Renegade (The Elysium Chronicles #1)(78)

While I know I should do the same, I don’t trust myself not to shoot him if I have another episode. I leave them in the packs Gavin is carrying. I even consider emptying the chambers, but don’t want to risk having the guns in my hands at all right now.

We continue forward and it isn’t long before we find more blood. This time it’s in the form of handprints along the floor. They move up to the walls, as if the person was using the wall to help them stand, then lead down the hall. It’s like they’re luring us somewhere.

Chills chase up and down my spine, but we have no choice except to continue. I don’t remember if there are any other ways to the submersibles, and Gavin only knows this one route.

Suddenly the handprints stop. Gavin and I exchange a look, his eyes barely visible, but then continue forward. Hurrying now, because there’s red light ahead. We stop at a junction. Ahead it’s still pitch black. The lights are all out. But on either side of us, the hallways are lit with the eerie red light, and I can make out different doors. It looks like living quarters or maybe labs.

The calm that came with the click is gone now and fear creeps back in, making thought difficult.

Does Sector Three have labs? I press a hand to my forehead. I think so. This is the Engineering Sector, after all. It would make sense for them to have labs for the creation of those things, right? Then again, the Engineers and their families need somewhere to sleep. What did the map say this section was?

Is it even important? The real question is which way do we go?

Gavin looks at me. “The notes said straight until we end up at a dead end, then left.” And even though he sends me a questioning look, I can’t help but think he knows I don’t remember.

I decide not to confirm his thoughts. “Yes. That’s right. Straight, then left.”

He gives me an odd look, but turns and continues down the hall. Soon, we’re drenched in darkness again. The light is behind us, reminding us there’s safety there.

I start to think that maybe leaving isn’t such a great idea after all. That maybe we should just break into one of the quarters down that lit hallway. Surely we’ll find an empty one, and we can just hide in there. Mother won’t be able to find us.

Then I shake myself. That’s a stupid idea. Mother won’t give up until she does find us. And we’d be trapped in those quarters. Gavin would be trapped. Besides, now’s not the time to give up.

We’re almost there. Just a few more turns and then freedom.

Straightening my shoulders, I step up my pace, catching up with Gavin, who had just slowed to match mine. He turns so I can shine the light on his face. “You okay?” he asks for what seems like the hundredth time. I force down the anger it creates. I know why he’s asking. It’s a test to see if I’m myself.

I nod and smile at him. “Perfect.”

He grins, relief flooding his eyes. “Great. Let’s keep going,” he says.

I’m about to turn away when I glance at the wall behind him and gasp. Behind him, on the wall, is another bloody handprint trail. I follow it with the light and find a splatter; this one has bits of gore in it. I shine the light on the floor and see another trail of blood, thick pools of it, leading us down the hall. Without thinking I follow it, practically running, trying to avoid stepping into any of it.

Gavin follows without asking any questions. I know what we’re going to find at the end of the tunnel, and I’m not going to like it, but I have no choice. If there’s even the chance of saving the person whose blood this is, we must try.

The handprints are small. A woman’s. I shudder, thinking how terrified she must be, running alone and in the dark.

When we get to the end of the trail, there’s a body lying on the floor, surrounded by the light of my flashlight, just as I expected. But what’s there is far worse than anything I was anticipating.

There’s a man leaning over the body of a woman, who is most certainly dead. Or at least I hope so, because the man is ripping her apart.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE



Relocation of affected parties from Sector Three to Sector Two to commence immediately. For record-keeping purposes keep audio/visual recording on at all times while in Sector Three.





—ORDERS FROM MOTHER TO GUARDS





Bile threatens to come up my throat when Gavin pushes me behind him. I don’t know if it’s to protect me from the man or the sight. Either way, I’m grateful. I press my forehead against his back. There is no click or its accompanying calmness. My stomach rolls and I really want to retch, but I’m too scared to make a noise.

Gavin gestures for me to walk backward, but I’m frozen in place. I can’t move. I recognize the man. He is one of the Guards from the Palace Wing. He used to help me carry flowers to the Science Sector before he was relocated to Sector Three.

Gavin reaches blindly behind him and grabs my arm, then he pinches me. Hard. I bite back a squeal, but the pinch has done its job. It clears my head and I slowly turn around to walk back the way we’ve come. Maybe the Guard won’t notice if we just go back the way we came and find another way around.

But when I turn around, there’s another man right behind me. I don’t recognize him, though it doesn’t help my fear any. And I almost squeal with fright again when I realize how close he is.