Caroline's Keeper

Now that her common sense was coming back to make a decision, Caroline turned around and started going back. She didn't want to get any more lost than she already was.

After a while of walking, Caroline noticed that there was a second break in the path she had taken. Either she had come from the left or straight ahead, but there was no way of telling. She thought the tunnels to the left looked more familiar, so she entered them.

The door on the end of the hallway was wide open, a sort of blue light emitting from it.

Bastien's room.

Caroline hurried in, but Bastien was not there. Why, then, was his door open? Caroline wondered.

But she had more important questions to answer.

She made her way to the navy blue cupboards, opened them, and reached in. The cupboards were too high for Caroline to see into, but she could feel her way around them. Running her fingertips over the glassy surface of what seemed to be a box, Caroline searched for an opening. She found a latch, which she fiddled with until it came open. She lifted the lid of the glass box and reached inside, her hand enclosing around a smooth, thin cylinder—the syringe. Before pulling it out, Caroline felt around the container for a while longer. She was surprised to find dozens upon dozens of the same syringes. The use one might have for so many of these was beyond her, and she pushed it out of her mind, taking one of the syringes to examine it.

The first thing Caroline noticed was that the syringe was filled with a shimmering pinkish red liquid. Its needle was not long, but it was thick. She was reaching into the cupboard again for another syringe to compare the two when she heard footsteps. She closed the cupboard door and dropped the syringe into her pocket without thinking. She ran to the end of the room that contained the computer screen.

All of a sudden, Caroline saw Bastien enter the room carrying another glass box full of syringes. More syringes?! Caroline hardly had time to wonder. Instinctively, she pressed herself against the wall behind her, then regretted it as she remembered how much she stood out against the blue facade. Nothing she could do about it now.

Luckily, Bastien didn't notice her, and, instead, headed for his cupboard. When he opened it, he looked confused, and Caroline remembered then that she had forgotten to close the top of the box. She started to inch away to better hide herself when she heard a female voice.

"Girl!" the voice shouted sternly. "What are you doing?"

Caroline saw her in the doorway, her strawberry blonde hair falling in front of her menacing stare. Simon's kidnapper.

"Answer me!" she barked.

"I-I..." is all Caroline could manage.

The woman walked briskly toward her, and Bastien shouted, "Astrid, don't!"

"As if you care!" Astrid laughed, turning toward him. But the sincerity on his face didn't falter, and Astrid caught on quickly.

"You do care!" she laughed even harder. "You're in love with one of the subjects? Do you realize how pathetic that is?" Astrid turned to Caroline and gave her a disgusted once-over. "Look at them!" she spat. "I'm going to take her back where she belongs."

"I swear, if you hurt her..." Bastien started to say.

Astrid scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I'm just going to bring to her room."

Before Bastien could protest, Caroline was being dragged through the hallways by her wrist. Astrid's grip seemed to burn clean through Caroline's skin and singe the bone. If she tried to pull away, she felt her bones grinding together.

When they finally reached Caroline's room, Astrid swung Caroline in front of her. "Look," she said. "Eivon is mine. If I catch you looking at him again, I'll kill you."

Intimidated, Caroline could do little but nod and gulp. All in one swift motion, Astrid grabbed Caroline's chin and exhaled into her mouth...