Read Barcode: Cavern of Youth for Free Online

uncomfortable.
    “Was it her?”
    “No.”
    “Are you still looking for her?” Dennis’ pinky finger is capable of more than he’s willing to admit. I haven’t mentioned my desire to search and kill Eve once, but he constantly asks me about it. He knows too much.
    “Hey, Dad. I can hear everyone getting off the elevator. The ceremony is about to start.” Dennis pretends to dust lint from his arm, but checks his watch. Instead of leaving, he props himself onto the dirty lab counter.
    Eight male students exit the elevator at the farthest end of the hall, two doors away from the entrance to the prison. They trickle down the corridor. Some are laughing, and others look scared out of their minds.
    Vincent leads them to a large steel door. The destructive crashing sound the garage door makes as he slams it open causes several of the guys to flinch. Malik points at Patrick, laughing at his shrieks.
    The color in my eyes intensifies as I lower the radius of my sight. There’s a particular heartbeat that I occasionally enjoy listening to with limited interruption. Yet, the sound continues approaching me. That’s not a good thing.
    “I know that look,” Dennis announces with a hint of concern prancing around each word.
    “You didn’t say Angie would be here.”
    Carmen’s muscles tense the second she hears the name.
    Dennis shrugs his shoulders casually. “She’s overseeing the Seal of Solomon ceremony. It’s her responsibility to take the power if Vincent dies, though she’s struggling to learn the techniques. But don’t worry, the hood I got you should be good enough to hide behind. She obviously never saw your face.”
    “Dad. She’s climbing the stairs right now.”
    “Why didn’t she take the—”
    “Listen. She can sense blood. She always knew who or what I killed. If she’s within twenty feet, she’ll feel Spencer’s blood on me, and maybe my own.” That really disturbs him. Dennis has taken serious precautions to hide me from Angie more than anyone else because he knows she couldn’t hold a secret to save her life. But this new information is good enough to spook him. “Five seconds.”
    In the time it takes me to blink, Dennis is at the door. I take two steps back as Angie emerges from the stairwell. Twenty feet.
    Her armor has received some amazing upgrades. The gear looks nearly as magnificent as Seth’s previous work. The black skin-tight armor lining her body sticks to her flesh like glue. It travels from her feet to her fingertips. The padding on her arms and legs is broken into sections: biceps, shoulders, forearms, hands, waist, thighs, and calves. Each segment glows with a faint green hue of the computer components shining within the dense padding.
    Dennis leaves the door cracked behind him with Carmen in sight.
    The pitter-patter in Angie’s chest slows. She doesn’t acknowledge Dennis. Instead, she peers over his shoulders at the room behind him. I take one more step back, just in case.
    “Hey,” he says merrily. She doesn’t respond verbally. Her body does the talking. Angie takes an aggressive step forward, but Dennis interrupts her ungoverned advancement by clearing his throat. “You won’t be able to attend the ceremony today. There was a serious accident on the first floor, and I need you to lead the team searching for any students that may be trapped in the rubble.”
    Her chest broadly expands and contracts. Her jawbone becomes visible every few seconds as she clenches her teeth together.
    “Stay with the group clearing the stones away. I’ll inform your father.”
    The fingers on Dennis’ left hand tremble, just out of her sight. I don’t blame him. Angie’s the only person in the world I genuinely fear. I mean, piss-my-pants scared. Because I can’t dream, I consider her my nightmare, though she used to be my best friend.
    Angie slowly reenters the stairwell.
    Dennis drags his feet back into our room. He forces a smile on his face as his hands quiver in his