Zain would work, eat, bathe, and then sleep, everyday for a week; he fell into routine in his fake life, with a single exception.

  When he could, he would collect information and search the compound, however, his efforts were turning out to be fruitless. Forget asking the boys if knew of anything suspicious happenings at the warehouse, the only thing the boys wanted to talk about was the strange ‘paranormal activity’ that occurred in the complex:

  The ghostly wails that you could hear near the clock tower at night time, the mysterious blue light that casts from the smart hospital, and a dumpster that hides body parts. There wasn’t any merit in investigating any of these, of course. However, just to be thorough, Brayden and Zain made sure to check them out during their free time.

  They concluded that the ghostly wails could be attributed to sounds coming from the sewer grate nearby, likely an animal that was stuck or maybe some late maintenance. The hospital was probably occupied by some students watching a film late at night. And the body parts in the dumpster was probably a cpr dummy or anatomical model that was thrown out.

  All in all, their leads were ultimately dead ends. The frustration extended to those not undercover as well, as the informant was pressing them to look more thoroughly, to see if they had missed something crucial. However, there was only so much the two of them could do without catching suspicion. Zain suspected that it would take years of trust in order to access all of the areas within the warehouse. They were underqualified to enter specific areas, so unless they were gonna invest several months of training for the necessary certifications, it was futile.

  So I just gotta wait out the two weeks and I’ll be home free! They can’t say I didn’t fulfill my role if we legitimately couldn’t find any evidence..

  It was a win in Zain’s book; they wouldn’t be placed in any danger and he wouldn’t need to worry that Brayden would catch Devante’s eye and be recruited into the organization. It was probably too late for Zain, but he at least hoped that Brayden could follow his dream and become a teacher.

  However, as he thought about letting the time run out on their investigation, a chill ran down his spine. His heart began to sink and his vision blurred at the edges; it felt akin to forgetting something crucial, but for the life of him, he could not recall what it was. Like a curse of some sort, this feeling ebbed at him, only intensifying more when he tried to disregard it.

  Fine! I’ll look a little harder!

  And with this thought, the feeling finally subsided. It wasn’t a phenomenon he had experienced before…maybe it really was a curse…Trying to escape his duties was futile, as he wasn’t even allowed to half-ass his investigation, it would seem.

  But what could he do that he already hadn’t done? They had spoken to most of the boys already and explored all the areas they had access to, so where else could they look?

  Retracing all of the evidence they had acquired, he thought about anything he could have missed.

  Maybe I should investigate at night?

  There was no way he could sneak out, there were cameras everywhere and he would be found out right away. Except…

  If I follow Navin, I can figure out how he snuck out…

  From his room every night, Zain could hear that Navin left his room in the dead of the night, so if he timed it right, he would be able to follow him when he went out again.

  At the edge of the hallway, there was a small lounge area with a vending machine and water tank where the cameras didn’t have a full view. If he hid there, he could wait for Navin to leave the room then follow behind him.

  Hopefully he wouldn’t be caught by Navin, but if things went south, he would just use an excuse of just wanting to go out to the city at night or something.

  He gathered some items that he would take with him, like a flashlight, gloves, and utility tool. What he would use them for, he actually had no idea, but they seemed like things that sneaky people use in movies so he decided to take them with him.

  At first he contemplated letting Brayden in on this plan, however, he most likely wouldn’t agree to do something so risky.

  There was no real incentive for Brayden to put himself in greater danger, and, frankly, Zain also didn’t want him to be placed in danger, especially for something he didn’t know would work out.

  Hopefully, I don’t go missing though…

  The police were monitoring him so he had some confidence that something really bad wouldn’t happen to him, but Zain also didn’t have a death wish.

  Nothing would change if he didn’t go outside his comfort zone a little. Thinking too deeply about it would cause him to second guess himself, and inevitably chicken out. It was now or never.

  All he had to do was wait.

  It was a little later than usual, but Navin left the room as expected. Sequestered behind a lounge chair, Zain watched from the unlit corner as the footsteps approached the end of the hallway, he turned the corner, and strangely walked into the lounge room. Luckily, Zain wasn’t noticed as he observed Navin open the window facing the northside.

  First, he placed his feet out, then squeezed out the window. Once he was almost completely out, he held onto the ledge, lowering himself slowly. Then, when only his hands were visible, he let go.

  There’s no way…we’re on the fourth floor!

  Like a primitive ape, Zain scrambled to the window on all fours, hesitantly looking outward. Instead of an unresponsive pile on the floor, he saw Navin walking along a ledge. Below the window was an overhang of an awning of some sort at the second floor. From this, he skirted the edge of the architecture of the building, making his way to a lamp post.

  After adjusting and amping himself up, Navin jumped then slid down the lamp post, landing safely on the ground.

  Then he just fucked off into the nearby tree line, making a point to avoid all of the lights near the trail lines.

  O-okay….

  Nimble little shit. How the hell was he supposed to do that? Shit, how was he supposed to get back?!

  No! Don’t think about it! Just do!

  Shakily pushing his feet out, he heaved his lower half out the window, teetering out on his torso. There was no foot hold for him, so he gripped the window’s ledge like his life depended on it. The pressure on his stomach almost knocked the gusto out of him, but he grit his teeth, preventing them from knocking against one another.

  He snaked his way further out the window, the veins of his hands showing strain as he held his weight at an awkward angle. His shoes were scraping against the wall, desperate for a foothold of some sort.

  Zain looked down, glancing at how far the awning was. Honestly, he wished he didn’t because there was no way he could make it.

  Fuck this shit, I’m out!

  Foolishly trying to pull himself up with the upper body strength he didn’t have weakened his hands, which in turn caused Zain to lose grip. He fell, landing on the awning with his leg slipping on the slight incline. Before he could slip completely off, he was able to grab the edge and stop his momentum.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Zain let out a muffled scream, trembling from his near death encounter. Somehow after all of that, he hadn’t pissed himself.

  There was no way to turn back now; looking back up, there was no way to scale his way back to the window. Zain cursed himself as he stood back up, lining himself against the wall. The ledge was only wide enough to have one foot comfortably placed at a time.

  At first, he considered hugging the wall, in order to prevent himself from looking down, but he wouldn’t be able to turn around when he jumped to the lamp post. With his back to the wall, he slowly scooted across the ledge.

  Don’t look down….don’t look down….

  Practically biting his lower lip off from tension, he made it to the corner edge, where the lamppost was closest. Not quite ready to let go yet, he gripped the edge with his hand, sweating like a sinner in church. With a one, and a two….and a three and a four…he hesitated. Then hesitated some more. Finally, after silently cursing his stupid ass, he took a deep breath, then jumped.

  His arms flailed in the air, hoping to catch anything to break his fall. Fortunately, or unfortunately, his aim was precise, and he landed on the lamppost. The consequence of that was the wind getting knocked out of him and a slight concussion as his head collided with the rusted metal. A hollow clang sounded, the result of two dense and hollow things striking one another. It had not been too loud as to alert security, but it definitely indicated the level of pain Zain felt.

  He slid down, landing his ass on the concrete crudely. Finally, he was on solid ground again.

  Getting up, in a slight stupor, he hobbled towards the tree line, making sure to avoid any lights or obvious surveillance.

  ‘Where are you going?’

  A familiar voice hummed quietly in his ear. He groaned, annoyed that he had to explain himself after all of the effort he had put in.

  “I’m investigating places I haven’t looked at yet. That’s what you wanted, right?”

  The informant stayed silent for a good minute, before issuing a murmur of caution. As if they needed to tell him.

  The bitter chill of the night prickled Zain’s skin, and the fake night sky illuminated his path only slightly. Strangely, the moon cycles were simulated in the dome, so right now, it was a new moon. That made it much harder for him to see, so he was using the slight illumination that only came from the fake stars. Zain had brought a flashlight, but he wanted to use it as little as possible so no one could see him.

  Now…where SHOULD I go?

  In all honesty, Zain wasn’t really sure how he was going to investigate, all he knew was that he would have better luck actually finding the suspicious activity at night.

  There was no way that they carried those deeds out during the day, otherwise, there would have been at least one person who suspected something.

  But, there was none; all of the boys seemed to trust the staff implicitly, no one even suggested something nefarious when they were asking around. So that either meant that they were all in on it, or, it was done when they weren’t around.

  It would make sense as to why none of the warrant searches turned up any evidence; No criminal activities were being done during those times, so nothing was ever seen.

  Now…the most suspicious place would be the warehouse..

  However…how would he get in. He didn’t have a key or access code to be let in, nor did he have any other means of entering. Zain tried to think of things someone would do in a video game, but there was no way it would work. Plus, that magical barrier that had dissipated the informant’s construct was likely in place. That would probably be capable of stopping him as well.

  Ugghhh, I guess I’ll just look around for now….

  It was the best he could do, because as it stood, he still had no leads. After walking for some time through the trees, he made it to the outside of the warehouse.

  He watched the warehouse, where absolutely nothing was happening. There weren’t any lights or sounds or anything.

  In slight contemplation, Zain plopped down, and sat against a tree.

  The warehouse was being watched by the police, so of course if it was that easy he wouldn’t be there. Zain glanced at all the vantage points hidden in nearby buildings, all stationed with police officers.

  Wasting his time watching the warehouse likely wasn’t the way to go, there were already so many eyes on it.

  Suddenly, as he was mulling over what he was going to do, the snap of a branch sounded from behind him.

  “Oh? What is this? Babes in the woods?”

  A familiar asshole mocked from behind. Zain turned around reluctantly, looking up to see Navin wearing a shit eating grin.

  Disgusted, Zain clicked his tongue, then turned back around. Best to ignore him.

  “HEY BITCH I’M TALKING TO YOU!” Navin shouted in his ear, sending Zain into a startled panic.

  In one swift motion, he clamped the asshole’s mouth in an attempt to silence him. “Shut the hell up, dumbass! What if someone hears you?” He yelled in a somewhat hushed tone.

  A shiver ran up Zain’s spine as he felt something wet wriggling under his hand; with haste, he removed his hand that Navin had licked.

  FUCKING DISGUSTING!!!

  Mortified, Zain used the grass to wipe his hand of this asshole’s germs. Navin paid him no mind as he looked down at him. “Ain’t no one out here! Besides! I fucking told you not to follow me!”

  “AND I SAID YOU AIN’T THE BOSS OF ME!” He snapped back, disgust still clear on his face. Forget keeping his head down, he was fucking pissed!

  Navin looked at him, eyes squinted into a glower, but he said nothing back. After a prolonged period of scowling at one another, he rolled his eyes, seemingly giving up. “Whatever.”

  He plopped down near a tree stump, reaching down into a small crevice which was obscured by the bladed grass. Out came a bottle of beer, which he had stashed away.

  Automatically, Navin used the edge of the stump he was sitting against to open it, then, in the most bizarre turn of events, offered it to Zain, “Want one?”

  “Huh?” Zain couldn’t even pretend as he gave the most severe dumbfounded look. Like, what the fuck was going through this man’s head?

  “Oh, shove it up your ass! Take the fucking beer you baby!” The beer was practically shoved into Zain’s hands, he had no choice but to accept it.

  Now, in his old life, he had never really taken to beer. His mom had let him try it once but it was more to show him how awful it tasted. Not once had he desired beer after trying it that one time.

  Navin had already opened another beer and was already drinking its contents, so there was no returning the beer. Zain looked at the beer with suspicion, then decided to take a swig.

  It tasted just as bad as he remembered, but he bore with it; however, he couldn’t help but mumble a bit to himself, “It’s warm…”

  “Oh, fuck you…”

  They just sat in silence for a good minute, sipping their beers while staring at the warehouse from afar. No, more like Zain was staring at the warehouse, Navin looked to be looking past it, but it wasn’t really clear to Zain what he could be looking at. Finally, Navin broke the silence.

  “So, what the fuck you doing out here and why did you follow me?”

  Of course, Zain had already prepared an excuse, but for some reason, he didn’t have the will to give Navin even that courtesy.

  “What? I’m not allowed to have my own fucking life? Mind your business.”

  “Its my fucking business when a bitch follows me outside! Asswad!” He opened another beer, his nostrils flaring slightly in annoyance. After a few gulps, he calmed down. “Whatever. As long as you don’t bother me, I won’t bother you. You don’t snitch on me. I won’t snitch on you.”

  “How do you know I won’t snitch? “ Zain really couldn’t remember anything he had done to gain that sort of trust from Navin.

  Instead, the boy just scoffed a little, “You didn’t tattle on me even though you knew I snuck out. I at least owe you for that. But after this I don’t owe you shit.”

  So that’s what this is..

  Zain looked at his beer, a strange peace offering from a strange fellow. He turned back to Navin, “That’s shit. I don’t want no warm beer. Haven’t you heard of equivalent exchange, hoe?”

  “Shut the hell up, that’s all ya getting.”

  If all Navin did was drink warm beer all night, Zain didn’t really have a reason to follow him. It would be easy to avoid him too if he knew where he was.

  At least I know what places I can avoid next time.

  For the rest of the duration he was out, he stayed next to Navin, silently drinking beer near one another. Though, it wasn’t out of a sense of comradery or anything.

  It was because Zain didn’t know how in the hell he would get back to his room.

  It had taken some time for Navin to feel satisfied drinking beer; Hours had passed, and, luckily, inebriation put Navin in enough of a good mood to show Zain how to sneak back in.

  The way back involved chimney climbing to the fifth floor, then jumping down to the fourth floor. It was less elaborate than getting out, but more skill intensive as one could slide all the way down if they lost footing.

  When Zain got back home, he was exhausted, and what was worse, he could only get a few hours of sleep before he had to get up again.

  Brayden looked a bit concerned when he walked into his shift looking like a zombie, but Zain made up an excuse.

  “I just couldn’t get comfortable in my bed last night, no matter how hard I tried.”

  It was a lame excuse, but it was the best he could come up with on the spot. Luckily, Brayden didn’t suspect him and just offered his condolences. Just as they finished changing, Zain felt someone wrap an arm around his shoulder and lower his head into a slight noogie.

  “What’s up Kid! Guess what?! You get to hang with me today!”

  It was Navin, who was acting awfully chummy with Zain.

  Where did this friendly attitude come from? What did he mean ‘play’?

  Zain looked around him; a lot of the boys averted their eyes, some of them gave him suspicious looks, and others started whispering amongst themselves. Even Brayden was giving him a look of concern.

  During their days here, he and Brayden had worked hard to gain the trust of all the boys around them. They had been accepted to most social circles, with many welcoming them with open arms after they had dispelled their suspicions.

  All of that hard work was now up in smoke as he was now going to be associated with this asshole.

  FUCCCCKKKK!!! WHAT DID I DOOOO???!!!!