Escaping Elysia

Chapter 27 - Wrong

Dale

The handle of the lift pokes into my back as I lean against it, waiting for Evita. She promised she would meet me here to plan an escape. My pulse jumps, thumping against my chest like a child beating the ground with a stick. What if she doesn't show? It seemed like she'd forgiven me, but I never can tell with her.

The door swings open and I stand up straight. When she walks inside the late afternoon sun bounces off her hair and she ducks her head, raising her good hand to shield her eyes.

I move forward to greet her, the corners of my mouth tugging upwards, when Nadya walks in behind her. I freeze. "What are you doing here?"

She ignores me and walks to the center of the room, then leans her head back so that she's staring up at the skylight. I've brought Nadya in here a few times, but the view never fails to captivate her.

Evita shakes her head, and crinkles form at the corners of her eyes when she smiles. I get a sudden urge to smooth them away with my thumb. I press my hands to my thighs instead.

"She wants to help." Evita takes Nadya's hand and pulls her gently over to where I'm standing. She sits down, guiding Nadya down with her, and looks at me. I study the two of them. Nadya, now laying on the floor and gazing at the ceiling, and Evita, watching me, eyes sharp, waiting for my reaction.

"Are you sure she can handle it?" I ask.

Evita smiles. "She's stronger than you think."

I nod. "Okay. I trust you."

Surprise flits across her face, but she quickly hides it. I feel a glimmer of triumph at getting her to drop her veil, even if only for a second. I join them, sitting on the floor next to Nadya.

As watch Evita, waiting, the seconds stretch and she shifts uncomfortably. "What?" she asks.

"Well, we're here to plan, right? So what's your plan?"

She frowns. "If I already had a plan, I wouldn't need your help."

I laugh. "Well, we're going to need to get past the door alarms."

Evita nods. "When I left a few weeks ago I took Brandt's badge. Couldn't we do that?"

I shake my head. "It would take too long to get everyone out that way."

Evita's eyes lose focus, like she's deep in thought. I study the lines of her face, her lips pursed in concentration, and my breath quickens. Beside her, Nadya gazes at the floor, tracing shapes on the cool tile with her finger. "Remember when the lights went out, and the alarms went off for a few seconds?"

I nod. I'll never forget the despair that gripped me when those lights turned back on.

"Well," she continues, "what if there's a place where the alarms can be turned off? Like a control panel?"

I shake my head. "I've been through every inch of the facility. There's no room like that."

"You've been through every inch of the facility that test subjects can access," she says. "What about the rest of it?"

I groan. "If it exists, we'll never find it."

Nadya looks up from tracing shapes and turns toward Evita. "Was there a room on that map?"

Evita's eyes snap toward Nadya and she gapes. "I thought you were asleep."

"What map?" I ask.

"Uh," Evita stammers, tearing her gaze away from Nadya, who's back to her shapes. "A couple of days ago I was in the library shelving books when I dropped one. A hand drawn map of Elysia fell out of it."