Page 176 of Sin Like the Devil

“Take them to solitary!”

The patient bucks and writhes. “No! You did this! We know the truth now!”

It all began when the patient started running from group to group, shoving his phone in every available face. Everyone was sitting outside for lunch, silently stewing after whispers of what happened to Noah spread overnight.

Everyone is furious.

Sick of the injustice.

Ready to revolt.

I didn’t bother to collect food, preferring to observe instead. Fury is a necrotic wound eating away at me. Lennox would be proud if he were here. Instead, I had to hear through the fucking grapevine that he was drugged and hauled off.

But not alone.

They took my toy too.

I have no idea where they are. The Z wing seems like a fair guess. But until I figure out where it’s located, I can’t do shit for them. Powerlessness is a feeling I hoped to never revisit.

As the patient is towed away, I spot Ripley’s red-haired friend whispering with a gaggle of others. They were shown whatever played on his phone before security intervened. As they stand up to leave, I also rise.

“You,” I shout.

She startles, sparing me a meek look. “Me?”

I search my memory for her name. “Rae. Come here.”

Scampering over, Rae stops next to me. She’s pale and shaken beneath her auburn hair. Like she’s looked evil in the eyes and lived to tell the tale. I loom over her, my voice low.

“What was on the phone?”

“N-Nothing.” She avoids my gaze.

“If they want to beat you, the guards will. If they want to kill you, they will. Pretending like you didn’t see it won’t protect you.”

Her throat bobs, working up and down. “It was a video.”

“A video?” I frown at her when she finally looks up at me.

“Some grainy phone footage. It’s splashed all over social media and the news; not even the internet filters can block it. Looks like it was deliberately leaked from Blackwood Institute.”

My mind churns. “What kind of footage?”

“I don’t know.” Rae raises a slim shoulder, her nose scrunched like she bit into a lemon. “Some kind of basement place. Full of cells and some weird-ass torture stuff. Blood everywhere. I think it’s from the riot.”

Well, I’ll be damned.

“Do you know what that place is?”

“Few do,” I reply absently.

If evidence of another Z wing has leaked to the press, this tinder box is about to blow. Rumours are one thing. Video evidence is another, whether or not Incendia plays it off as doctored or part of some smear campaign.

Looking around, I can see all the warning signs. Patients conspiring in small groups. Furtive glances and death glares shot at overzealous guards. A real-life plot is unfolding before my eyes.

“Where is Ripley?” Rae pulls my attention back to her.

“She was taken.”

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