Chapter 8

Sophrona's POV

I woke up to a loud siren blaring throughout the hallways and rooms as red lights illuminated them. The siren meant one of three things, either someone was trying to break out, someone was trying to break-in, or it was a malfunction....again......It amazes me how often this happens because it happens once a month. At first, we figured it was a drill, mostly because we assumed that because this was a functioning building that they would have some sort of exercise. We were wrong. It wasn't until they got onto the PA system and announced that it was a malfunction, did we realize that they didn't do drills to test their systems. Honestly, did these people even attend a school?

I covered my ears so that my eardrums wouldn't burst. "Shut the damn thing off; I want to sleep!" Jasmine shouted angrily after covering her ears. I looked over at Hecate and saw that she was still out like a light. 'Bro, how,' I wondered, 'How the hell is she still asleep?' Since she was lying on her side, I took one of my pillows and gently placed it on her ear.

Jasmine was becoming impatient. The alarms had been going off for about two hours now and showed no sign of stopping any time soon, which means that someone attempted to break out and is currently running around the building.

"Couldn't they have chosen a better time to break out?" Jasmine whined, "I'm going to be tired as hell tomorrow during labs."

I whipped my head in her direction and said, "That's what you're concerned about?"

"Well, I need my beauty sleep," Jasmine defended, "Labs take forever." I'm going to slap her. One of these days, I'm going to snap and slap the absolute crap out

of her. "You mean to tell me that you'd rather get your sleep than worry about whether or not someone broke out," I stated curiously.

"Yeah," she confirmed groggily, "Whoever escaped is going to get caught because security is tighter at night than it is during the day."

"Good point," I agreed. My arms began feeling tired, but I couldn't take my hands off of my ears. The escape was both exciting and annoying. It was exciting because it's the only thing that's happened here during the three years that I've been here, and it's annoying because, as Jasmine said, I want my beauty sleep. I glanced over at Hecate to see if she was still asleep, and she was. Damn, she's a deep sleeper.

After another hour or so, the alarms were finally turned off, which was a relief for me. I uncovered my ears and sighed. It had to be an ungodly hour of the morning. I looked at the clock and saw that it was midnight. Great, it's the witching hour, I wonder if the Witch will make an announcement. I heard someone moving from behind me. I turned around and saw Hecate sitting up and running her eyes. She looked over at Jasmine and me and said, "You two look exhausted, why aren't you asleep?"

"How the hell did you sleep through all of that?" I asked her.

"How did I sleep through all of what?" She replied innocently.

"The alarms," Jasmine said, "They were blaring, and you were just lying there sound asleep."

"Oh," Hecate said, glancing down and fiddling with her blanket, "I guess I'm just a deep sleeper. The reason I woke up was that I had to use the restroom." She hopped out of her bed and padded into the bathroom to do her business. When she was done, she came out and say on her bed, "So, what happened?"

Before I could open my mouth to reply, there was a loud beep before Dabria's tired voice came over the PA system. "I apologize for the alarms, boys, and girls," she said, "One of your fellow test subjects attempted to escape. It took us a couple of hours, but we were able to catch them and put them back into their isolation room. They are currently receiving discipline as we speak." I rolled my eyes at the kid's stupidity. Everyone knows that security is tighter at night, that's why it'd be better to escape during the day since they're more likely to be distracted.

"Also," Dabria continued, "I would like to remind everyone that should they attempt to escape, the punishment is a decrease in the pain killers after the injections. With that, I bid you all good night, and for those who have a lab tomorrow morning, I will see you then."

"So, someone tried to break out," Hecate concluded before laying down on her bed once again.

"Apparently," Jasmine said before resting her head on her pillow.

"I admire their desire for freedom," I said before lying down on my hard, cold mattress, "But the way they did it was idiotic. They should have planned it better. They should have taken into consideration the increase in security and the cameras."

"It almost sounds like escaping this place has crossed your mind before tonight's events," Jasmine said, a smile evident in her tone.

I shook my head, "No, not really. I just figured that if I were them, I would have selected better timing and strategies, I said.

"How would you have escaped this place?" Hecate asked.

"For one, I would have done it during the day instead of at night," I replied smartly, "I also would have taken the cameras into consideration, which they did not."

"Still rebellious as ever I see," Jasmine commented, smirking, "I'm glad to see that hasn't changed about you."

"Let's be honest; I haven't changed these past three years," I said, my voice laced with sass. Suddenly, something hit me. How did Jasmine remember our childhood? She shouldn't be able to do so because they wiped her memory the second she got here. "Hey Jas," I said cautiously, "How do you remember our childhood? Your memory should have been wiped aside from names."

Jasmine shrugged her shoulders and said, "Not sure, but I never really questioned it because I'm just happy that I'm lucky enough to remember them."

"Hmmm, I wonder," I said as I rolled over to face her.

"I know that look and tone," Jasmine said, "How many times do I have to tell you that curiosity killed the cat?"

"Cats have nine lives," I pointed out and smirked.

"That's not the point," Jasmine groaned as she gave me a hard look, "The point is that thinking can be dangerous with you. I would know because I've been seeing it for ten years."

"Relax, I'm not going to try anything," I lied. Jasmine looked at me suspiciously before both of us closed our eyes and fell asleep.