Read Online I Am Phantom by Sean Fletcher - Free Book Online

shoved me back through the now open doors to
the treatment area. I slipped on the ground and smashed my elbow against the
floor. From somewhere way ahead of me I heard Cody say, “Drake! Where’d you
go?”
    I
scrambled on my hands and knees but only managed to slam my head against the
wall. Hard. The darkness was impenetrable. And the lack of windows wasn’t
helping. Cody’s voice was growing more faint as if the whole tour group moved
away, back towards the front.
    I
stood and tried to orient myself, but things had gotten so quiet now I wasn’t
sure if they were still there. The wall ended at another set of electronic
sliding doors, open just a bit. I couldn’t tell if they were the ones I had
come through or not. Obviously they were useless now with the generators off so
it was easy to pull them open and slip through.
    It
was even darker, if that was possible. I moved painfully slow, partly to make
sure I didn’t hit my head and partly because any second I expected a pair of
arms to shoot out of the shadows and strangle me. That last thought was a real
downer.
    My
feet caught something and nearly tripped me up. I bent down and picked up a
flashlight and swept the powerful beam around me. Now, where was Sykes being
held?
      The place was deathly silent. That
creeped me out. You’d think there’d be somebody back here, like some doctors or
orderlies.
    I
passed through a treatment area. At least I think it was. It looked like a
hospital, with clean white beds held in rows on each wall. Dollies were
stationed in each corner. I couldn’t help noticing the arm and leg straps on
the side.
    “Aghh!”
    My
flashlight beam passed over another door in the direction the scream had come
from. I carefully pushed the door open and waded into the blackness. I didn’t
hear the scream again, but there were howls and dull thumps echoing up and down
the hallway, like somebody beating their head against the walls. I couldn’t see
farther than ten feet. It would be all too easy to sneak up on me.
    I
saw a guard lying unconscious, or dead, in front of me.
    Blood
caked his head and stained his uniform but he was breathing. His injury looked
superficial. I rolled him onto his back to get a better look.
    The
swirling air was my only warning.
    My
instincts took over. A chair, or part of a chair, maybe a leg, clubbed the
ground with a splintery CRACK where I had been crouched a moment before. I
swung the flashlight around and blinded a man holding another chair above his
head. He let out a startled yell and shielded his eyes. The number 1146 was
stitched on his orange jumpsuit.
    It
took him two seconds to recover, spin on me and screech like a brightly colored
banshee.
    I
did the manliest thing I could think of: ran the other way.
    I
heard him stumbling after me. The hallway in front of me was clear and I
flicked off the flashlight so the most he could do was bump off the walls
behind me. At least I was leading him away from the hurt guard.
      Since it was so dark I had no idea how
far I ran. I think the building was a semi circle because I took a lot of right
turns. I passed another treatment room and finally stopped when I was sure I
was far enough away.
    I
heard footsteps through a door to my left. I turned the flashlight on and
peeked inside. It was a small room with a single barred cage at the other end.
There was a man inside the cage. This room seemed much more prison-like than
anything I had seen so far.
    “Hey!”
the man said. “You with the flashlight, get over here!” I hesitated. The man
was obviously a patient, and I didn’t have time to mess with him. I needed to
find Sykes and—
    “Sykes
escaped!” I froze, then turned back and shined the flashlight into the cell. It
was an orderly, his white uniform practically glowing under my light. “Get that
out of my face, idiot! And get me out of here.”
    “I’m
looking for Sykes.”
    “What
are you doing back here?” He seemed to reconsider. “Whatever, just get me