Wicked Atmosphere | Aris Jones [2]

2 || Suspicions

The night seemed like it was going on and on. I was having a hard time falling asleep, tossing and turning in my bed. Even though I was in the Glen for a short time, sleeping on a real bed was almost weird for me. However, like everyone else, I missed a bed just as much as eating real food, taking a warm shower, and wearing clean clothes.

I thought about Aris and wondered why those people were still with him. Was it because he was a boy, because of his role in the Maze? I was curious and also concerned about him, just like I was concerned about my friends that were here and my friends that were somewhere else. I hoped they didn't think we were gone for good.

My eyes were beginning to get heavy, feeling exhausted as I finally drifted off to sleep, wondering what tomorrow would bring us.

*******

In the morning, which felt like a few hours later, we all woke up to the sound of someone opening the door. "Okay, wake up, ladies!" a soldier shouted at us. "You've got five minutes to get ready for breakfast!"

We all hurriedly got out of our beds and used the toothbrushes and toothpaste that we were provided, brushing our teeth and fixing our hair with the brushes we were also given. Then, once we were finished, the soldier led us all the way to the cafeteria, letting us sit down and fill our plates again with food.

Like yesterday, Aris was not with us, which only made me even more worried about him. Where was he? Was he still with those people in lab coats from yesterday? What did that want with him?

"Where do you guys think Aris is at?" I asked the others.

"Probably still with those people in lab coats," Cora replied.

"Do you think he's okay?"

"Piper, I'm sure he's fine," Jane spoke up in an almost irritated tone.

"Well, what if he isn't? Maybe we should do something."

Jane scoffed. "Like what? You want to just go walking around this place and hope that we find him?"

"That's not what I was thinking—"

Jane rolled her eyes, scoffing. "Of course not."

I shook my head, trying to bite my tongue, not wanting to argue anymore about this. I was just going to have to accept the fact that no one else seemed to care about Aris except me.

"Good morning, ladies!" Janson announced as he strolled inside the cafeteria, causing us all to turn around and look at him. "I hope your first night here was pleasant."

"No, not really," I muttered under my breath.

"I just came here to get Cora and Jane. I need to speak with them for a moment." The two stood up, looking at all of us in confusion, then walking towards Janson, who had a smirk on his face as he looked up at the rest of us. "Carry on, girls." With that, he led Cora and Jane out of the cafeteria.

"I wonder what he wants with them," I commented, watching suspiciously as the two followed Janson down the hall.

"Don't worry about it, Piper," a Glenner told me. "They'll be fine."

So while the others talked about their sleep, I turned my head back around and remained quiet as I ate my breakfast. I had a weird feeling about Janson, a feeling that I could never explain to the others since none of them would even believe me. I figured that it was best to just not say anything at all.

Once we were done with breakfast, the same soldier led us to what looked like a gymnasium. "Alright, ladies. Today, you will be observed more closely by our doctors. You have nothing to worry about."

With that, we headed to look at all of the equipment and began to take advantage of them. I headed for the treadmill, hoping that running would keep my mind off of everything that was clouding my brain. I turned on the treadmill and began to walk in place for a while, then I increased the speed, my walking turning into jogging. I scanned my eyes all over the gym as I watched the other Glenners using the other equipment, still talking and laughing among each other. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aris walking along with some soldiers.

I turned and made eye contact with him, my mouth slightly open. He turned and saw me, our eyes locked for a brief moment. I jumped off the treadmill and headed towards the exit where the soldier was standing. "Where are they taking him?" I asked.

The soldier turned to look at Aris, then back at me. "He'll be fine," he simply replied.

"What about my other friends?"

"They'll be fine, too. Don't worry about them."

"I wasn't only talking about my friends here," I retorted, standing firm. "There's another facility, which is where my other friends are at. Why are they not here with us?"

He sighed, looking annoyed. "All of your friends are fine."

"You didn't answer my question."

"They're fine. Listen, it's our job to keep you and your friends safe from WICKED, so that is what I'm doing."

"How do you know that?"

"What?"

"How do you know that we're safe from WICKED?"

The soldier chuckled, as if this was all a joke. "Trust me when I say Mr. Janson is making sure that all of you are in good hands and away from WICKED."

I folded my arms over my chest, raising my eyebrows. "I sure hope you're right about that." I spun around and headed back to the treadmill, carefully stepping back on it and continuing with my workout. I glanced at the soldier, who nodded his head towards me. I looked back at my friends, huffing a sigh.

These people weren't who they said they were. Janson and everyone else here were hiding something. I just had to find out what it was.

For a couple of hours, we all rotated with the equipment, doing various workouts and, everyone except me, were making conversation with another. I kept to myself, wanting to know more about this place and what they wanted with us. Why were we being observed? What was the purpose of that?

Something just wasn't right here, and I wanted to get to the bottom of it. But how could I do that on my own?

I continued to lift weights, my hands gripping on the weights, making my palms hurt. I began to breathe heavily, trying to come up with some sort of plan, which was not going so well. I didn't know klank about this place, so where would I even start with forming a plan?

Before I knew it, all of us were escorted out of the gym and to the lab that we were at yesterday. The people that I saw in lab coats were there as well, probably ready to stare and poke at us like before. We all sat down in chairs and waited for someone to come to us.

"What more do they want from us?" I asked in frustration.

"Why are you getting all worked up?" the Glenner from before questioned. "You're acting like a stick, you know that?"

I rolled my eyes. "I can't help but be a bit skeptical about this place."

She scoffed. "How about you just appreciate the fact that you got out of the Maze and you're not dead like Rachel or Esther?"

Before I knew it, I shot up from my chair and lunged towards her. "Don't you dare say that again!"

"Get off of me!" she yelled as everyone tried to pull me off of her.

"Hey!" a soldier yelled, grabbing me and yanking me off of the Glenner. "Watch it," he warned me.

I glared at him, then stormed back to my seat. "This is all a bunch of klank," I muttered, watching the soldier walk away from me. I looked down at my hand and observed the key card that I managed to snatch from the soldier.

Not bad for planning at the last second. Now, I could find out what these people were hiding from us.

A/N: Heeeey, 2nd chapter!

What do you think Piper will find?

Song above is Raise Hell by DOROTHY.

Comment, vote, more soon!

-A