His dad picked up on the first ring. “Hello, Noah. Is everything okay?”

“I’m doing fine at the moment, yeah. I just wanted to share some updates on what’s planned for tomorrow. Keep you in the loop.”

“Oh, sure. What’s happening?”

“Have you heard about Insight Labs? The big medical lab in the city here?”

“Can’t say that I have. Why?”

Noah looked at Brian. This is going to be more difficult if he doesn’t already have the background knowledge of what Insight is like.

“They’re a very experimental place,” Noah said carefully. “We’re going to be sent there tomorrow morning.”

“How long is your appointment? I was hoping to stop by to see you.”

“It’s less of an appointment and more of an… abduction,” Noah said. “We said we didn’t want to go, but the doctor is basically forcing us. We weren’t given a choice.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to see their doctors?”

Just spit it out, Brian mouthed.

“They’ve killed people, dad.”

There was no response, so Noah blazed forward. “Their practices are dangerous and experimental. We aren’t being sent there for our own good; it’s so that some scientists over there can satisfy their curiosity about this odd little sickness. And because our campus doctor hopes they’ll find a cure, or something.”

“Have you talked to anyone about this?” Noah’s dad snapped. “Because this is not how a school should be treating its students. If what you’re saying is true, this is unlawful.”

Noah scratched his neck. “Uh, we haven’t really talked to anyone. But that’s besides the point! Insight Labs isn’t part of the college. They operate independently, above the law in every way that counts. They’ve decided they want us, and nothing anyone does will stop them.”

“Why the hell does this Insight place need to see you so bad? What’s so interesting about this sickness of yours?”

Noah sighed. “It’s new. That’s really all the reason they need. They’re probably excited that it will open new branches of scientific discovery or some crap.”

“I’d like to have a word with whoever gave them your name.”

“No, you wouldn’t. She’s a pathetic excuse for a doctor. And it wouldn’t help anything, anyway. It’s too late now.” Noah looked at Brian and crossed his fingers. “There’s nothing I can do at this point short of running away.”

“Hmph. If this mess is half as bad as you’re making it sound, maybe that’s not such a bad idea.”

“But what about our studies?” Noah flashed a mischievous grin at his friend.

“Your life is more important than your grades.”He let out a sigh. “In fact, I’d prefer if you got out of there. I know it’s a lot to ask, but-”

“Don’t worry about it, dad. I trust you. If you say I should run, I’ll run.”

There was silence for a moment. A small sniffle carried through the speaker. “I’m proud of you, Noah. I don’t know if I could be so brave.”

Brian waggled his eyebrows at his friend. Noah ignored him.

“Well, I should probably start packing, if I’m really going to do this,” Noah said.

“Oh, yeah. Of course. I’ll text you the address of the hotel I’m staying at in case you want to stop by- I still want to see you, Noah. Call me whenever you can. Don’t do anything too reckless, okay?”

“I won’t,” Noah promised. “See you later.”

“Later, kid.”

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Noah hung up.

He turned to face Brian with a smug grin. “That went pretty well.”

“See, I knew it would work,” Brian said, pleased. “All it took was a teeny tiny bit of family manipulation.”

“At least I didn’t lie,” Noah said defensively. He paused in consideration. “At least, I don’t think I did. Yeah, I wouldn’t lie to my father.”

“Of course not,” Brian said. “Speaking of promising not to do anything reckless, want to see how quickly we can heal a stab wound?”

Noah stared at him. “What about the side effects?”

“There’s nobody who’s not infected nearby,” Brian said. “You won’t hurt anyone.”

“Let’s just classify that as a terrible idea and agree to never try it,” Noah said. “I’m gonna go upstairs to try to get a few hours of sleep before we leave. You should do the same. Who knows when we’ll next have proper bedrooms.”

“I guess so. Not that it matters. We could sleep on a pile of rocks and it would feel no different from a warm, soft bed. I don’t know if I’d be so willing to run away otherwise.”

“Hey, it’s more than just the physical comfort of a mattress,” Noah said. “There’s something to be said for knowing you’re in a private and secure place as you fall asleep.”

Brian thought about that. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know how much rest I’ll be able to get, but I suppose it would be silly not to try. I don’t really need to do anything else to prepare.”

“It’s weird, isn’t it? Not having to bring all the usual stuff? All sorts of clothes for different weather, food, drink. I’m not even going to bring a toothbrush.”

“Well, you either won’t need one, or you really, really will,” Brian said.

Noah frowned. “Hmm. Maybe I should bring a toothbrush. Not to assume the worst or anything.”

Brian shrugged. “I think I’ll just take a change of clothes and a comb. Just because we’re gonna be homeless for a little while doesn’t mean we gotta look it.”

Noah stood up from the table. “Set an alarm before you try to get some sleep. It would be really lame if we slept right through the night and woke up to the people from Insight knocking on the front door.”

“The girls would wake us up.”

Noah shot him a look.

“Oh, stop worrying. I’ll set an alarm for myself.”

Noah gave him a nod and headed upstairs. Resolving the issue with his dad had taken a huge load off his shoulders. He was glad he had thought to get Brian’s opinion on what to do instead of blundering his way through a conversation that would probably have only made things worse.

Feeling optimistic about their prospects, Noah kicked off his sneakers and sat on the edge of his bed, taking his own advice and setting a quick alarm for himself. He got up to set his phone on the desk and flip off the lightswitch. There was still quite a bit of evening light streaming in through the large window. He frowned and went over to it, pulling the stiff shade across and casting the room into pitch-darkness before he could realize how thoroughly the screen blocked out all light.

The feeling of weightlessness returned in full force near-instantly. Noah quickly reached out to uncover the window, but his hand must have missed the shade, because no light returned to the room. He cast about in front of him blindly and senselessly, rapidly losing awareness of his surroundings. Without visual confirmation he began to doubt if he were moving his limbs at all, or if he were just standing there motionlessly. He tried to strike out with his hands but heard no sound. A moment later a thump reverberated through his head as if someone had struck the back of his skull. Noah gasped and tried to duck forward, but there was no further noise to indicate what was happening.

“Brian! Come here!” He shouted for his friend.

He felt himself slipping into panic as he waited in vain for some sort of sense of place to return to him. There must have been some illumination bouncing into the room around the edges of the window or from under the door, but neither of those sources of light were very bright to begin with and his eyes were not strong enough to pick out anything from the void that surrounded him.

Finally, what seemed to be an eternity later, he caught the sound of footsteps approaching.

“Noah?” Brian asked from outside his room. “What is it?”

“Can you- can you just open the door?”

Knowing his friend was right outside, Noah’s panic receded, leaving a prickle of embarrassment in its place.

“Uh, sure,” Brian said. A moment later blessed light cascaded into the room, dispelling the abyss. Noah found himself looking up from a surprisingly low vantage point.

“What are you doing?” Brian looked down at Noah laying on the floor. “Are you okay?”

He had fallen at some point without noticing. Now he was laying there with his feet by the window and his head by the center of the room, staring straight up. Noah quickly picked himself up.

“Sorry, I’m such an idiot,” he said. “I was just trying to turn off the lights. I didn’t realize it would get so dark.”

Brian seemed puzzled, but he only nodded. “Is that all you wanted?”

“Yeah. Thanks. You know, I just figured out something else we should be packing.”

“What’s that?”

“Flashlights.”

Brian shrugged. “We might have to rely on our phones for that. I haven't seen any honest-to-goodness flashlights lying around.”

With that he left the room, careful to leave the door cracked. Noah quickly slid the window shade open a few inches as well, just to be safe.

Feeling shaken, Noah climbed into bed and hesitated before pulling the sheets up over himself. He didn’t want to imagine how long he would have been incapacitated in his own room if Brian hadn’t been nearby.

He closed his eyes. Absolute darkness settled over him once more, but he relaxed with the knowledge that he was safely tucked into bed. Rather than feeling lost or afraid, a deep sense of peace filled him. He was asleep within seconds.