Defect - By Ryann Kerekes Page 0,31

I be in trouble?

Since I’m the first one to the showers, I head to the last stall on the end. It’s the most private. I undress in the tiny stall while the water heats up. I step under the stream of hot water – it’s almost too hot – but I force myself to stay under it until I get used to it. The heat of the water works wonders at relaxing my tired muscles.

I lather up my hair and think about my mission into the woods with Will. I still didn’t know much about him, and he seemed to like it that way. I step back under the water to rinse the soap from my hair.

The lights flicker once, then shut off, plunging me into complete blackness. I hear footsteps, calculated and slow, moving towards me.

“Hello?” I call out. Soap bubbles stream down my face, stinging my eyes.

The footsteps continue down the length of the girls’ bathroom, moving toward me. In the darkness, the bathroom takes on an eerie quality, cold, sterile and much too quiet, except for the spray of water and the footsteps, which are getting closer. I consider staying quiet, trying to hide somehow, but I know it’s no use. Whoever’s out there knows I’m in here.

I move away from the water, and press my back against the cold tile wall, wanting to be as far away from the door as possible. I’m probably freaking myself out over nothing, maybe it’s just a prank by some of the other girls. They’re just trying to scare me.

My eyes begin to adjust to the darkness, and I can make out black boots standing in front of my stall door. Boots like Will’s or O’Donovan’s. Or Kane’s. Then I see the locking mechanism on the stall door begin to slowly turn, unlocking itself. I stare in disbelief, not even daring to breathe.

When the door swings open, Kane’s face is draped in shadows, but even in the darkness I can see the gleam of hatred for me burning in his eyes. I don’t understand what I could have done to make him hate me so much.

“Don’t think for a second that your little play-date today will go unnoticed,” he snarls. He lifts my towel from the hook and tosses it onto the shower floor at my feet.

I grab for it, but it’s pointless. It’s already soaking wet. Kane laughs as I lunge for it, holding the dripping towel in my hands. His laugh is bitter and grates against my skin. I don’t cower; I don’t back away. I don’t even try to cover myself. “Are we done here?” I ask instead, calmly shutting off the water.

I step out of the shower and begin drying myself with my old clothes and when I look up, he’s gone. I release a breath I’ve been holding and my knees begin to shake. I pull on my clean clothes and hurry from the bathroom.

My clothes cling to my still damp body, and my hair is dripping down my back when I burst into the bunker out of breath. Sam’s head whips around toward me and her eyes lock on mine. Without saying a word, she gets up from her card game and follows me into the dorm.

“What happened? You look like you saw a ghost.” She places her hands on my shoulders, turning me to face her.

I’m still out of breath from the encounter with Kane. “Kane came in when I was in the shower.” I suck in another breath. “He shut off the lights and opened up my stall door.”

“What the hell? Are you okay?”

I nod.

“Did he … do anything to you?” Her eyes grow large with worry.

“No. He just tried to scare me. It seemed like some sort of warning, only I don’t know what for.”

“I shouldn’t have let you go alone.”

“No, Sam – this wasn’t your fault.” I don’t want her feeling guilty. She’s done enough to help me, and there’s no way she could’ve known this would happen. “I can handle it.”

“Well, I’ll help you. You’re not alone here. I’ll keep a better eye out for you.”

“Thank you.” I can feel my hair dripping all over her hands, still resting on my shoulders.

“Did you even dry off?” She smiles.

“Not really. I just wanted to get the hell out of there.”

She guides me over to her bed and I sit on the end while she towel dries my hair, then combs it out and secures it back in a braid, just