Revelations (The Revelations Series Book 1) (6 page)

THE
endless night finally grayed into dawn as Jenna woke the next morning to see the sun peeking through the curtains in her room. She grabbed a fluffy pillow and stuck it over her head, groaning as she remembered the events of the day before.

I hope it was all a bad dream,
she thought, taking the pillow off her face and praying she was in her own bed. She moaned when she realized it wasn’t a horrible nightmare and she was in fact in the institute.

She rolled over to see her breakfast on the nightstand beside her bed. Her stomach growled as the scent of the bacon and eggs drifted toward her making her realize how hungry she was. She wasn’t even sure how long it had been since her last actual meal. She sat up, reached over and grabbed a piece of bacon off the tray. But then she remembered what Alex had told her about the drugs and she dropped it. She stood up, blocked the tray with her body and shoved the food into a napkin. She waited a minute, and then threw the napkin into the garbage making sure to cover it with some paper towels.

She walked into the bathroom and grimaced at her reflection in the mirror. Her usually tan complexion was now pale from a lack of sunshine and her hair was a tangled mess. She grabbed the brush off the edge off the sink and ran it through her hair, cringing as she guided it through the snarls. As she leaned down to splash some cold water on her face, she heard a key in the door.

Jenna held her breath as an elderly woman with short brown greying hair that was cut boyishly short entered the room. The square-rimmed glasses she wore seemed to magnify her dark brown eyes making Jenna think she was probably blind without them.

“Good morning, Jenna. I’m Nurse Ellen. I’ll be looking after you during the day.” The lady walked over and opened the curtains to let in the sun. She then turned around, a warm smile appearing on her face. “How did you sleep?” she asked.

Jenna managed a small tentative smile. She had to admit that Ellen seemed nicer then Karla. She didn’t look at her like a bug she wanted to squash.

Jenna shrugged. “Fine, I guess,” she replied. She made no attempt to keep the conversation going. She didn’t want to get to know anyone in this place. She was anxious to hear from Alex and find out what his plan was to escape.

Ellen walked over to Jenna’s nightstand. “Well, at least you ate. Dr. Carver will be pleased by that.” She reached over and picked up the tray. “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, I’m good. Thanks anyway.” All Jenna’s nervousness slipped back and gripped her when she noticed how Ellen smiled when she thought she had eaten her breakfast. A shiver ran up her spine as she considered that Alex could have been right about them drugging her food.

“Call me if you change your mind. I left some magazines in the drawer and the remote for the TV is on the table. Don’t worry about the bed, housekeeping will be in soon.”

“Thanks,” Jenna mumbled as the nurse left the room and again locked it. Not knowing who she could trust, she wanted nothing to do with anyone who worked here. The only thing keeping her going was the thought of her mother. If she really was alive then she needed to do anything she could to get back to her.

Jenna grabbed the remote off the table and sank into the armchair by her bed. She flicked through the channels looking for something to watch until she heard a soft knock on the door.

A pinch of disappointment washed over her as a short man with spiky blond hair opened the door. “Housekeeping,” he announced as he came into the room. “Hi, I’m Joseph your housekeeper for today.” He walked over to her bed and started to make it. He then made his way into the bathroom. Coming back out a few minutes later, he walked over to her and reached for the wastebasket by her chair.

“I know you were hoping for Alex. Don’t worry he’ll be here later,” he assured her. “You must be hungry, so don’t forget Alex put some granola bars under the bathroom sink for you. There’s also a set of scrubs. Be changed and ready to go by eight tonight. Don’t let them see you in the scrubs or your cover will be blown. Remember don’t eat or drink anything they bring you.” He emptied the wastebasket and set it back down.

“Stay strong. Alex will have you out of here soon,” he whispered, smiled at her and then left the room.

Jenna waited a few minutes before getting up and headed toward the bathroom scanning for the cameras she knew were there somewhere in the room. Once in the bathroom she grabbed a granola bar out from under the sink and quickly ate it. She forced herself to only eat one even though she was famished. Alex wouldn’t be here until later that night and she had to ration what she had left.

Ellen only checked on her once more that day and Dr. Carver stopped by briefly to see how she was doing. Both urged her to eat her lunch. They told her she needed to keep her energy up, but she insisted she never ate lunch and promised to eat diner.

She couldn’t help but think about tonight and how Alex would help her escape. Just the fact that they were locking her in the room was reason enough for her to want to get out of this place. The minutes ticked by slowly as she watched television, occasionally going into the bathroom to get a drink from the sink or eat one of the granola bars. She made sure to close the door each time. She wasn’t sure where the cameras were hidden and she didn’t want to take any chances.

Dr. Carver stopped by late that afternoon to check on her once again before he left for the night. He commented on how pleased he was that she had eaten her dinner. She had, of course, thrown it away just as she had her breakfast.

When she asked him when she would be able to leave, Dr. Carver told her that he thought it would be another week or two. He insisted she had hit her head hard and they needed to keep a good eye on her. She shrugged it off knowing Alex would be there in a couple of hours to get her out of this awful place. She missed her mom. She had so many questions she needed answered, and she was going to make her mother tell her everything.

For the next few hours she continued to watch TV and flipped through some teen magazines that Nurse Ellen had brought her, but her eyes kept drifting towards the clock. The hands seemed to be moving so slowly.

Finally, it was time to get ready. She stood up and made her way into the bathroom where she changed into the scrubs Joseph had left for her. There was also a baseball cap and she neatly tucked her hair up under it. At exactly eight o’clock, there was a soft knock on the door. She held her breath as it slowly opened praying it was Alex. She let out a sigh of relief as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

“Great, you’re ready. We don’t have much time before Nurse Karla gets back.” He moved quickly to the side of her bed, pulled back the covers and arranged the pillows under her blankets to look as if she had gone to bed early. For an instant his glance sharpened. “You didn’t eat any of the food today, did you?”

“No, I threw it out like you told me to.”

“Good. Now, here’s the plan. You’re going to walk out of here with me as if you’re one of the cleaning crew. Keep your head down and if anyone stops us let me do the talking. I have a van waiting at the loading dock outside. If we move quickly we’ll make it out before they even know you’re gone.”

Too nervous to say a word, Jenna just shook her head. She took a deep breath in and slowly released it as they moved toward the door.

“Are you ready?” Alex asked.

“Yes,” she whispered, a jolt of panic ripping through her. What if they got caught? She fought to gain control of her fear and readied herself to move as soon as Alex opened the door.

Alex slowly opened the door and looked outside before he motioned for Jenna to follow him. He pushed his cleaning cart a few steps, stopped and waited for Jenna to catch up. She walked out the door of her prison as if she had done it a thousand times before making sure to stay near the wall while Alex walked on the outside. That way if anyone passed them they would get a better look at Alex. They moved quickly down what seemed to be a deserted hall, but she knew somewhere there were security cameras tracking their every move. Sure enough, when she glanced up the cameras were in every corner of the hallway.

“Keep your head down,” Alex ordered as they rounded a corner.

She looked back down at the floor as they came to an elevator and stopped in front of it. Jenna froze as the metal doors opened and the same man who had given her the necklace at the flea market was standing there. Unspoken anger glared in her eyes as he stepped out of the elevator. Alex must have noticed the expression on her face because he grabbed her wrist and mouthed,
no.

“Good evening,” the man said without even bothering to look at them.

“Good evening, Sir,” Alex replied as he ushered Jenna into the elevator and pressed the button for the basement.

“You’re doing great,” Alex assured her. “I know it was hard for you to see that man, but I couldn’t let you do anything to him yet. The time for revenge will come, but it can’t be today. Just a little bit further and we’ll be out of here,” he whispered.

Jenna didn’t respond. She was praying they would make it out safely. The elevator finally came to a stop and the doors slid open to reveal the loading dock.

“The van is on the other side of this dock,” Alex told her. “We have to hurry. They’re going to know you’re missing any time now.”

As they walked across the loading dock, Jenna kept glancing uneasily over her shoulder at the elevator. She wiped her sweaty hands on her pants as she tried to keep in step with Alex who was leading the way.

“There’s the van,” Alex announced as he pointed to a grey van with the Densen Institute logo on the side printed in black. As they neared the van, a security guard came around the corner. He nodded at Alex as he passed them but when he looked at Jenna, he stopped in midstride and turned around.

“Hold up,” he called as he started toward them.

Alex grabbed her arm and pulled her along. “Don’t stop no matter what happens. I’ll take care of the guard,” he instructed.

Jenna headed toward the van glancing back over her shoulder as the guard pulled out his gun. “I said stop!” he yelled.

“Whoa, there’s no need for that. Here’s my ID. I’m part of the cleaning crew on the night shift.” Alex handed the guard his ID as Jenna climbed into the passenger seat of the van. She quickly closed and locked the door.

The guard looked over the badge Alex had handed him and then gave it back. “What about the woman?” he asked, pointing toward Jenna.

“Oh, her? She’s new and doesn’t have one yet,” Alex responded.

The guard looked at Alex, then at Jenna in the van and back at Alex. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go without calling it in. It’s protocol.” The guard reached for his radio.

Alex backed away from the guard and raised his hand. “I’m sorry, you should have listened to me and let us go.”

Jenna gasped as an invisible force hit the guard and he flew backwards smashing into the cement wall by the elevators. She couldn’t take her eyes off the unconscious guard as Alex hurried over to the van and climbed in behind the wheel.

Jenna turned toward Alex stunned by what she had just seen. “What just happened?” she asked fighting the urge to run.

“Jenna, listen; I know you’re scared, but you need to trust me. Your mom is waiting for you and this is your only chance to escape,” Alex pointed out. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. Just to be safe though I need you to hide under the tarp in the back until I get through the security check point.”

Knowing Alex was right she climbed into the back and slid under the tarp making sure to cover her whole body.

Alex started up the engine and pulled out of the parking spot. Jenna prayed nobody else would stop them before they could get out the gates. They stopped a few minutes later at what she assumed was the main gate.

“So, how was your day?” she heard Alex ask someone.

“Fine, how was yours?” the person responded.

“Okay I guess. This is my last load for the week. I’m going on vacation tomorrow.”

Jenna couldn’t believe he was making small talk with the guy. Why didn’t he just leave?

“Well, I guess I better let you get out of here then,” the guard told him.

“Thanks. I’ll see you when I get back,” Alex responded as he pulled the van through the gates and to safety. They drove for about five more minutes before she felt the van pull over, and the engine turn off. The front door creaked open, and a few seconds later the side door of the van slide open.

“All clear,” Alex announced as he pulled the tarp off her. “Come on, we have to switch vehicles quickly. I’m sure they know you’re missing by now and will be looking for the van.”

Jenna quickly climbed out as a dark blue Jeep pulled up behind them and her mom jumped out. “The alarms sounded as soon as you turned the corner. We don’t have long before they know it was you,” her mom told Alex.

Jenna ran headlong into her mom’s open arms and hugged her tight never wanting to let her go again.

“Are you okay?” her mom asked releasing her and looking her over from head to toe.

“I’m fine,” she assured her.

“Erin, Jenna, I know you two are anxious to talk, but we really have to get going,” Alex insisted as he got in the driver’s seat of the Jeep.