An Unwavering Promise--Completed

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Eleanor’s POV

“Let’s go! We have to go now!” Alexander shouted in a whisper.

I rubbed my eyes, which were full of sleep, and just stared up at him. “What?”

“I got a key. We’re getting out of here.”

“What do you mean? How?”

Instead of replying, he grabbed my hand and yanked me from the cot. We were at the door in a flash, before my feet even had a chance to move on their own.

“We need to get out of here before Mr. Smith can do any more tests on you,” Alexander said.

“Tests? Alex. What are you talking about?” I hissed back at him as he pushed me through the door and down the hallway. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Alexander sighed as we skidded down the hallway. “Mr. Smith is running tests on us to gather information about the Dragons from us. I escaped, and now I’m here for you, so that we can get out of this wretched place.”

He looked behind him and then grumbled, “I think I’m going to turn in my resignation after we get out of here.”

I gazed around the bland hallway. Everything seemed fine. In place. But, everything seemed off at the same time. I pulled my hand out of Alexander’s grip and shook my head.

“No. No,” I said. “This isn’t right.”

Turning around, I ran back to the doorway leading into my room. I stared at the padded cell, only half listening to what Alexander was saying as he came up behind me.

“-and seriously, come on. We have to get out of here before they notice and come looking for me,” he was saying.

I held up a hand to silence him and studied the room. The same white walls. The same white padding. The same white cot. The same white everything…until I saw it. My vision blurred when my eyes scanned the corner of the room. I frowned and took a few steps towards it, which only proved my theory further because my vision became more blurred. Running to the corner, I sank down in front of the patch of padding and felt around. As soon as my hands went into the haze, they blurred as well. Someone was clearly trying to keep me from seeing what was actually there.

It only took me a few moments to feel a small tear in the fabric. Looping a finger into it, I groped around and felt a rolled up piece of paper. Grabbing it with two fingers, I pulled it out and unraveled it.

“Eleanor. This is your past self writing to your future self. Everything is fake. If you’ve found this, you’ve yet again realized that you’re in a false reality. Alex wants you to flee. You’re going to ask him this question and, based on his answer, you’re going to do one of two options. Here’s the question: What have you already told Mr. Smith about the Dragons? Write down what he says (look at back of paper).”

I flipped the paper immediately, and read:

“Why would you ever ask me that?”

“Come on, Eleanor. You know I’d never say anything.”

“I haven’t told him anything.”

“I told him everything. I’m sorry.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

He said nothing and just gave me a blank stare.

“I told him false information to get him off my back.”

Once I’d finished reading, I turned the page back over and continued reading.

“This is a mind game that Mr. Smith is playing with you. If his answer is nothing Alex would actually say, do whatever is necessary to wake yourself up and go through it again. However, option two is to escape. There may come a day when Alex really is Alex. If it’s him, run. Your real self has been working on a tunnel in this room. Find it, and get out.”

Looking up from the paper, I turned to see Alexander leaning against the door frame. His face was pensive, though I could see the lines of worry around his eyes. His perfectly sculpted mask was starting to break.

“You do this every time,” he whispered.

“Do what?”

“He closed his eyes and pressed a hand to his head, letting out a grunt of pain. Bowing his head, he hunched forward and used his other hand to steady himself against the door frame. He let out another grunt.

“My head is on fire. But you’re going to…” he dropped to the floor, unable to keep himself upright any longer.

His head then shot up suddenly, and I saw clarity shine through his beautiful, green eyes. He looked around briefly before seeking out my face.

“One more test and then we’re getting out of here. We will protect the Dragons at all costs, my love. Trust me in the next scenario. Hide the paper. They’re coming.”

I nodded once before shoving the paper back into the hole I had found and leaning against it with my back in order to cover the hiding spot. I heard the dreaded sound of Mr. Smith’s click-clacking shoes on the floor coming closer. He appeared in the doorway a few moments later, towering over Alexander.

“Here we are again. I’m not going to lie, you two. I’m growing bored of this cat and mouse game we have going on. You’re supposed to give me information. That’s the whole point. Yet, this is the up-teenth time that I’ve gotten nothing from either of you. This started out as a really fun mind-f**k, but now…” Mr. Smith prattled on, glaring at both of us. “I will give you both one more shot before I ramp things up. I’m not a huge fan of torture. All the blood and pain is a bit much for me, but as I just said, I’m getting tired of not seeing results. My employer wants results. If you don’t deliver, I can’t deliver, and then no one wins. So, please, I’m genuinely saying this: make sure I win.”

He grinned wickedly at us and then snapped his fingers. Everything went black.

Groaning, I woke up in my little room, holding my pounding head. Things were foggy and muddled in my brain.

Rae? You there?

Silence. Still.

I sighed and slowly opened my eyes. The bright, fleurescent lights stung and made my head hurt more. The room looked as it had for the past, well, however long I’d been kept here: white, bare, bland. It was just me, though.

“One more test…”

I frowned to myself. That was clearly Alexander’s voice. It felt like a weird, distant memory. I couldn’t help but ponder why that suddenly came to me and what I was supposed to do with it. What did he mean by saying that?

Pounding on my door jolted me from the cot.

“Eleanor. Come on,” Alexander shouted in a hushed tone.

Keys jangled and the lock to my room turned, clanked, and then rested in the unlocked position. Alexander slowly opened the door and peeked his head in.

“We gotta go. Wait. No…” he said, puzzled at himself. “That’s usually what I would do…”

“Wha you’d usually doo?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, my words coming out slightly slurred.

He slipped into the room and then quietly shut the door. “Yeah, but I’m trying to do everything opposite of what I think I should do. Or what I’m used to doing.”

“You’re confushing me.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I’m confusing myself too. All I know is that we’re getting out of here for real this time.”

“Wha’s that supposed too mean?” I questioned.

Nothing he was saying was making any sense to me. It wasn’t even the concept of what he was saying either. It was his words. My brain was struggling to keep up, and I could feel the heaviness weighing me down. Thinking was hard work.

Alexander came up to me and placed a hand on my face. He peered at me and used his hand to open my eyes wider.

“s**t. You’re drugged. Like, really drugged,” he said.

“Drugged?” I asked, appalled. “How dare you say–” I went to poke a finger at his chest but found myself leaning to one side and making eye contact with a rapidly approaching floor.

Alexander caught me and hugged me to his chest. The world was spinning fast. I felt sick, but I felt him place me on the cot and steady my swaying body.

“Stay,” he cautioned before bending down into the corner. “Now, you’re always over here fiddling with…Ah! Found it.”

Looking over to the side, I watched him unroll a piece of paper and briefly read the contents. He went in and out of fuzziness.

“You’re fuzzy,” I mumbled, giggling to myself.

He seemed to ignore me as he searched around further. This was getting boring, though. What was even the point of being here?

“Dragons,” I murmured.

“What?” Alexander asked absent-mindedly.

I blinked a few times before stating, “The Dragons! We haf to protect them from the, uh, Demon King. Nat-na-alie and Raith-y left the big liar in order ta protec the key thingy tat all the demees are–”

Alexander swirled around as quickly as he could and clamped his hand over my mouth. His face was stern, and he looked upset.

“Do not finish that sentence,” he said harshly. “Better yet, don’t talk at all.”

“But–”

“Be quiet.”

A clicking noise sounded from the ceiling.

“No, please let her continue. I’m dying to know what else she has to say,” Mr. Smith snidely said through a speaker. “You didn’t think that we actually left you both alone, right? I’ve heard everything the two of you have ever said in these pods, and I’d love to hear the rest of her sentence.”