Chapter 3 - The Unlocked Deadbolt
The heavy brass handle rotated a full ninety degrees, holding suspended in the tense air of the laboratory like a loaded spring. Leo squeezed his eyes shut, his heart hammering against his ribs so hard he feared the intruder could hear it across the room. He tugged desperately at his plastered fists once more, but the dry shell was now completely rigid, anchoring him to the stainless steel table as effectively as iron shackles.
Maya froze mid-stride, the heavy metal wrench still gripped tightly in her right hand. Her eyes darted from the turning handle to the scattered medical charts on the floor, and finally to the dark silhouette visible through the frosted glass panel of the door. The outline belonged neither to a maintenance worker nor an average student; it was tall, broad-shouldered, and wore a heavy canvas trench coat that dragged slightly near the floor.
"Maya? Are you still working late on your anatomy project?" a deep, weary voice called out through the glass.
The tension in the room snapped, replaced instantly by a wave of cold confusion. It wasn't an administrator or a campus security guard. It was Dr. Vance himself.
Maya let out a shaky, expelled breath that sounded half like a laugh and half like a sob. She dropped the wrench onto a rubber mat with a dull thud, running her palms down her dark blue t-shirt to wipe away the damp sweat.
"Dad," Maya called out, her voice pitching slightly higher than normal as she forced a calm cadence into her tone. "Yeah, I'm... I'm still here. Just cleaning up some stray equipment from the lab demo."
"You should have locked the outer corridor door," Dr. Vance replied, his hand jiggling the brass knob again. "The electronic latch has been malfunctioning all evening. I had to use my physical key to get into the building. Open up, honey. I need to grab my notebook before heading home."
Leo shot Maya a look of sheer panic, mouthing frantic syllables of refusal. If Dr. Vance walked in right now and saw a student immobilized in a block of quick-drying construction plaster, there would be no excuses left to invent.
May you like
Maya’s eyes widened with sudden resolve. She grabbed the edge of a heavy canvas lab coat draped over a nearby chair and hurled it directly over Leo’s chest and arms, concealing the white cuffs from view just as the latch clicked open.
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