HUNTED-Chapter 435: New Acquaintances (2)

After finishing their meals, the trio left the hall together after deciding they would remain as a unit between these ’games’ while they thought of ways to escape the place. Dylan had been there for a few weeks and observed much about the research centre. Although the games were lethal, they still had to remain vigilant outside of them.

Other werewolves might try to attack them, or some pissy guards might. Dylan had seen it happen and intervened more than a few times, which was the reason he’d been beaten up so badly before the Golden Egg game. He had been trying to aid another newbie, but unlike Ahren and Keira, he was caught.

"So, we can just roam around freely?" Keira asked, still questioning Dylan about every little detail about this place. They were walking towards Ahren’s room, which was at the opposite end of the corridor to Keiras.

"Yep," Dylan replied, popping the ’p’. "They want us to feel like we have some freedom. Probably a way to brainwash us into submission. Of course, there’s only so much freedom we’re allowed."

"But going to each other’s room is fine?" Keira asked, walking beside Dylan as Ahren led the way, his muscular back full of scars.

Dylan shrugged as they stepped inside Ahren’s room. It was like the other rooms Keira had seen before. Ahren arrived the same day as Keira. Unlike her, he had been bating his time, figuring stuff out more before trying to escape. The only games that day had been between the red and orange banded people.

"Make yaself at home?" Ahren said, questioning his words as he looked at the dull space.

"Don’t take too long," Dylan advised sternly, pushing up his glasses for good measure and making them glint in the fluorescent lighting. "We don’t know how long we can have together, and we all need a shower."

Ahren didn’t comment as he left for the ensuite bathroom. Keira slowly strolled over to the small sofa and sat down, elegantly crossing her legs.

"So, what’s up with all the secrecy? Why aren’t you allowed to help newcomers? Even the instructions on the golden egg game weren’t great like they left out some information on purpose…" Keira looked to Dylan, wondering if he knew such things, and then murmured her thoughts, "Is this really more like an experiment, as Octavius said?"

She glanced at the camera in the corner of the room and back to Dylan, who flopped down beside her, head resting on the cushion as he closed his eyes. His injuries had been severe, but his healing ability had already repaired small scrapes and bruising on his skin.

"Who knows. It could be," Dylan sighed, eyes remaining shut. "We’re always left in the dark until the last minute when an announcement instructs us on what to do."

"So unreal... All of this..." Keira trailed off her whisper, her thoughts turning to her mum, who had been through a similar experience. She hoped to gain her mum’s strength and courage to survive this.

The door to the ensuite opened then, and Ahren strolled out in his trousers, steam curling off his shoulders, hair damp, and abs still a little wet with droplets of water glistening against his skin. "That was quick," Keira said, levelling her gaze with Ahren’s.

"There’s a time limit." Ahren shrugged, placing his shirt on the bed and gulping down from a water bottle he’d brought from the bathroom.

"You were so quick you didn’t have time to put on a shirt…" Dylan’s sarcasm made Ahren put the bottle down.

"I’m too hot to put it on right now. I don’t see Keira complaining about my body… Do you have an issue with it?" Ahren directed at her.

Keira stood and looked away, aiming for nonchalance. "Why are you getting me involved in your little lovers spat?"

"Lovers spat?!" Dylan and Ahren shouted after her as she strolled towards the door that automatically whooshed open.

Without a clock or windows in this plain white, freakishly clean place, it was hard to keep track of everything. Was there a timer on the doors? Was there a certain time they couldn’t leave their rooms to socialise?

By the time that bloodied game finished earlier, the sunlight revealed it to be early afternoon. So, the tuna pasta had been their lunch. Dylan informed them that there were three meals a day unless someone misbehaved-- sometimes the individual was solely punished and other times everyone was, making them a target for attacks.

Keira kept her questions to herself, not wishing to overload Dylan with so many questions.

"Hey, my room’s through the other corridor!" Dylan called out, stopping Keira’s cool exit.

"Other corridor?" She spun around with a frown. She’d snooped around so quickly; did she miss something?

Dylan walked towards another door that automatically opened, revealing another hallway. The doors weren’t all bedrooms! She’d only assumed this was the case after checking out a few that were identical to each other.

The map Keira mentally drew in her mind just expanded with unclear zones that might possibly lead to other areas of the research centre.

"Chill," Ahren murmured in her ear. She jumped at his sudden closeness. "I can pretty much hear the excitement in your heartbeat right now, if not for the sparkle in your eyes."

Keira looked up at him and froze, realising just how close Ahren was leaning, and by turning her head, they were at eye level. Her lips parted with a light gasp before she controlled her facial expression. "Thanks, I’ll work on it," she replied, internally pinching herself for saying something so lame. She could have said anything else, but he distracted her.

Ahren chuckled and straightened, his hands in his pockets. He was fully clothed now.

After a few more doors passed, Dylan finally stopped in front of one, and the doors slid open, revealing an identical room, but it looked lived in. The bed sheets were still pristine white and clean and crisp, folded like that from a prestigious hotel cleaning service, but there were a few little differences compared to Ahren’s room.

On the sofa lay a snug blanket and bright yellow cushions. His scent was pretty much over everything, and he’d stocked up on full water bottles left in the corner of the room. "I won’t be long," Dylan sang over his shoulder as he raced towards the bathroom, eager to clean off all the muck and blood from his skin.

He seemed in better spirits now, it made Keira smile. Ahren picked up one of the cushions on the sofa, turning it like it was something significant; his brows tugged together. Unlike in Ahren’s room, Keira didn’t sit; she was too curious about what she saw as soon as Dylan went to shower.

By the side of his bed was a photo. An actual photo with Dylan in it. He resembles the others in the image, and Kiera can only assume it is his family. They all smiled broadly at the camera. Dylan didn’t wear glasses in it, and neither did his parents or younger sister.

"I didn’t think we were allowed personal items in here," Keira murmured to herself, frowning. Ahren’s footsteps were quiet for a large guy as he stopped behind her and looked over her shoulder at the photo.

"It is very strange," Ahren commented, sounding a little suspicious by the idea. "He’s only been here three weeks."

Keira glanced at him, trying to decipher his thoughts. But whatever suspicion was written on his face faded before he turned away and sat on the side of the bed, his large form making it look tinier than it was. Keira didn’t sit beside him, worried her clothing and skin might put dirt on the fresh, clean sheets.

Instead, she leaned against the wall across from him, legs crossing. She had yet to put on more clothes and didn’t really know how to feel about getting so close to this guy who reminded her a little bit of Kodi or the hot stranger from the club. It was probably the muscles or the scar on his lip that, like Kodi’s, just added more to his looks.

Kodi… He wasn’t in this research centre. Keira hoped he escaped the Order; otherwise, she was the cause of his… his... She frowned at the sudden grip on her heart. She couldn’t even finish the thought. It was guilt and shame. That’s what it was.

Kodi and Keira didn’t get along, and somehow she’d had the hots for him even while he acted like a total dick, but she would never want him, or anyone for that matter, to get hurt or die because he was unfortunate to be in the wrong place and the wrong time, and that involved being beside her.

"Hey." Keira snapped her gaze up, pausing when she realised Ahren was gently pulling her hand away from her temple where she’d been tugging on her hair. "Where’d my badass go, eh?"

A breathy laugh left her, his light-hearted comment distracting her from everything.

"Alright, Keira’s turn for…" Ahren and Keira looked in Dylan’s direction. He looked between them, his brows raising. "Am I interrupting something?"

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