Page 17 of Bonded Ever After

I tell him goodbye, trying not to think about the weird interaction. Then, I slowly, subtly make my way through the crowd and toward the alley on the opposite side of the building. It takes time to find that middle ground between responding to people and doing my best to slip unnoticed by as many people as possible. But I finally reach the shadows of the alley.

I creep to the other end, barely able to see through the shadows, and flinch when someone comes up running behind me. I whirl around, and my heartbeat instantly starts to return to normal when I see Callum. I press my finger to my lips, and he nods. We continue forward until we see movement, then both creep a little forward, wondering if it’s Veric.

Instead, we find Serrill and Teth…kissing. Serrill is pressed up against the door that leads into the science building, and Teth has him trapped against it. Suddenly, Serrill’s eyes flash open. He spots us, and then he shoves Teth away. Teth spins around, fists balled, a look of terror on his face, before he sees us.

“It’s okay,” I say, because I don’t know what else to say.

In response, Teth takes off running. Serrill gives me an uncertain look, then runs after Teth. I glance back at Callum, and his mouth is hanging open. It’s so comical I almost wantto laugh, but I don’t. Maybe because some part of me suspected that something about their relationship was different than a friendship.

This is a serious thing though. If anyone found out, Teth and Serrill would disappear. Callum knows that. He won’t say a word, even if he is shocked right now. So, I can be grateful at least that we were the two people who caught them.

We creep over to the door leading into the science building and wait in the shadows. Minutes tick by. I start to wonder if we should go in instead of waiting for Veric, but then he seems to meld out of the shadows, appearing in front of me.

I don’t have to tell him to be quiet, because he’s always quiet.

Looking at the keypad with the little red light, I take a breath and press the key card to it. It instantly turns green, and the door pops open. The three of us enter as quietly as humanly possible, then shut the door silently behind us. I gesture with my hands to check all the doors on this floor, and we get started.

The first thing that stands out is the fact that everything is made of goldarium. It’s not that everything looks different, I can actually feel it. I can feel the substance in every surface, the strength behind each thing. It’s bizarre when I think about it, wasting goldarium like this.What could possibly be the benefit of this?

It’s absolutely wasteful.I wonder how many trips our fathers had to take to make this building. How many times they had to risk their lives.It’s disgraceful.

Using the key, we get in one door after another, finding one identical office after another. We search drawers and cabinets, but everything is empty, the occupants not yet moved in. I try starting a computer, but it needs a username and password, so I just shut it down again. Then we head up the stairs to the second floor.

As we come out into it, I can’t help but gasp.

“What the fuck is this?” Callum murmurs.

Veric’s entire body goes rigid beside us.

I take another step in, just staring around. It looks like… a torture chamber. I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s a huge lab with tables with straps on them, and machines next to the tables. All along the back wall are cages made out of pure goldarium that look to be made for huge animals. Needles, scalpels, and horrifying instruments I can’t even name are on the trays.

As I continue to walk through the tables, I see the other side of the lab. There are… huge test tubes on tables, large enough to fit medium-sized pigs in them, filled with blue liquid. Beneath them are controls that seem to change whatever liquid is in the tubes.

“What is this?” I ask both of them.

Veric shakes his head, looking horrified.

Callum’s mouth draws into a hard line. “Is it possible it’s for creatures from Neverwood?”

My stomach drops, and I have to take several deep breaths to keep from hurling.Damn my sensitive stomach! This baby won’t be happy unless I’m constantly puking.

“There’s an armored room over there,” Callum says, pointing to it.

We head over and swipe the badge. To our shock, it opens. There, in front of us, is the largest ball of goldarium I’ve ever seen. It’s enclosed in a crystal chamber. Lights are pointed at it, and as the goldarium springs and moves within the crystal chamber, we all stand in silence.

“Why are the lights going out and the council acting desperate for us to go to Neverwood if they have this goldarium?” I ask, shaking my head.

Callum doesn’t hesitate. “They must be saving it for whatever they’re doing here.”

What are they doing here?

“We should see the third floor,” I say.

We go back in the stairwell and creep up to the third floor. I open the doors, and we all step inside to see… a large nursery. I mean, a huge freaking nursery. There are dozens of bassinets lined up and areas for the babies to play. As we continue through the rooms, we find another large room meant for a whole classroom full of toddlers, and then a room for even older kids.

“I don’t get it,” I say. “One floor for torturing animals. Another for raising kids. What is this place?”

Both men look as confused as I feel.

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