shouldn't stress his vocal chords anymore than they have been," Michelle cuts in.

"Fair enough," Evelyn agrees. She glances over at Micah. "So when do we head back?"

Micah purses his lips. "Now, preferably. The sun'll be rising soon, and my absence will be noticed any moment now."

"Head back where?" Michelle asks.

"A so-called 'refugee' camp." Evelyn can't stop her eyes from rolling. "It's not too far from here, and it's a decent setup."

"Wait, you're inviting us?"

"Well, I'm not going to chain you to the railing and forbid you from following." Evelyn pushes herself out of the chair. "Anyways, your son doesn't need to be out here."

Michelle manages a smile. "Thank you."

Awkward from the gratitude, Evelyn presses her lips together and shrugs, turning away. "Now the big question is, who's carrying who?" she questions, motioning to the four snoozing children then to the four of them.

Her anxiety comes back as they prepare to leave. Robbie climbs onto her back and falls asleep again. She feels a bit nauseous. She takes a long look around the room, the entire building feeling wrong. Unnervingly clean and eerily quiet. In the back of her mind, she hears the past screams of innocent boys being turned into monsters. Her arms are smothered in goosebumps, and she's the first one to exit the laboratory.

Nothing about this situation feels right.