Free Burn Like Fire by Jody Morse, Jayme Morse

throughout the room, echoing throughout the halls. Austin was sure that the reason her heart was beating so loudly because she was terrified, but it didn’t matter. The sound made him want to drink from her.
    Trying to control his urges, he tried to focus his attention on the situation that they were dealing with: finding out what this place was.
    Austin led Anna, Dan, and Lexi down a dark hallway. As he rounded a corner, he heard voices. Austin was positive that he heard someone utter, “They’re here!”
    He glanced back at Anna, who took a step closer to him. She placed her hand in his, nervously squeezing his fingers. Austin squeezed back, trying to reassure her—and trying to convince himself not to sink his teeth into her neck right there in the hallway.
    Once they had rounded the corner, they approached a desk where a man and woman were working.
    The woman eyed them as they approached the desk. “May I help you?”
    “I . . . I’m not sure,” Anna replied quietly. “I’m supposed to be meeting someone here . . . I think.”
    “Anna Lancefield?” the woman asked.
    Anna nodded, smoothing out her black and hot pink striped sweater nervously. “Yes, that’s me.”
    The woman glanced at Austin, Dan, and Lexi inquisitively. “I see that you’ve brought company with you.”
    “Yes, I hope that’s okay. I wasn’t told that I wasn’t allowed to bring anyone with me,” Anna replied, darting her eyes over at Austin nervously.
    The woman’s lips tilted into a small smile. “Of course it’s okay. Your guests will need to register, however, so that we can give them visitor’s passes. It’s not within our protocol to allow just anyone to come through here. We do have security standards.”
    Visitors’ passes? Protocol? Security standards? Is this really a prison? Austin wondered to himself. Or maybe it was a hospital. Maybe they were visiting a patient.
    Austin had never been to a real hospital before. The only hospital that he’d ever been to was the one in Briar Creek, but it was run by doctors who focused on vampire medicine. Lexi was lucky to even be alive after the car accident that had almost killed her, since none of the doctors were used to regularly working with humans.
    “Here’s the visitor’s pass that we’ve made for you,” the woman told Anna, handing her a nametag that was attached to a lanyard.
    Anna slid the visitor’s pass over her neck, as Austin stepped forward. “What information do you need from me?” he asked.
    “I just need you to fill out this registration card with your full name and date of birth,” the woman replied, handing Austin a clipboard with a piece of paper and a pen attached to it.
    As the woman handed Lexi and Dan registration forms, too, Austin scanned the paper for any indication of where they were. He was hoping for there to be a name on the top or the bottom of the paper, but he didn’t see anything.
    Sighing, he filled in his information. When he was finished, he handed the clipboard back to the woman. Deciding to be straightforward, Austin asked, “Can you tell us what this place is?”
    The man shot him a warm smile and spoke up for the first time. “Darius will be with you in a few moments. He will explain everything to you.”
    Austin nodded, even though he felt frustrated. Why wasn’t anyone telling them what was going on? He hated waiting.
    The woman behind the desk handed Austin, Dan, and Lexi their nametags. Austin slid his on over his neck and then glanced over at the man and the woman expectantly.
    “You may have a seat,” the woman told him, pointing her chin at a few chairs that were lined up in the corner of the room. “Darius will be with you in just a second.”
    Austin followed Lexi and Dan over to the chairs and plopped down in one. Anna sat down next to him. Leaning over, she whispered into his ear, “Who do you think this Darius guy is?”
    Austin shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out soon.”
    They waited