GLASS BACK [COMPLETED]

16

"Why would he be there, after all this time? I've been looking everywhere for him."

"But you haven't been able to go everywhere, you haven't had access to everywhere. Luckily for us, there's a shortcut to the shore room behind the mermaid exhibit. We need to get there."

"No, we need to get out of here before we get killed." said David. Colter nodded in agreement.

"Finding your dad isn't a priority.."

Rick pointing his gun at him scowling. "I think you've forgotten your place here. I am the only one here who can truly be free. All of you are being tracked, so how far do you think you'll get? What makes you think you can walk away from this?"

"It's just in my hand. I'll get it out eventually. Your dad is a scientist, he could probably get that bracelet off. What about you Colter?"

Everyone looked at Colter, who was watching Rick point his gun at David.

"Mines in my back. I don't know where exactly, but I'll have my wife get it out. But now I got questions. Why is the kid pointing the gun at you? I thought you were taking them to their dad?"

David stammered, trying to find an answer while Rick put his folder and fob into a satchel.

"Y'all can chit chat if you want. I gotta find my dad. This group is getting a little big anyways. Henric let's go."

Henric and the clone followed suit, leaving Colter and David in the room.

"Listen, the details aren't that necessary. We should be worrying about getting out alive. The older kid knows his way around, I'm not worried about him. He has his own badge for christ's sake. I say we leave them to it, and get out before the cavalry comes and blows this place to shit, Bickerstaff agents and all."

Colter nodded and they shook hands. "Screw those kids."

They headed out the door and found the kids and the clone standing perfectly still.

"What is it?"

David look past them and saw a child, younger than both Rick and his clone. He had on a cute little white lab coat, with a blue and yellow striped shirt and black pants. Glowing just like the man from before only his light was blue instead of white. The child appeared sleepy and disoriented, as if he didn't know where he was.

"That's him. That's the kid." said the clone.

Suddenly they heard rapid gunfire coming from the left hall, even the child turned to look, albeit slowly. A clone ran into view only to be instantly gunned down by his pursuer. A soldier like Colter marched forward, towering over the clone before seeing the child.

"What the hell are you? AHHH!" The soldier and clone started glowing and were lifted off the ground. The walls around them started cracking and exploded, all flying towards kid at once. A blinding light and a searing ringing sound tore through everyone's head, causing them to drop to their knees in pain.

"WHAT IS HE DOING?!" David shouted. The light was gone but the sound persisted. It felt like someone through a flash grenade in his face, he couldn't see anything.

"I don't know!" said Colter. "But I"m gonna stop it." Colter took a grenade off his belt and threw it towards the kid. Squinting, he waited till it was close enough and aimed for the grenade.

"No! What did I say?!" the clone shouted.

Colter ignored him and shot the grenade, causing a huge explosion at the end of the hall. The ringing stopped. They opened their eyes and the other clone and soldier were gone, but the kid was still there sprawled out on the floor. He wasn't glowing anymore, but he was still in one piece, with no blood in sight. Looking at each other, they saw that everyone's ears were bleeding. The clone also had blood pouring from his nose, but he seemed to happy to care.

"I can't believe it. It actually worked!" said the clone. He put his left hand on Colter's shoulder, which Colter shrugged off in disgust.

"What the hell happened to your arm? Did you just grow deformed like that?" Colter asked him.

"No. I was trying to help another clone escape that thing and my arm almost got caught up in its blast. I had to let him go."

"This isn't over." David interrupted. "If this facility couldn't kill those things when it was fully operational what makes you think you can kill it with a grenade?"

"He's right. Let's move. I'm taking the stairs down, since the elevator is broken. If yall want to get out easy, go past the kid to the main drag and ride the escalator up to the first floor.?

"The elevator took half an hour already, imagine how long the stairs are take." David told him.

"I don't give a damn. I gotta find him." Rick began to walk away but Henric followed.

"I'm not stepping over that thing." said Colter, still staring at the child. "I'm sticking with the kid, for now."

He started to walk in their direction when David grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait. Look back at it."

A faint white glow was getting brighter, but it wasn't emanating from the child. The old man from earlier walked in to view and picked up the child.

"There's two of them?" said Colter, horrified.

"He's going to make him disappear." David told Colter. "He did it earlier to a clone."

The child began to glow, brighter and brighter until finally it moved. It didn't disappear like the clone. It moved. Apparently the man ghost was surprised too. He lowered the kid down and looked at it, but it was staring at David. Colter, and the clone.

"Shit. Hey Kid! Wait up!" Colter pushed past David and ran down the hallway as the child began to shriek a horrible sound, so awful the ghost man himself covered his ears. It began to run towards them while everything behind it started to be torn apart by an invisible force.

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME DO THEY MAKE IN THAT LAB?!" Colter shouted. David and the clone caught up to him, and they were all running towards the stairway door. Colter turned around a few times to shoot at it, though it had no effect. David slammed the door open and the clone bounded down the steps. Henric and Rick were barely four flights down when they looked upwards in confusion.

"What's happening?" Rick called out.

"That child!" David shouted on his way down. "He got back up!"

Colter was still in the doorway, shooting away. He clipped off three grenades, threw them one by one, and slammed the door. Instead of running down like David, Colter jumped down a whole flight of stairs at once, hitting the landing, and doing it again.

"Is it following you?" Rick asked them.

"What the hell do you think?!" David shouted. The stairway lights went off, leaving the bright red exit signs like beacons in the dark. The whole building started to shake so violently they could barely stand up. They heard a huge explosion above them, and pieces of metal started raining on their heads. Each flight of stairs began to break apart from each other, and suddenly everything was floating. If Rick hadn't pulled Henric back he would've plummeted to his death. Everyone stopped in place and looked up to see that the door had been replaced by a gaping hole in the wall and the child was hovering in the air. Scowling, he muttered something under his breath and everyone began to fall, thousand and thousands of feet into nothing.