Free Awakening by Kelley Armstrong Page A

me.”
     
    I knew of two doors—the emergency exit we’d escaped from Saturday night and the main entrance Derek had broken into. The main doors were closest. As we headed for them, I whispered to Liz, asking her to run ahead and scout the way. If someone was coming, she’d whistle.
    The door was in an alcove. I darted in and I pressed against the wall while Liz zipped through the door. She was back in a second.
    “There’s a guard dead ahead,” she said. “I’ll distract him. You open the door a crack and listen for my whistle. You know a place to hide, right?”
    I nodded. When we were here Saturday, Derek had us opening all the doors, searching for an exit, and I remembered a storage room that would be perfect.
    When Liz gave the all clear, I eased open the door. Tori danced impatiently behind me, though I’d asked her to watch for anyone approaching.
    Inside, Liz was at a closed door twenty feet away. The guard stood beside her, staring down at the knob as it slowly turned one way, then the other.
    We slipped past. I could hear the distant rumble and thump of machinery and the laughs and shouts of workers. This section, though, was quiet.
    We made it to the side hall easily, as the guard stood transfixed by that mysterious turning doorknob.
    Liz raced up behind us. “Where to?”
    I gestured to the adjoining hall. She sprinted ahead, turned the corner, and whistled the all clear. Our luck held, and we made it safely into the storage room. As its door closed, the guard’s voice echoed down the empty halls.
    “Hey, Pete, come here! You gotta see this. The knob was turning by itself. I tell you, ever since Dan did a nosedive into the saws, this place has been haunted.”
    He was right. Saturday night, I’d seen the ghost of a man jump into those saws. Then he’d reappeared and done it again. Was that some kind of penance? Aunt Lauren had done bad things, maybe even committed murder. If she was dead, would she go to Hell? Was she—?
    I swallowed hard.
    “What now?” Tori whispered.
    I looked around. The room was the size of a classroom and full of boxes.
    “Find a place in the back,” I said. “There’s lots of dust, which means they don’t come in here very often. We’ll hide—”
    Liz ran through the door.
    “They’re coming!”
    “Wha—?”
    “Dr. Davidoff and Sue. She saw you by the doors.”
    Thanks to Tori, who’d kept such a good watch…
    “Are they inside?” I asked.
    “Not yet.”
    “Is who inside?” Tori asked as Liz took off. “What’s going on? What’d she say?”
    I told her, then opened the door a crack.
    “What are you doing?” she said, tugging my sleeve. “Are you nuts? Close that!”
    Tell her to be quiet, and she got louder. Tell her to stay back, and she pushed me into the line of fire. Tell her to watch for our pursuers, and she hovered at my shoulder instead. Open the door to listen, and she wanted to drag me back inside.
    Ah. The beginning of a beautiful friendship.
    Friendship? We’d be lucky if we survived a temporary partnership.
    I told her I was trying to listen. When she argued, I glared; and for once in my life, it actually worked. Her mouth shut and she backed into the room, sulky and glowering, but silent.
    “Can I help you?” the guard’s voice echoed down the hall.
    “Yes, we’re looking for two teenage girls,” Dr. Davidoff replied. “We believe they came in here. They’re runaways from a nearby group home. They’re fifteen years old. One’s about five six, short dark hair. The other is five feet, reddish-blond hair.”
    “With red streaks,” Sue added. “Painted red streaks.”
    The guard chuckled. “Sounds like my kid, only hers are blue. Last week they were purple.”
    “Teenagers,” Dr. Davidoff said with a fake laugh. “These two of ours are always slipping away. You know what girls are like. Running off to see their boyfriends and buy new lip gloss. They don’t mean any harm, but we worry about them.”
    “Sure. If I see