Chapter 109 109
Annabeth's POV:
The door opened without warning.
I'd been sitting on the cot, trying to eat the gray slop they'd shoved through the slot an hour ago. It tasted awful and had a hint of something chemical, but I forced it down anyway because I needed the strength. Kalessi had told me to eat everything they gave me, no matter how bad.
I'd barely slept the night before. Kept going over everything she'd told me through the wall. Three levels underground. Containment on the bottom, extraction in the middle, admin on top. Guard shifts every twelve hours, skeleton crew at night, sloppy around five or six AM when the shift change happened. The extraction room with the metal chair and the machine that drained you. And the storage unit with the drugs, the suppressants, the sedatives.
And the antidote. Blue vials, third shelf from the top. They don't guard it because why would they? None of us can get to it.
I'd also dreamed about Kaelen. His hands on my face, his voice, and then the harpoon, and the blood, and waking up with that horrible silence in my chest where he used to be.
But now the door was open and I didn't have time to think about any of that.
Two guards. Same black masks, same tactical gear. And behind them, a different woman this time. Younger, Asian, with her hair pulled back tight and a tablet in her hands instead of a clipboard.
"Subject 47-R," she said, not looking at me. "Scheduled for pre-extraction workup. Let's go."
47-R. That's what I was now. Not Annabeth. Not a person. Just a number and a fucking letter.
I stood up before they could grab me. My legs were steadier today, the suppressant working its way out of my system or maybe my body just adapting to it. Either way, I could walk on my own, and I wasn't gonna give them the satisfaction of dragging me.
"Cooperative today," one of the guards said. "Nice change."
I didn't answer. Just walked between them, eyes forward, counting steps and turns like Kalessi had told me to.
Left out of the cell. Fifteen steps to the first corner. Right turn. Twenty-two steps to the heavy double doors. Badge scan, two beeps. Through the doors, up a ramp, another badge scan.
The extraction level looked different from containment. Cleaner, brighter, with that antiseptic smell that hospitals have. The walls were white again, smooth and seamless, and the floor was some kind of tile that squeaked under our shoes.
We passed a room with a big window and I caught a glimpse inside. The chair Kalessi had described, metal and industrial, with straps for wrists and ankles. The machine beside it, all tubes and containers. Empty right now, thank god.
"Eyes forward," the guard said, and shoved my shoulder.
I kept walking. But I'd seen enough.
The room they took me to was smaller. Medical equipment lined the walls, monitors and machines I didn't recognize, and there was an exam table in the center covered in paper that crinkled when the guards pushed me onto it.
"Arm," the woman said, pulling on latex gloves.
I held out my left arm. She tied a rubber band around my bicep, slapped the inside of my elbow a few times, and slid a needle in without warning. I didn't flinch. Wouldn't give her that.
Blood filled the vial attached to the needle. Dark red, almost black in this light. She switched vials, filled another one, then another. Three total before she pulled the needle out and pressed a cotton ball to the spot.
"Hold that."
I held it. Watched her label the vials with a marker, my number and today's date.
"Vitals next," she said, and pulled out a blood pressure cuff. "Arm."
I switched arms. She wrapped the cuff around my bicep and squeezed the little bulb until it was tight enough to hurt.
"Heart rate elevated," she murmured, checking the tablet. "Blood pressure high. Expected for a new acquisition."
New acquisition... Like I was just a piece of furniture.
She checked my temperature, my reflexes, my eyes. Made me breathe deep while she listened to my lungs with a stethoscope that felt like ice against my skin. Typed notes into her tablet after each test, her face completely blank.
"Open your mouth."
I opened it. She shined a light inside, looked at my teeth, my tongue, the back of my throat.
"Good," she said. "You're healthy. Strong. You'll last a long time."
I wanted to bite her fingers off. But I didn't. Just sat there, being cooperative, being a good little prisoner while I memorized everything.
The door on the left led to a hallway, probably back to containment. The door on the right was marked "Storage" and had a keypad lock. The woman's badge was clipped to her waist on the left side. The guards stood by the main entrance, relaxed, not expecting trouble from someone as weak as me.
And through the window in the storage door, I could see shelves. Rows and rows of shelves, lined with bottles and vials and containers of all sizes.
Third shelf from the top. Blue vials.
I couldn't see them from this angle, but I knew they were there. Kalessi had told me.
"We're done," the woman said, stripping off her gloves. "Take her back."
The guards grabbed my arms again, hauling me off the table. I let them, let my body go limp and heavy like I was still weak, like the tests had exhausted me. They half-dragged me back through the hallways, past the extraction room, through the double doors, down the ramp.
I counted every step. Every turn. Every badge scan.
Back in Cell 47, they shoved me through the door and slammed it shut. I stood there for a second, breathing hard, then walked to the wall that connected to Kalessi's cell.
"I saw it," I said quietly. "The storage room. The refrigerator unit. I couldn't see the blue vials but I know where they are."
Silence for a moment. Then: "You're sure?"
"Third shelf from the top. That's what you said, right?"
"Yes." Her voice was careful. "But how would you get to them? The storage room is locked, and even if you got inside, the guards—"
"I don't know yet." I pressed my forehead against the cold concrete. "But I'm gonna figure it out."
"Annabeth..." She paused. "If they ran exams on you today, then the extraction is tomorrow morning. Early. They start around dawn."
"I know."
"That's not much time."
"I know." I closed my eyes. "But it's enough. It has to be enough. And if I can’t make it tomorrow, then I’ll do it during the next extraction. But I will, trust me."
Because somewhere out there, maybe, Kaelen was still alive. And if he was, if Marlen had saved him like Kalessi believed, then he was coming for me. I didn't know how I knew that, couldn't explain the certainty that settled in my chest, but I knew it.
He was coming.
And when he got here, I was gonna make damn sure I was ready to meet him halfway.