Page 33 of Stardusted

I reached out, then hesitated.

You’re being ridiculous, Rae.I pushed the nearest panel open, braced myself, and stepped into…

Nothing. An empty lab.

No one waited on the other side.

I exhaled slowly and shoved the door wider. The front lab was dark. Light from the hallway spilled in, casting long shadows over the metal shelving and rows of white tables, each cluttered with carefully labeled boxes and stacks of notes. At the back of the room, a row of computer screens glowed softly in sleep mode, their pale light barely illuminating the space.

I licked my dry lips. “Hello?”

No response.

The door on the far side of the room stood slightly ajar. I knew where it led: a hallway connecting the staff offices,the storage room, and beyond that, the temperature-controlled, authorized-personnel-only lab.

All this alien talk was seriously getting to me. I shoved the sensation of creeping dread aside and moved around the nearest table, skirting the clutter as I headed for the far door.

Out of habit, I fumbled for my phone, pulling it from the back pocket of my jeans. For half a second, I considered calling Amelia for the illusion of company. Just in case.

I dismissed the urge, annoyed by my own jumpiness. I’d never been the paranoid type. It was only a dark hallway. One I’d been in before. And that figure had just been another student.

Simplest explanations.

I reached the far door and nudged it open with my shoulder, peering through.

Bright fluorescent light poured from the narrow corridor beyond. It stretched in a clean, sterile line to another set of double metal doors at the far end. Empty.

To my right: Professor Stern’s office.

To my left: the drinking fountain and single-stall bathroom. The lock read VACANT.

“Professor?” I whispered. “Hello?”

Why was I whispering?

Somebody had to have come this way. I’dseenthem. My throat tightened as I crept forward. One step, then another. I peered through the square window in Stern’s office door.

It was empty. Dark, too. He hadn’t just stepped out; he wasn’t in. Only the cold glow of his sleep-mode monitor lit the stacks of books, artifacts, and mess of half-filed papers on his desk.

Another cautious stride brought me alongside the bathroom. Without thinking, I reached for the handle and pulled.

And screamed.

It echoed, slicing through the suffocating silence, but I barely heard it over the ringing in my ears. Flinging the door away, I stumbled backward until my heel caught my other foot. I crashed onto the linoleum, landing hard on my back. Books jabbed into my spine through the fabric of my bag, and the wind rushed from my lungs.

I lay there, stunned and breathless, struggling to comprehend what it was I’d just seen.

Because it turned out I wasn’t alone down here after all.

Chapter 10

THIS DEFINITELY WASN’T ON THE SYLLABUS

Thebathroom door swung the rest of the way shut with a quietclick, a sound far too gentle for how violently my heart was beating.

Sitting up, I pulled my knees to my chest.

The door might have closed, but what lay beyond was burned into my brain.