THIRTEEN
1053 Words
ADINNA’S POV
Detention is miserable.
There’s no other word for it.
The alchemy lab looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since the dawn of time. The air reeks of burnt herbs and chemicals, the kind that stings your eyes and makes your throat scratchy. The tables are covered in layers of dried sludge and glittering residue that hum faintly, like they’re still alive with leftover spells.
And I have to clean all of it without magic.
With nothing but a rag and a dented bucket of gray water.
I’m already regretting every life choice that brought me here.
The Headmaster called it “corrective discipline.” But I call it torture.
I grab the rag and start scrubbing one of the lab tables. The stain doesn’t budge. Instead, it smears into a new, uglier color. The smell of old potion ingredients seeps into my clothes. Every movement makes the rag squeak, echoing through the dark, empty alchemy lab.
It’s cold tonight, too. My breath fogs up a little in the air. The single light above me flickers weakly, casting long, shaky shadows that make everything look worse than it already is.
I sigh and mutter, “This is so far from what I imagined my life would be like.”
The floor under my knees is sticky, and I can feel it clinging to my jeans. My hands are already raw from the scrubbing, but there’s no one around to complain to. The only sound that can be heard is the echo of my brush scraping and the occasional drip of water from the sink.
After about an hour, I move to another table with a thick smear of something green and glittery. It looks like a potion gone wrong. “Why does this stuff look like it moves?” I whisper, watching it ripple faintly as I touch it.
No answer, obviously. It’s just my own voice bouncing off the walls.
The lights flicker again.
I pause mid-scrub, glancing up. The faint buzzing above my head grows louder for a moment before settling again. “Don’t you dare go off,” I mumble to the bulb. “Please don’t go off.”
The light steadies.
I shake my head and keep cleaning, trying not to think about the wolfsbane, the pain, or the way Riley had to drag me out of the library while I was half-dead. My body still feels weak. But mostly, I feel angry that Jace and his gang keep on getting away with everything. I’m angry that I can’t do anything about it.
I scrub harder, maybe too hard, because the rag suddenly has a huge rip in the middle from the continuous friction. “Perfect,” I mutter, tossing it aside. “Absolutely perfect.”
Then suddenly I begin to hear a faint hissing sound, causing me to freeze and listen carefully. It’s soft at first, barely noticeable. Maybe I’m still hallucinating? I tell myself as I turn toward the far corner of the lab, where the shadows bunch together like a dark cloud. The sound continues, steady and sharp, like air escaping through a crack.
“Hello?” My voice echoes too loudly.
Nothing.
I step closer, wiping my hands on my apron. “Is someone there?”
The hiss gets louder.
Then the lights go out and I’m standing in complete darkness.
My stomach drops. I reach for my phone instinctively, but of course, they confiscated it. “Okay,” I whisper into the dark, “don’t panic.”
The silence stretches for a beat too long, and that’s when the smell hits me.
A sharp, chemical stink burns through my nose, and my eyes start to water instantly. The hiss becomes a steady roar now, and realization slams into me.
I’m not hallucinating. It’s gas.
I stumble backward, coughing. My lungs ache with every breath. “No, no, no.” I stagger toward the faint outline of the door. The emergency light outside barely outlines its shape. I grab the handle and twist.
It doesn’t move.
I pull harder with both my shaky hands. “Come on, open!”
It’s locked.
Panic explodes in my chest and I start pounding on the door with my fists. “Somebody! Help me!”
Through the tiny window in the door, I see movement. A tall and still, silhouette watching me.
My heart slams against my ribs. “Open the door!” I shout, coughing hard enough to make my whole body shake.
The figure doesn’t move. Doesn’t even flinch. Just watches.
The gas fills the room faster now, wrapping around me like an invisible wave. My vision blurs and I fall to my knees. The air feels too thick to breathe. I try to crawl, but my arms feel heavy and useless. Every sound is muffled, like I’m underwater.
I can’t see anymore and my throat is burning like fire. The cold tiles press against my cheek as I collapse, gasping for air that won’t come.
Panic claws up my chest. My hands tremble as they search for something, anything to hold on to. The room spins wildly with shadows stretching and folding in on themselves. I try to crawl, but my arms give out. My lungs seize like they’re filled with molten glass, and my heart is hammering so fast it hurts.
I don’t want to die here.
The thought tears through me, raw and terrifying. I drag in one last, broken breath and just as I’m about to pass out from the lack of oxygen, the door bursts open with a deafening crash.
Air rushes in, cold and sharp. I suck in a ragged breath, coughing hard as tears continue to blur my vision. My chest screams in pain, but I’m breathing again. I’m alive.
Then someone grabs me with strong hands and yanks me out of the gas-filled room into the dark hallway. I can’t see clearly, just the outline of a person crouched beside me.
My head spins, still swimming in panic. The world tilts sideways. I blink up, my throat raw, my chest heaving. Whoever it is, they move fast, steadying me and keeping me upright when my knees buckle.
The faint hallway light catches their face for just a second, and my heart stops as I recognize who it is.
- Writer
