I heard a piercing cry coming from one of the nearby horses trudging through the snow. Several muffled screams followed shortly after. I couldn’t see through the haze of white, so I nudged Rowan in question. My tongue was too dry and cracked to speak much.
“That would be the frostbite,” he grumbled.
“It hurts that much?”
“No, that’s the sound of it being removed.”
I squeezed my eyes together, attempting to push the agonizing imagery out of my head. Then I covered my ears to ignore the strangled, blood-curdling cries. I tried not to think about who it was. They probably wanted me dead.
I squinted, trying my best to peer through the thick flurries, and in the distance I saw something odd. Something that did not belong in this landscape.
As we advanced toward the strange spherical structure, I noticed that the twolights that had originally caught my eye were posted on either side of a wide door—at least I assumed it was a door.
The building’s architecture was like none I had ever seen before. It was made completely of smooth silver metal. It was also rather small. I thought we could all fit, but there wouldn’t be much room for movement.
We approached the metal complex, and Rowan slipped off the saddle. He trudged through the snow, making his way to the front of the building. Rowan then pressed a large red button on the door, and it lit up instantly.
Upon closer look, the button and the two sconces on the side of the door appeared to be of the same make. The material seemed familiar to me. It looked like the precious material my father brought back home once—plastic. And the light they illuminated was not normal candlelight.
My inspection was disrupted by a loud buzzing sound that rang out. The door pulled apart, revealing sharp, serrated edges that reminded me much of metal teeth. The image of getting squished between them made me automatically stiffen.
When Rowan let out a loud whistle, all the horses rushed into the building. The inside was extremely bright, so bright it burned. Panels of light were plastered to the ceiling. They were just like the sun, but unnatural. I hated them.
The inside was just one room with a grated floor that I couldn’t see anything below, only darkness. Rowan stalked over to a small, rectangular box on the wall that featured an array of numbered buttons. Then, he pressed a sequence of numbers, and within seconds, I felt the floor move.
I panicked, clutching onto the horse. Several of the culled let out minor screams and yelps, which made me feel justified in my fear. I’d never experienced a worldshake, but I’d read about them. It wasn’t until I heard the amused chuckle of a Veiler that I noticed the world wasn’t shaking—we were sinking.
The entire metal platform beneath us rumbled as it descended. The walls stayed still, but the Ground dropped as if we were being lowered into it.
Rowan came over and stroked our horse, subtly moving his hand to pinch my knee. I buried my face in the horse’s mane, putting it level with Rowan’s.
“Hey, it’s alright,” he whispered in my ear.
“What’s happening?” My voice quivered.
“It’s just an elevator.”
“What’s anelevator?”
“A contraption that transports people to different levels of a building. The facility has three levels, but only one of them is above Ground. The upper level only serves as an entry point to the lower ones.”
“So, no stairs?” I swallowed back the bit of bile that had crept up my throat.
“There are stairs in other parts, but those aren’t used nearly as much. Elevators are the most common form of transportation here. Though the others are much smaller than this one. This elevator is the biggest because it has to carry many people and animals. It’s also the only one that can reach the surface.”
The elevator stopped when it landed at what I assumed was the bottom. The wide steel doors opened once more, and I was met with the sight of pristine white walls and reflective tile floors. A woman was standing just outside, sporting a wide smile and shoulders hunched to her ears. She was dressed in a matte baby blue pantsuit, and her brunette hair was pulled back tightly into a high ponytail.
She unclasped her hands, and her mouth opened before she started speaking.
“Hello everyone, my name is Corsica Marwood! I am very excited to get to know everyone in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I’d like to welcome youto our facility! We take great pride in the research that we conduct here and are endlessly thankful for all of our wonderful program participants!”
Her chirpy voice made my head ache.
“If you will please follow me,” she continued, “I would like to take you to your quarters and give you all a chance to wash up before meeting the most important person at the facility—my father!”
Most of the Veilers broke off to lead the horses somewhere else, but a few Veilers, including Renata and Rowan, remained with the culled. Those of us who remained followed Corsica down a hallway filled with even more panels of fire-less light.
These lights did not allow for any shadows, which meant there would be no hiding here.
