Seven

"Jesus Alexa you had her hit you?" Paige gawked.

I picked at my lunch. "It was the only thing I could think of."

She shook her head. "You're dedicated, I'll give you that."

"I just want to know what's really going on."

"Why?"

I looked up. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "I just wanna know why. I mean, you're obviously not interested in taking the drug, so what's with the curiosity."

"Um because it could kill someone?"

"And it won't be you, so what's the problem?"

I rolled my eyes. "That's not the point."

"Is it because you think Melissa is taking it?"

"What?" I blurted.

"You know what I'm talking about," she insinuated. "I've felt the weird tension between you two since the first day."

"It's not sexual tension, if that's what you're hinting at."

She raised her brow. "You don't like her?"

"Not even a little bit."

"Why?"

Paige had honestly been nothing but patient with me. I mean, I knew so much about her and yet she still didn't know how I even ended up here. I felt kind of bad. But then the trauma from my past resurfaced and I knew I would regret opening up to her.

"It's just a really long story that I'm not sure I'm even supposed to tell anyone," I confessed.

She rested her head on her arm. "Alexa Cortez; the girl who literally reveals nothing."

"It's what keeps me interesting," I teased.

"Oh I bet," she joked. "I guess I'd just like to know a little about the person I've been rooming with for a month."

I stood from my seat. "The only reason I ended up here is because of my little sister, Anna."

At the bit of information, she just smiled. "So you're a badass older sister. Cool."

"I guess you can say that." I picked up my tray. "Gotta go change this bandage. I'll see you later."

I left the cafeteria and headed over to the infirmary with high hopes that I would get there before the shift change.

I walked in and looked for the familiar faces but spotted none. It looked like all new staff.

"Can I help you?" I heard from behind the desk.

A man stood and leaned on the desk with a smile.

I pointed to my head. "Yeah, I need this bandage changed."

He nodded. "I can do that."

We took our place in the room as he gently removed the bandage. I studied him as he worked and wondered why he came off different than the other nurses. Was he the one that was administering the steroid?

"Just out of curiosity... What time does this place close?"

He gave me an odd look.

"With everything that's been going on, I just wanna know what would happen if someone needed medical attention late at night," I lied.

His suspicion eased. "Well, we lock up at eight, but the nurses live on campus for the duration of the training session. So if anything did happen, we would be called."

"Oh okay."

"Why?" He finished cleaning my wound. "Are you worried something might happen?"

I sighed. "Well with that guy having a seizure... you just never know."

He replaced the bandage. "I'm always on grounds no matter the time."

My eyes snapped up and met his. He just gave me a small smile but my gut was telling me something...

He pulled back. "You're good to go. I think after twenty-four hours you can let the wound breathe. It should heal just fine."

I stood from the bed. "Thanks again."

He nodded and removed his gloves. That's when I caught sight of his ID card. It read, M. Diaz.

"Diaz?" I asked, which grabbed his attention. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Marco, would it?"

He smiled. "No, it's Michael."

I threw a fake smile. "Well I was close."

He threw the used bandage and gloves into a waste basket before opening the door. "That you were."

I followed him out of the room but a plan had already formulated in my head, and I needed to act now.

I stopped him. "Is there a bathroom here?"

He pointed down the hall. "It'll be on your left."

I waved myself off and paced down the hall as I went over the plan in my head. When I walked into the bathroom I locked the door behind me.

I scanned the windows on the wall and wondered if I would be able to fit. It seemed wide enough. I just needed to prop it open.

I found a trash can in the corner, took the bag out and flipped it over. Then I climbed up and unlatched the lock on the window to push it open. I smiled to myself. Perfect.

I hopped down from thetrash can and put everything back the way it had been before. Then I left thebathroom in a hurry. Now I just needed to ask Melissa for help, again. I hopedshe was feeling generous.

* * *

"What do you mean, you need help breaking into the infirmary?" Melissa fumed.

"Well I don't necessarily need help breaking into the infirmary, just the file cabinet in the infirmary," I confessed.

"You've lost your mind."

"No, I haven't."

She looked over her shoulder. "You're suddenly talking to me like you don't hate me. Yes, you have."

I rolled my eyes. "Like I said before, I'm over my old grudges."

"Yeah, and the sky is green."

Okay, maybe my act hadn't been as convincing as I had thought.

"Are you gonna help me or not?" I huffed.

"What do you even plan on doing with the information?" she asked.

I paused as she studied my reaction. Did she know I had a line of communication? Did she have one too? Should I tell her?

"I don't know yet," I lied. "But I'm not just gonna sit around while this shit spreads like wildfire."

She folded her arms. "And why are you asking me for help? Isn't Paige your go-to girl now?"

Momentarily, I wondered if Melissa was jealous that I had formed another decent relationship with someone else. I concluded that the idea sounded absurd.

"I don't want to get her in trouble," I said.

"And you don't really care on my behalf," Melissa jabbed.

"We were criminals before this, Melissa," I stated. "Deep down we'll always be. That's why I'm asking you."

At this her eyes fell from mine and her hard exterior softened. Maybe I had just sold her on the gig.

"Fine," she agreed. "I'll help."

"Meet me in the washroom at eleven," I ordered.

"Sure," she said before she left the dining hall.

I realized I had barely touched my dinner so I continued to eat and try to look like I wasn't up to something. I felt exposed here. Like someone knew my plan. But that could very well be the trauma from being back-stabbed by Melissa.

Yet, here I was, working with her.

I finished eating and went back to the dorms as the danger of what I was about to do sank it. If I was caught I was positive I would be kicked out of camp. That was a given. And then what would I tell Chapman? Or my sister? Was this all worth it?

Deep down, it felt like it was. I felt like I should get involved, and that if anyone was going to take the time to help, it would be me.

The only problem was keeping the cellphone thing from Melissa. I may have been working with her, but I didn't trust her at all.

I lied in my bed and stared up at the ceiling. I was restless, but I couldn't wake Paige. I didn't feel like lying to her. So when eleven came I would attempt to sneak out as quietly as possible.

I watched the clock until it read, 10:56. I couldn't wait any longer. If I didn't move soon I would combust from stress.

I moved slowly from the bed and positioned the pillows to look like I was still sleeping. Then I left the room.

When I made it to the washroom, Melissa was already there waiting.

"So what's the plan?" she wondered.

I walked to the window and flipped the latch. "We're going out through here."

She didn't protest and followed me out into the night. I had never been outside the dorms this late, but it was nearly pitch black.

"Jesus, I can barely see you," she complained.

"Be quiet," I ordered.

I could practically hear her eyes roll to the next universe.

I led her beneath the window I had opened earlier.

"I need you to lift me," I claimed.

She took position and laced her hands together. I place one foot in her palms and reached for the window as she lifted me.

I grabbed the ledge and found it easier to guide myself into the window with my newly developed strength. I hung over and reached out my hand.

"You might need a running start," I advised.

She took a few steps back and ran. Her right leg catapulted her up and her hand gripped mine. I pulled her up and inside.

She released a heavy breath. "That was smart of you to crack the window."

I found myself appreciating the comment.

With that we exited the bathroom and made our way to the main lobby of the infirmary.

"So now what?" Melissa asked.

I had her follow me to the file cabinet. "I need you to open this."

She knelt and inspected the lock. Then she looked up at me with an annoyed expressed.

"And how am I supposed to do that without tools?"

"You're a criminal," I accused. "Adapt."

She stood and looked around the office. She then grabbed a pen cup sitting on the desk and cyphered through them.

She picked one and pulled the metal clip from the cap, bending the edge to satisfy her needs. Then she found a paper clip and straightened one edge.

She knelt again and got to work, using the pen clip to hold the lever while the paper clip pushed down the pins inside. To be honest, the visual brought me back to the time when I had used to liked her.

Then the cabinet opened.

She stared at the files. "What are we looking for?"

"I don't know," I said. "Something. Anything suspicious, really."

We dug through the folders and I stumbled upon the employee list for the infirmary. I remembered the man that had changed my bandage today. Michael Diaz.

I scanned the list and searched for his name, but for some reason, it wasn't there.

Well, that was strange.

"Anything?" Melissa asked.

"Yeah, the nurse that changed my bandage today," I started. "His name isn't on here."

Melissa shrugged. "Maybe he's not on the payroll?"

"Then why is he here?"

The questioned seemed to stump Melissa.

We kept fishing but I spotted this man's name nowhere in any of the files. If this man technically didn't exist, here at camp, then why he was here administering a drug off the records?

I looked at Melissa. "Do you know if Stacy and Justin pay to take this drug?"

"No." She looked at the file in my hands. "None of us came here with any money. How could they?"

I shook my head. "No one would give away something like this for free, right?"

"I did hear Stacy and Justin talking about it once," she said. "She said something about 'It's still being tested'."

"So they're acting as... test subjects?"

She just shrugged.

That's when we heard a door open in the distance. Melissa gave me a worried look as she scrambled to shut off the lamp. I quietly closed the file cabinet and pulled her around the corner.

I could hear footsteps so I held my breath.

"I hate you so much right now," Melissa whispered.

"Shut up," I ordered.

"I swear if we get caught-"

My hand slapped over her mouth as the footsteps grew closer. I peeked around the corner and saw the cap less pen on the desk. My heart sank.

I pressed my head back against the wall and tried to control my breathing. Melissa was trying to do the same.

"You think it will be enough?" One voice asked.

"Plenty," the other answered.

I recognized the voice. It was nurse Diaz.

I peeked my head around the corner. Diaz was inspecting the pen that sat on the desk. Oh God, he knew something was up. He knew we were here. Then his head snapped up and I pulled my face away from his view.

Everything was quiet. Then I heard something being set on the desk.

"We should save these. Don't want the other nurses confusing this with actual medicine," Diaz stated.

I shoved Melissa and pointed to go back towards the bathroom.

We moved quickly towards safety and tried to stay quiet. God, why would they choose to restock tonight? Of all nights?

I gently closed the bathroom door and pressed my ear against it. That's when I heard them go into another room. It must've been the storage closet.

I faced Melissa. "We need to go."

"Really? I was just getting comfortable," she replied cynically.

We made it to the window and left into the night. There were questions swarming my mind but still no answers.

Someone was here, distributing unauthorized steroids to trainees, who wasn't even an employee. How had he gotten here? And was his motive only to test out this new steroid on us? Or could there be something else?

I couldn't make sense of it even after finding out more information.

"So is your curiosity finally satisfied?" Melissa wondered.

"Not at all," I answered. "If anything, I'm just more confused."

"Just give it up, Alexa," she advised. "Stuff like this happens all the time. And you're gonna get yourself kicked out if you don't."

"Why are you so concerned about me getting kicked out?"

We stood under the bathroom window we had snuck out of. I allowed my attention to fall onto her as I waited for an answer.

She shook her head. "Because after everything you went through to get here, why would you try to fuck it up?"

I squinted through the dark. "That's my decision, Melissa."

"Your decisions don't just affect you anymore," she confessed.

What did she mean by that? Sure, I had included her but she didn't have to agree to help me. Now that I thought about it, why had she agreed?

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

She hesitated. I could see the words on her tongue, but she held back.

"Nothing," she finished.

I didn't want to press her because I didn't want to seem like I cared. But I knew after everything we had gone through I still didn't know her side of the story. She was probably still dying to tell me.

"Come on." She broke the silence. "I'm exhausted."

We made our way back into the dorms and went our separate ways, but when I shut the door behind, I turned to see Paige watching me from her bed.

"Where did you go?" she asked.

I sat on my bed. "I went to the bathroom."

"For thirty minutes?"

I could see her curious expression, but she didn't seem upset.

"I snuck into the infirmary," I admitted.

"What?"

"Yeah, and I found out there's a nurse that's not even on the payroll. He's the one distributing the steroid, but I just don't get why."

"Wow." She just stared at me. "That is pretty weird."

"Yeah, so I'm at another dead end," I finished.

"No one saw you, right?"

I shook my head. "No."

I watched her think. Her messy blonde hair fell over her shoulders as her head tilted.

Then her head snapped up. "Do you think this is an inside job?"

I thought about someone in the NIA or GIB agreeing to test out some experimental steroid, but why? Was it to help create stronger agents? It didn't quite make sense.

"I don't think so," I said. "I think it's something else."

"Like?"

"I don't know."

She gave me one last look before lying back down. "Well, I think you're on the right track."

I faced her.

"I think it's a brave move," she said.

I smiled. "So you don't think it's stupid that I'm getting myself involved?"

She shrugged. "This is what we want to do for the rest of our lives anyway, right?"

Well, she had a point there.

I just gave her one last"right" and shut my eyes. Tomorrow I would text Chapman to finallylet him know what I had found out. And hopefully he wasn't involved in thismess like Paige had suggested.

* * *

I woke and attended my first half of classes. For lunch, I ate quickly and escaped back to my dorm. I was eager to talk to Chapman. And deep down I was hoping he had some news on Victoria considering I had yet to hear from him since I got here.

I grabbed the cellphone and turned it on. Should I leave with it? My gut was telling me to do so. And ever since the night I had gotten arrested, I had never ignored my gut. Even if it felt like a bad decision. And every time I listened, it ended up saving my ass.

I put the phone on silent and tucked it in the waist of my pants. My loose t-shirt covered it, and I decided to head to the library.

Once I made it I grabbed a book and found a secluded corner. I propped myself against the bookshelf in a sitting position and pretended to read. When I checked my messages there was nothing from Chapman.

I sighed and began typing:

"I have some news.

I'm unsure if you've heard, but a trainee had a seizure a few days ago. I think it was a result of steroid usage. There's something that's been going around camp for a few weeks now, and I know of three people that have used it. But I believe there's more.

I also found out how it's getting in here.

There's a nurse. He goes by Michael Diaz, but there's no documentation for him anywhere. I caught him bringing in another shipment last night.

I'm afraid this stuff is more dangerous than it seems. Get back to me ASAP."

I hit send and decided to hang out in the library for the rest of lunch. Hopefully Chapman could get back to me in a decent amount of time. I felt like this was an urgent enough situation.

But after about ten minutes, a voice came through the intercom.

"All trainees are to report to their dormitories at once."

My guilty conscience began to tremble. Melissa and I hadn't been seen last night, had we? Nothing had been left out of place, so this couldn't be about us.

I turned off my phone and tucked it back into my waist line. There was a bad feeling in my stomach but tried not to think too much on it.

Once I made it to the female dorms I was directed to stand outside my own room. Paige was already there waiting.

I stood next to her. "What's going on?"

"Apparently someone stole some stuff from the infirmary," she informed. "It's on lockdown. They're searching our dorms."

I looked up and spotted Melissa down the hall looking nervous. Honestly, I was too. Luckily the only thing I had to hide was pressed against my stomach.

The nurses filed into the building and headed into our dorms. Two in each. I watched the female nurse I had spoken to the first time I had gone and wondered if she would suspect me.

That's when the eyes of nurse Diaz locked with mine. The look he gave me cause my stomach to twist and turn. Was he trying to send me a message?

My heart pounded in my chest as he disappeared into my room.

I had a feeling there was something awful going on, but what? He hadn't seen me last night. There was no way. But had he felt I was a little too curious for my own good the day he replaced my bandage?

Before I knew it the two nurses exited my room and continued their search elsewhere. Was it true that someone had snuck into the infirmary after Melissa and I last night and stolen something important? Or had it been before we had gotten there? And what had they stolen in the first place for it to be noticeable?

The search ended empty handed but I could tell this wasn't the end of it. Not yet. Not until they found what they were looking for.

But when Paige and I re-entered our room, there was a gift on our nightstand.

A syringe. A syringe with something in it. And it was sitting on top of a note.

Paige picked it up and read it aloud. "Want to know what all the fuss is about? Why don't you just try me."

I inspected the syringe but Paige took it from my hands.

"We need to get rid of this," she demanded.

"You don't think he knows we've been-?"

"He knows," she panicked. "He has too."

We just looked at each other but neither of us knew what to say. Was this a passive aggressive attempt at threatening us into silence? Because it sure felt like one.

"Maybe this is him saying to stop looking," Paige suggested.

"Maybe," I agreed. "But it still isn't enough. Not for me."

"I don't know Alexa..."

"Paige, if you don't wanna be a part of this I would understand," I comforted. "It's dangerous. And I wouldn't want you to get kicked out of here because of me."

Her gaze held mine for a minute, and then she shook her head.

"I'm not letting you go into this alone," she claimed. "This guy gives me a bad feeling."

I nodded. "Same here."

She sighed. "So how are you gonna stop him?"

I shifted and felt the phone in the waist band of my pants. I couldn't tell Paige about Chapman. I couldn't even trust her with that kind of secret.

I shrugged. "I don't know yet. But I know there has to be a way to get him caught."

"We can think on it," she said. "But not too long. I'm scared someone else is gonna get hurt using this stuff."

I stared at the syringe on the side table and thought the same thing. We needed to figure out how to get rid of this guy.

And we needed to do itfast.