The Portum (Undergoing Rewrite)

Part Six

Stepping away from the door, I braced myself before running at the door, my shoulder facing it. I barged into it and felt it budge a little. I grit my teeth in pain and rubbed my shoulder; it was definitely not the best idea I'd ever had. I backed up and tried again, the door swung open with the force of my momentum, I stumbled but righted myself so I didn't fall over.

I rolled my shoulder around in a circle, trying to make the pain go away. I blinked and looked at my surroundings, I was in a narrow corridor lit by a dull light. I coughed from the dust that floated in the atmosphere, it was clear no-one had set foot here for a while.

I walked on my tip-toes, trying not to make a sound, I kept close to the wall, so if anyone came down here, the possibility was slim, and I could hide in the shadows. At the end of the corridor was a small lift, a fingerprint scanner protruded from the white-washed wall beside it. I sighed, realising someone would be notified of my presence if I tried to use it; unfortunately for me, there was no other way up. I glanced around, tools were scattered across the corridor. I spotted a screwdriver, "It might work..." I thought, wandering over to where it lay. I crouched down and picked it up.

Cautiously I approached the lift, I knew I would have to try to make as little noise as possible when trying to pry open the lift doors.

I wedged the end of the screwdriver in-between the doors and pushed at the handle, the doors creaked and groaned a little as they moved slightly. "Why couldn't they have a crowbar down here?" I muttered, pushing against the screwdriver handle with as much strength as I could manage. The metal groaned and opened, opening a small gap between the doors; I was small, but not small enough to get through that.

I knew if I wanted to get inside to speak to one of my father's colleagues, I would have to use more force to open the doors. I winced at the idea of the amount of pain my shoulder with be put through if I attempted to shoulder-barge the doors open. However, it was my only option.

The gap between the doors was just about large enough for me to put my shoulder in, facing diagonally to the lift. I grit my teeth to ready myself for the pain my shoulder was about to endure and barged the doors, they creaked open slightly, widening the gap so I could slip inside.

I pulled the sleeve on my hoodie down over my hand and covered my mouth, at least this way if I was spotted I wouldn't be that recognisable. I also needed to cover my face to be able to breathe from the amount of choking dust that stuck to the lift's atmosphere.

I glanced to my right and saw the floor numbers, the buttons were covered in a thin sheet of dust.

I pressed the button for the second floor, it lit up and the lift doors creaked and closed. I felt a jolt as the lift began rising. I knew I would easily be spotted but that didn't matter, if needed I could possibly outrun anyone. The only thing that mattered at the moment was finding my father's lab and potentially a colleague to get my questions answered.

My watch beeped again, I grit my teeth in annoyance, and the government thought getting your questions answered was a bad thing?! Even though it was probably the way I thought about getting them answered. As sneaking into the science facility wasn't the best way to do things; already I was breaking a few rules.

A few moments later the lift stopped, the doors opened, revealing the second floor; everyone else apparently hated the second floor and had biased opinions on the people that worked there. But then again, my father always joked about how true the song was, first the worst, second the best!

My heart ached at the thought of my father, always the happy, hardworking and funny man that was a friend to all.

The entrance to the lab was cluttered with tools and at the receptionist desk sat a grinning girl, with frizzy brown hair that sat on her shoulders, it framed a pale face with small glasses perched on her nose. She seemed cheerful.

Cautiously I approached the reception desk, knowing if my presence was reported to an adult, I would be in a lot of trouble.