Page 37 of Sadistic Obsession (Rise of Phoenyxx #1)

F rost

We all pile into Doc Harris’s office; anger infuses all of us.

I am on the edge—of what, I don’t know. Odd sensations race through my body.

My chest feels like a knife is stabbing through it, and my stomach is hollow.

I have a weird taste of metal in my mouth.

My breathing is choppy; my heart rate is elevated.

What is wrong with me? Surely, I can’t be FEELING.

..can I? Is this what it’s like to worry about someone—to care?

My musings are silenced at the bark of Harris’s voice. “You boys need to tell me everything that has led up to this. ALL of it.”

“We can’t,” Razor retorts, his jaw tight.

“He’s right,” Purge adds.

“Look, I understand your situation. But what is said in this office stays in this office. I can’t help either one of them without knowing what happened,” Harris tells us.

We look at each other uncomfortably. Trikk nudges me. “Man, just tell him.” I have become the unspoken leader with Synn’s absence, apparently.

I sigh, dropping into a seat. “I’m only going to go over this once, so pay attention.”

I launch into our issues with Killer, how Synn walked away, and what Synn did—to her, and to himself. I hold back anything about our parents—no one can know about that.

His face turns redder with every word I utter. “He did WHAT? And not one of you thought to come to me?”

“Why the fuck would we have done that?” Razor spits out. “You’re just a shrink!”

Harris slams his palm on his desk, rising from his chair. “I’m a good deal more than that. I care about Phoenyxx. She trusts me.”

“Like...the fuck?” an incredulous Trikk pipes up. “Bambi is OURS! You’re a fucking staff member!”

Ghost pulls down his hood, moving too fast to track. In a blink, he’s got Harris by the throat. “YOU. STAY. AWAY. FROM. MALISHKA!” He shakes him like a tree, shocking the shit out of me.

Harris's face starts turning blue, so I step in. “Ghost—enough! This is not helping!”

Ghost drops him like a stone, retreating to the back corner, hood back in place. “Refocus, everyone. How do we get to Synn and Phoenyxx? They're in a hospital we didn’t know exists, and we can’t get in. I wonder if there are any more entrances?”

Harris adjusts his jacket, staying standing. “I don’t see how there could be—unless there are more secret doors or tunnels on the property.”

Ghost whispers from the corner, “There is. It's my private space.”

I whip my head around to look at him. “What...how? And we are just NOW hearing about this?”

“I’ll show you,” he mutters.

“Good. But tell me, have you noticed any other entrances or exits from the space?” I ask.

He just shakes his head. “I haven’t really looked. But there are two doors that lead into my space...and a staircase...oh fuck.” His eyes widen. “We have to go...Now!”

“Okay, let’s all go. Boys, walk ahead. I'll trail behind. We obviously can’t all be seen together.”

Murmurs of agreement echo in the room. We file out, one at a time, Ghost leading.

He takes us outside and into the admin building.

I frown, wondering how it could be in here, with all the people always milling around.

We head towards the arts area, going down the long hall.

A really long hall. Once we reach the end, Ghost stops and looks around.

We're so far removed from the usual traffic; there’s no one who will see us.

He pushes on the wall, and another door opens.

We follow him in, and I gape at the complex area, with a staircase in the center.

There are only walls around it, or so it looks like.

It resembles a hexagon, or cube, of sorts.

He walks to the back wall, pushing again.

A second door reveals what I guess is his secret area.

My jaw drops as I look around. There's an old, torn sofa and a mattress on the floor. There's even a small space heater in the corner. It's almost homey-feeling. I smell a particular scent in the air—the vanilla and flowers that Killer embodies. “Ghost, has Killer been here recently?”

He nods, and I put two and two together. “The night you disappeared—you took her here?”

“Yes,” he confirms. Fuck. Wow.

“Let’s look around this room first,” Harris suggests. We spread out, testing the walls and floors, checking every nook and cranny.

“Nothing,” I huff. “I’m going to check the rest of the area around the stairs.”

“I’ll come with you,” Purge offers.

Together, we search every part of the walls and floors.

I peer under the stairs, not spotting anything.

Razor and Trikk pound up the stairs, checking there.

“Holy shit!” Trikk yells, and we all go racing up after them.

I skid to a stop, confusion knitted on my face.

It stops at the top, built into the ceiling.

"Bro!” Trikk shouts again. “It’s a staircase to. ..huh...”

“What?” Razor laughs. “More like the road to nowhere...”

Harris quiets him. “Let’s check underneath these stairs again, in case you missed something,”

We follow him back down the staircase. My heart beats faster; the odd sensation confusing me again. We start scouring the whole area again, the seconds ticking by.

“Boys! Come see this!” Harris calls out.

We all MOVE when we hear that, running up to Harris.

There's a metal door in the floor, opening from the inside, like all the others.

It's dark as night down inside of it, and cold.

Walking closer, I see a thin, metal set of stairs, like the ones in an elevator shaft, extending to the floor.

There's a small jump from the bottom of the stairs to the floor.

I climb down first and land in a crouch, looking around.

It's dirt, all around. The floors and walls are just dirt.

There's a large, metal floor safe occupying most of the space.

Everyone follows me down, crowding into the space. Harris puts his arm out to hold us back while he inspects the safe. “Well, it’s very old, likely from the 1960s or 1970s. However, it has a biometric lock. You need a fingerprint AND a code to get into it.”

“Of course!” Purge rages, throwing his hands in the air. “Want to put money on who has the access?”

Harris shakes his head. “My guess is Director Augustine. I sure as hell don’t. I didn’t know ANY of this shit existed!”

“Bingo!” Purge yells.

“How are we going to search in here? It's dirt everywhere,” Trikk asks.

“I don’t think there’s much to find—unless something is buried in here,” Harris replies. “Might as well check, anyway.”

We all start digging around when I hear a soft sound. Like a voice in a hollow area, far away. “Stop, everyone!” I whisper-shout. “Can you hear that?” Silence immediately follows, as we all listen.

Harris frowns. “It’s voices. But from where?”

We check everywhere, but there’s no sign of another entrance or exit. I start to speak to call it, when I hear a voice say “Doctor, patient eleven needs...”

“This HAS to be it!” I yell. There are doctors and staff somewhere close!”

I start frantically digging through the dirt, trying to will myself through the dirt wall.

“Frost, stop,” Harris calls out. “We need to be strategic about this. Purge, find out anything you can about tunnels on the property. We will go back and pretend everything is normal. For now. When we have more, we’ll get them back. ”

“Fuck that!” Razor rages. I cut him a look.

“I hate to agree with Casanova over there, but we have to do this right. Let's go back, for now.”

They all reluctantly agree, and we trudge back up the stairs and back out into the art hallway. We split ways, Harris going back to his office, and us, our apartment.

Synn

I wake up slowly, with a loud groan. My whole left arm is throbbing where I cut it. My head feels like a freight train sped through it, and my mouth is like cotton. “Pazessca? Phoenyxx?” I whip my head to the side, frantically hoping she’s still next to me.

“I’m here,” she whispers, her voice so soft, it’s barely there. “What’s that mean? The nickname?”

“Of all the...” I start, then backtrack, answering her question. “Crazy Girl.”

“Really?” A hollow laugh bubbles from her throat.

“You sound bad,” I frown. “Have you been given water or food at all yet?”

“No,” she whispers. “I still have a damn catheter in, too. Surely, they won’t leave us like this, to die?”

“No, they fucking won’t,” I snarl. “I will get their damn attention!” I proceed to scream at the top of my lungs. “HEY! WE NEED FOOD AND WATER DAMMIT!” Silence follows. “You know who my FATHER is, right? You think he’ll just allow me to fucking disappear?”

“Who is your father?” Pazessca asks, as the screech of sneakers on tile reaches our ears.

“Mr. Franco, apologies! I will have food and water brought to you both!”

“Yeah? And how the hell are we supposed to eat with our arms strapped down?”

The nurse visibly pales. “I will get the doctor.” She scurries quickly out of the room.

“Yeah, do that!” I call after her.

“Thank you, Synn,” Phoenyxx says, with sincerity in her voice. I just grunt in response.

Pounding footsteps sound out, moving towards us. A doctor I’ve never seen before walks into the room, pushing the curtain aside. He's in his 50s, maybe, with greying hair, average features. “Mr. Franco and Miss Solomon, I'm Dr. Crandall. I've been told you’ve both harmed yourselves. May I ask why?”

“Who cares?” I mutter.

“Cuz we can...” Phoenyxx retorts, making me snort.

The doctor stiffens. “I suggest you cooperate if you want out of those restraints.”

“Fine,” I huff. “I just wanted a break. Wasn't trying to kill myself.”

“Same!” the enigma next to me follows. “I was just messing around.”

“I need a guarantee neither of you will attempt to hurt yourselves, or anyone else, first.”

“Yes,” we both agree.

“We learned our lessons,” I add.

He huffs, coming over to release Phoenyxx’s restraints first, then removes mine. “Thank FUCK,” she groans. My arms feel like stiff boards. I can barely move or bend them. Based on the moans next to me, I bet Pazessca feels the same way.

“Now, I will have your meals sent. First, I’ll remove those catheters. You will be allowed to use the restroom, right outside of this room, with staff present ONLY. You will continue to receive your medications via IV for now.”

I glance at Pazessca; her eyes gleam with unshed tears. “No more meds...” she whispers.

I stretch my arm out slowly, beckoning for her to do the same, brushing her outstretched fingertips, I tell her, “I will watch you, I promise.”

I grunt in pain as the catheter is yanked from my dick. He moves to Pazessca, ripping hers out, too. None too gently. She yelps, then quiets.

I turn back towards the doctor. “When are we getting out of here?”

He makes a tutting sound. “At least a few days. This depends on how your evaluations go.”

“Seriously? Our friends and families won’t be okay with us missing for that long!”

“No need to worry.” He sports a grim, forced smile. “I’ll take care of that.”

With that, he turns and leaves the room.

The second he leaves, Pazessca pulls herself up and out of bed.

“What are you...?” I’m cut off when her trembling body climbs into bed with me.

One single tear trails down her ashen face.

I don’t say anything, I just let her rest her head on my shoulder.

After a couple of minutes, I stiffly wrap an arm around her.

I somehow drift off to sleep. A strange sense of comfort blanketing me.