PUT.

"...Remember the man from the room with the infected? Grey hair, long face?"

Alex asked as he placed some things into the laundry basket, while looking at the redhead who was currently eating. Ashlyn paused for a second, before looking up at him. "Yeah?" Alex would look down, the mask hiding the lower part of his face as he spoke. "...He's in coma. Along with the two assistants that were at the desks."

"You mean like the coma patients you showed us before?"

"Yes. A friend of mine was the one who was sent to check on him. Then they found the other two as well. They were fine before they went to sleep, but afterwards, they didnt wake up."

Ashlyn froze down, her eyes wide as she thought about it.

YANK.

SHIFT.

'..He thinks we can potentially open 'rifts' between our two dimensions. That if we can figure out how to control it... Then we can mess with their system like what happened to Ashlyn earlier.'

'...Did we pull them in?'

"..But that would mean.."

"..That me and Rylee were the ones who pulled the others into the dimension as well?"

I always felt like I was responsible in some way.. But i would.. never say that about my sister.

Maybe I should've made everyone walk away when I first heard the phantom noises.

'Real or not, it still sounds unpleasant. Well, whatever, it'll go away soon anyway.'

But I didn't think that we-

-I was the actual cause for everyone getting dragged in.. I thought that it had been the basement itself or the phantom. Intentionally or not...

I'm the reason we're in the dimension.

So if I was out of the picture.. would the cycle stop?

Or do we both need to be out..?



No- Don't freak out.. That isn't going to solve anything. This is good. It's good. Now we have a better lead of what might've happened..

..If it wasn't the basement, then we won't need to go back to Savannah.. Maybe that man Maverick had a point about us learning to 'control' it.

Well, no- Rather..

..If I can pull people in, then..



₩ⱧɎ ₦Ø₮ ₮ⱧⱤØ₩ ₮ⱧɆ₥ ł₦ ₮ⱧɆⱤɆ ₳₦Đ ₩₳₮₵Ⱨ ₮ⱧɆ₥ ₴₮ⱤɄ₲₲ⱠɆ?



LIFT.

SNAP.

"I'll be back to bring you dinner in a few hours."

"...Oh, okay. Thanks." Ashlyn took a hold of the bottle of the water given to her, gripping it tightly as she stared ahead.

..What was I thinking just now?

Alex held the laundry basket in his hands, an expressionles look on his face as he exited her room.

'I hope she reads that letter.. The camera didn't see it right..?'

BUMP.

Alex stumbled forwards, having bumped into one of the other workers. A harsh glare crossed his face as he stared at him, gripping the basket tightly in his hands. '..The guard from earlier.' With that fact, he turned around, and was about to walk away, if he wasnt stopped by the guard speaking to him

"Hey-"

"..What?"

". . ."

As alex inspected the guard more and more, he took notice of his nervous expression and body language. While Alex glared at him, the man couldnt even make eye contact. His hand went to his neck, rubbing it as he spoke quietly. "..You need to tell those kids not to trust Maverick." His brows furrowed as he kept looking at the guard. Alex didnt understannd. "..Who?"

". . ."

The guard extended his hand, holding a flip phonr out to the caretaker. "My number is on here. Only use this phone to contact me. I'll.. explain more." Alex wore a puzled look, as the phone was just showed into his hands, with the guard leaving.

'That was.. So strange.'

The guard shoved his hands into his pockets, the nervous look still on his face as he walked away.

'I've really gotten myself into it now..'

I'm definitely going to regret this.

"FINALLY!"

Logan looked up at the card he held in his hands, while kneeling on the floor like he was praying to god. Tyler and Ben stood leaning against a wall, and as usual the twin had his arms crossed infront of his chest. "..How did Alex get a high-access card?" Rylee looked up at Tyler as he spoke, while she was sitting on the small table with her shirt off, as Taylor finished changing her bandages. She didnt quite feel comfortable with anyone else doing it, just her sister, but she was currently under the hands of aiden, who was doing her hair. "He said his friend had been the one to find the owner of the card in a coma. Alex's note said he had asked them to sneak it for him." The redhead spoke as she read the letter, while the blonde continued to focus on her hair.

'Alex asked how he could help.. But I didn't expect him to actually be able to snag a card. Especially when I wouldn't tell him how we'd be able to use it in the first place.'

Taylor smiled at her work, showing a thumbs-up to the injured girl, who wrapped her arms around the twin with a smile. Taylor wrapped her arms back around her, carefull not to hurt her wound. After that, Rylee put her shirt back on, and Tay stood up, cleaning her hands off, looking at the others. "Maybe I'll make him a bracelet too, as thanks."

As everyone stood around the table.. well not everyone, Rylee was sitting on it, with Aiden kneeling next to it. As the blonde looked through the laptop, Ben began changing the bandage on his forehead. "So where all does it give access to?" Logan asked as he stood between the two non-injured girls. "Well, he seems to be pretty high up so there aren't many places it doesn't have access actually.. Most importantly, we can get to the generators and to where our parents are. Now that we can move more freely, we can start memorizing the layout and all routes of escape." Taylors smile widened, as she leaned above the blonde. "We should have races! You know, to help memorize the routes and find which ones are faster?"

"Oh~ I like that idea!"

"Lights first."

"Actually, the armory is closer than the generator, so maybe we can stop by there first."

"They have armory?"

"Alright.. Armory, lights, and then memorizing layouts."

"Let's get started."

The seven kids made their way out of the room, onto the long and dark hallways of the building. Ben was walking behind the whole group, and infront of him was Aiden being pushed by Taylor, and Rylee being pushed by Tyler. Then at the front of the group was Logan and Ashlyn, leading the way. Aiden kept groaning next to the girl, starting to irritate her. "I can walk you know."

"You stood up too fast a night ago and passed out, we aren't taking any chances."

Rylee just rolled her eyes as she threw her head back, looking up at the twin pushing her. As he looked down, a grin spread across her face, making the boy scoff and look away. Aiden, having given up, changed the topic.

". . ."

"..Did anyone else feel randomly refreshed yesterday after we woke up?" This caught the girls attention, looking at the blonde. "Yeah!"

"Me too."

"..Yeah, I guess."

NOD.

Taylor chuckled.

"It was weird when my eyebags seemed less dark."

'..We figured out we don't actually have to eat or sleep here, so we decied not to. But..'

"Maybe we should try to eat and sleep in this place and see if there's any correraltion."

KICK.

WHOOSH.

HIT.

Ashlyn panted out as she looked at the giant at the back, having kicked down the phantoms coming for her. "Jeez, Ben, warn me or something-" The poor boy just signed a quick sorry, as the others began to fight the phantoms too. "We need to find him a whistle, maybe?" Taylor asked as she hit a phantom on the head. Tyler stood behind the brunette, watching the back of the group along with his twin. Aiden frowned, opening that annoying mouth of his again. "Dang, It's getting crowded. Why are you guys walking so slowwwww?.." He dragged out the last letter, gun in hand. "...You're the one in the wheelchair."

HAH-!

". . ."

"HA- AHAHAHA- HE SILENCED YOU!"

"SHUT UP! YOUR INJURY IS EVEN WORSE THAN MINE, YOU ARE AT FAULT!"

"Yeah! This is much better than what we had."

"Maybe because what we had, Aiden bought off of Amazen."

Now all of them were wearing more and protectors. Their armors consisted off a tactical vest, along with some hip pouches and belts with multiple pockets, the whole outfit black. The girl admired the heavy armor weighting down her body-

SCREAM.

"Was that a person??"

The ones, khm.. who were capable of running ran ahead, trying to find the source of the loud noice.

'I think it came from this way-'

GRAB.

PUSH.

The redhead was pushed down to the ground, a person on top of her pushing her down. Her knife was pushed up to their throat, until her hold on it softened, her eyes tearing up.

"...Dad?"

"Ashlyn??"

??



The others.. who were able to run and Aiden who ignored his previous orders, catched up to the redhead, only to see someone on top of her. Logan and Tyler who was pushing the girl lagged behind, the boy with the glasses not wanting to leave the two behind, on case anything happened. The other three lunged at Mike, before Bens eyes widened.

LUNGE.

YANK.

"..Kids?"

Now that the other three catched up too, they stood there in silence.. well, Rylee sat in silence, eyes wide as she took in the sight of her father. Ashlyn, still on the ground, stuttered out. "How- What are you doing here..?"

"HELP!"

Mike pulled his daughter off of the floor by her wrist, before glancing in the direction where the yell came from. "I don't know.. but the others are here too. We need to hurry."

THE OTHERS?

"EMMA!"

BANG.

"I said don't shout, you'll attract more." Logans grandfather whispered out, gun in hand and aimed at the charging phantoms. Emma watched her husband run around the corner, shooting at the phantoms while doing so. "Mike!"

FWOOSH.

The group came out from behind the corner to, everyone attacking the phantoms. Ashlyn kicked one down, as Rylee put a bullet into its head while sitting. "Logan, go ahead of us and use the card to find a decent room to hide in. Ben, Tyler, give the others flaslights and guns. Taylor you're with me, Rylee shoot from the distance, and Aiden-"

"..What?"

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH HIM, WHY DID HE PASS OUT?!"

The redhead sweatdropped.

"..Nevermind. Just.. put him back in the chair. Taylor, help me and mom keep the phantoms at bay while the others work."



PANT.

"..That was too much."

Everyone was now inside the room Logan found, panting and trying to calm their racing hearts. Rylee sat with Aiden, sharing the wheelchair with a glare on her face. His face was resting against the back of her shoulder, still passed out. "Okay.. Now that we aren't in the open anymore, can someone explain what is going on here?" Logan was the first to break the silence, standing near the table. "No, we're the ones who need an explanation! Why is Aiden like this?!" Aidens mom sweatdropped as she watched the younger girl push her sons face away with her fist.

"Because he refuses to listen to instructions."

"Look, we did the talking first last time. Now it's your turn to tell us what happened."

"..Well.. We aren't sure honestly. But before anything.."

Mike grabbed Ashlyns arm, tugging her closer to Rylee who was sitting. Their father wrapped his arm around her wounded daughter, hoisting her back on her feet, before wrapping his arms around his two girls, their mother joining.

HUG.

"We just need to make sure you kids are okay."

Meanwhile Ashlyn kept herself together, the brown haired girl couldnt keep those few tears from slipping, while hugging her parents tighter. Everyone else went to check on their kids, relieved sighs echoing in the now quiet room. As the Banner family let go off eachother, Mike lowered the girl back in her chair, back next to the passed out Aiden. Before she could've let out a groan, she noticed the small child standing infront of her with tears in her eyes. And before she could have said anything, Lily climbed into her lap and wrapped her arms around the bigger girl, sobbing into her shirt. The brown eyed girl felt the fresh set of tears form in her eyes, but she didnt let them flow this time. She hugged the little girl tighter, her hands patting her back.

Now that everyone had calmed down, they were ready to talk. Lily stayed in her lap, cuddled up to her and fast asleep. Her arms stayed around her, while Aiden pushed his head even more into her shoulder, making her do a gagging motion, earning a chuckle from Tyler next to her.

"..Okay, we'll start off with what happened after I dropped you kids off at the school.."



RRRAAAAHHHHHHHH