My mind races. There’s only one place he could be heading after lights out, and the timing can’t be coincidence. The question is how does he know? Did Turon extend the same invitation to my brother? Or did Olin somehow access the information about Zorrah from my thoughts?
I chew the inside of my mouth. The more immediate question is whether I’m prepared to follow him. Still in uniform, I ease out of bed and slink across the dorm. The door whooshes open a second time. I breathe deeply and exit through it.
Olin has grown desperate in Zorrah’s absence, especially after Neca’s exit. Perhaps Turon has deemed Olin a softer target. Maybe my brother is a backup plan.
I shudder at the thought. Maybe Toltec needs Olin and I together, and tonight is the night he ends the wait. I cross the barracks in a flash and poke my head into the darkened corridor. Fifty meters distant, I spot a shadow hugging the wall.
I check in the opposite direction to be safe and then scamper after my brother as quickly as I can without alerting him to my presence. Even as I follow him, I’m not sure what I’ll do when he reaches the door. Do I stop him? Or accompany him?
Together, maybe we could overcome Turon, but what then? An altercation with an instructor could be an unforgivable sin.
No. I should stop him, or at least find out what he knows. If Turon has been feeding him different lies than he’s been feeding me, maybe we can get at the truth by grouping the lies together.
A blue light flashes near the end of the corridor. I plaster myself against the wall and try to become part of it. Cautiously, I turn my head and see nothing. No light, no shadow, no Olin.
Sprinting the final hundred meters, I’m out of breath when I reach the door marked No admittance. I rest my hands on my knees and my forehead against the cold, metal door. I don’t know how, but Olin’s gone. I check the time—23:01, a minute past the designated rendezvous.
“Olin, what have you gotten yourself into?” Every bone in my body screams that it’s a trap. But what choice do I have? We’re stronger together than apart. Maybe if I’d been more understanding, or if I had shared more of the truth, we could have avoided this. Whatever Turon has in store for my brother on the other side of the door, I shouldn’t let him face it alone.
Gently, I test the lever. It’s locked. But there’s no lock mechanism.
I jerk on the handle and slam my shoulder into the door. It won’t budge.
“Ms. Bluehair,” Toltec’s voice burns the inside of my ears.
I jolt upright and slam my head into something solid. Disoriented, I squeeze my head until the proximity of Toltec’s voice fades and the fireworks spreading across the inside of my eyelids disperse. I open my eyes. I’m no longer in the corridor. The sign, No admittance, has gone.
I query the darkness with groping hands. They quickly send back an unbelievable answer—I’m in my bunk. Wait, of course. I remember now.
I return my head to my pillow. I had been running the logwood dye bath routine, and I must have fallen asleep. The rest had been a crazy dream—the memory of it already fading.
I remember the sign, No admittance. I had tried the lever and found it strangely locked. There had been something else. Olin.
A sick feeling crowds my gut. It’s already an hour past lights out, but Olin and I have often conversed in our minds later than this. I have to check. Olin. I hail him softly. Nothing in response. I’m sorry it’s so late, but I have to talk.
Still nothing, not even an irritated dismissal.
His bunk is only two above mine, so there is no way he can’t hear me. Silently, I swing out of bed and latch onto the ladder. In a few quick movements I reach my brother’s level. He’s not there.
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