Page 46 of Escaping Hallow Hill Academy
“Emmera!” Hands grip my arms and haul me into a sitting position.
That’s when I open my eyes and see the most comforting gaze searching my face.
“Sialen…” His name is a surprised whisper on my lips. Our cries had risen together at one point during the torture session and I’m now as familiar with his pain as he is with my own. “W-what?” I turn my head side to side but the room we’re in is either a different one from our torture chamber, or our torture chamber has been thoroughly cleaned out.
The smell of blood and flesh no long filter the air.
“Get up.” Sialen is unkind as he tugs on the straps keeping my feet held down. I blink so many times, blink away the bruising soreness, the harsh glare of lighting, and take in his appearance. He looks as haggard as I feel. While there seems to be no trace of blood on his body, I don’t doubt it’s there, pressing against his skin just below the gray Hallow Hill blazer he wears.
Dark shadows smear beneath his pretty eyes like he hasn’t slept in weeks.
I want to ask how often they do this, but my mouth can’t form the words. Once is too many. And I almost fear what his answer will be, because I can see in his eyes, in his posture, that it has been more than once.
No wonder he is the way he is.
I feel dead inside. And it’s only been once for me.
So far.
“Hurry up. Let’s get out of here.”
I slide off the metal table, the jarring impact of my bare feet hitting the floor makes me stagger. Sialen holds me upright, and his touch is gentle and so at war with his murderous expression.
“Stay on your fucking feet and move.”
I suck in harsh breaths and follow after him as he leads me away from the stench of antiseptic and steel and up a flight of stairs.
“This is what happens when we disobey.” His cutting voice is harsh in his explanation. “Thisis why you shouldn’t make fucking waves.” His hands shoved against the door and I have to hurry and walk through it before it hits me in the face.
The halls are desolate and dark. I wonder how long we were in there for. How long I was poked and prodded like some alien experiment. And why?
“You’re lucky we didn’t get thrown into the motherfucking hallow.”
I finally find my voice. “The hallow?”
Hallow… is it a holy place? A place of healing?
A shiver races over my tender flesh and I know the answer isn’t at all as pretty as the word is making it seem.
Nothing here ever is.
He whirls then and I slam against his chest. Nausea grips me. I’m weak. Belladonna mixes with my blood and drips down my nose. I can taste the poison on my mouth and in the back of my throat. Like it’s a part of me now, the same way Krist’s tail is a part of her, I feel like this metal thing is a part of me as well.
“The fucking hallow.” Sialen’s eyes flare with rage that’s unfamiliar. He’s always been angry, annoyed, but never this. “You think this was bad, Sekar? You know fucking nothing. You had to go and snoop, didn’t you? You had to fucking do it.” He shoves a hand through his hair; it glows silver in places, where the light of the moon fluttering in from the windows hits it.
“I don’t want to be here anymore,” I tell him dumbly. Like I have to explain why I was snooping. Why I have to make waves. I owe him no explanation, and yet I give it, no matter how weak it may sound.
“Do you think anyone wants to fucking be here? Are you that naive? Do you think anyone is here willingly? This isn’t an academy, it’s a fucking prison, you’d do well to remember that.” He turns from me and storms down the hall.
“Why did they experiment on us? What do they want with us?” I can’t remember the details. My brain is too foggy, my body in too much pain. But Sialen, he’s been there before. I follow with shuffled strides behind him, but he doesn’t stop. He’s like an elastic band pulled too tight. I can see his body waiting to snap.
His shoulders are tense and he cracks his neck side to side. “Because they fucking can. Because we are nothing to them but a solution to a fucked up problem for them. Stop asking questions when you aren’t ready for the answers.”
But I want to keep asking questions. I want to know what the fuck is going on around here. They claim we are safe; the truth is another matter entirely. We may be safe from the outside world, but are we safe from them? From Hallow Hill Academy?
The answer is no. We aren’t.
But here we aren’t replaceable. Not when we’re so rare. They’ll keep us alive for as long as they can to poke and prod, theirs to do with as they please.
