So Human

Chapter 23: Another Eternal Moment

~Corin~

"This is crazy," Emery said. He headed towards the passenger side of my jeep, but Wrena beat him there. "We have no idea where we're going, or what we're facing," he continued, getting into the back seat. "Corin, are you listening?"

"Yes."

"So?"

I twisted in my seat to look at him, "I love her, Emery." I waited for the message to sink in. I loved Alice. I did. "I can't just sit around doing nothing, knowing that she is in danger, while others ask for help from people who tried framing her for murder."

He didn't reply.

I buckled my seatbelt and turned the engine on, "Especially not when she might risk forgetting me," I said through gritted teeth. My horizons were closing, folding smaller and smaller, until there was just one possible destination for me— saving Alice. Nothing else mattered, and nothing else would ever matter.

Wrena suddenly jumped as someone knocked on her window. She lowered it quickly, but Meredith had already started yelling at us, so the first couple of words were cut off, "—uck do you think you're going?"

"We're going to get Alice," I replied, "and we're kind of in a hurry, so please step aside."

To my surprise, she did move. She took a step back, but then opened the back door and climbed in next to Emery.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"You're right. Waiting for the sketchy government agents is stupid. But if you think I'm going to let you go save my sister without me, you're even more stupid."

As soon as she finished the sentence, both back doors opened again, and Sofia and Elijah squished themselves after Meredith.

"What—"

"Shut up," Sofia said calmly, "you don't even know where the RotS-DS is. You need us."

I sighed, "Okay. Thank you." But before I was even able to pull out of the parking space, another car shot in front of us, honking.

"Shit," I cursed, stomping on the brake inches from Jacenty's car. He and Robin sat in the front seats, and Mirabelle and Serena in the back. I glanced over my shoulder at Meredith, who simply raised an eyebrow.

"Drive."

~Alice~

The door opened very slowly. Obviously, he'd been warned of the danger beyond it, but he didn't stand a chance. I grabbed his gun barrel and shoved it up, slamming it into his face. With a small gasp he crumbled to the floor, knocked out.

I stepped over his body and into the hallway, hoping whoever was watching me through a monitor chose that moment to yawn or sneeze. The hallway was long and narrow, longer than what it had originally seemed yesterday night. A little over a hundred doors lined both its flanks, but none of them looked like mine. Only the first two had locks and codes. The rest of the doors were made of transparent glass, allowing me to see the people inside.

I went closer to the fourth one on the left. Inside was a young man who sat on a single chair in the middle of the room. I knocked on the glass, and his eyes lifted to look at me.

"Hey!" I called, knocking harder, but he didn't move. I tried twisting the door handle and realized it was locked with a simple house lock. In four seconds I had it open and went inside. No alarm had started yet.

"Hello?" I stood before him, "you have to get out of here." He didn't respond, or show any other signs of having heard me. I ran out of the room again and jogged down the hallway.