Sleep didn't last as long as Alex had hoped. Her eyes flickered wide open in the middle of the night. Something put her on edge—made her dreams full of terrors. At least it hadn't been that dream.

She held a hand up in front of her to confirm it wasn't a familiar image. No, it had been a different nightmare.

The bed creaked as she rolled over to her side.

Maybe if I force myself back to sleep. How would a person even do that?

A tight feeling in her chest grew until she had to distract herself. Staying in one spot would only make her spiral into a certain anxiety-ridden spell.

Quietly, Alex walked to the door. She had to get out of there. The safety of her room had turned into a prison cell. Her thoughts were turning against her, and even her dreams were being attacked.

She opened the door and instantly met relief. It felt like a weight tumbled off her and she could finally breathe.

Her eyes closed and opened a few times to adjust to an unfamiliar sight. There was a light at the end of the hallway.

"I suppose a light at the end of a hallway differs from a tunnel," Alex whispered to herself.

All the other doors were closed. Maybe the others were awake, but it didn't seem like they were as restless as she was if they were. Her head turned back toward the light. It was almost like someone had another door open somewhere and left the light on.

She didn't want to risk causing a fuss by opening a door to one of the other rooms. If someone else was awake, her presence may encourage them to make a scene. Especially Cicero. Alex would have to find a way to keep her mind from spiraling on her own.

The carpet was springy under her bare feet as she cautiously stepped out into the hallway.

Somehow, the atmosphere of the bunker was different at night. Maybe it was the vaguely familiar feeling of walking barefoot on a recently cleaned floor, or that it was mysterious. Either way, Alex didn't feel as unsettled as she did when they first arrived. It didn't feel likely that some villain was going to pop out and try to murder her.

Curiosity tugged her down the twists and turns until she found the source of the light.

"Don't you sleep?" Alex's voice sounded hoarse as she tried to maintain a low but audible volume. She cleared her throat, realizing how odd she must have sounded. Her shoulder brushed the doorframe; she was unsure if she wanted to enter the room or not.

Edric was sitting at a bar. He turned and regarded her with a raised brow. "Don't you?"

How odd, Alex thought, looking curiously at the shelves of alcohol behind the counter.

There were tables and chairs throughout the room, set-up like someone had recently cleaned. A pool table sat against the far wall. She had never seen one in person; they were a rare find in the cities.

Alex stepped foot in the room, looking down unsuspectingly at the hardwood floor. It seemed so old. Floorboards creaked with her weight as she tested the realness of them.

Her eyes darted to vintage posters and fluorescent signs on the wall. Old rock music played from a jukebox; the object was just as brightly colored as the signs flashing above it.

She couldn't help but lean back out of the room, looking for something to explain how she felt like she'd just stepped through time. The room itself was unmarked. If the door had been closed, she would have never guessed what was on the other side.

"Are you done?" Edric asked.

"With what?" Alex's attention turned back to the man sitting at the bar. Edric motioned over at her with a mug in his hand. She noticed it was nearly empty.

"With that." He tapped a burning cigarette on an ashtray and finished the rest of his drink. "You're making me feel uneasy."

"Sorry," Alex blurted out.

She walked into the room and made her way over to the bar. The seat spun around as she sat down, squeaking a bit as it took her in a complete circle before stopping.

Alex reached for the bottle of whiskey Edric had set aside. Before her hand even reached it, he pulled the bottle closer to him.

"You're hardly old enough to drink this," he commented, pouring more into his empty glass. "Besides, I think your Keeper would probably try to kill me if I let you get drunk."

"The age limit is eighteen now in case you don't catch up with the times under this rock of yours. Besides, I'm almost twenty-one," Alex defended herself. "And with the day I've had, I don't see the harm in it."

Edric looked at her, appearing to consider what she said. He rubbed a hand across the stubble on his chin and set his cigarette down on the ashtray. With a graceful leap, he cleared the counter and pulled another bottle off the shelves.

"If you're going to have something to drink, you should know I don't share the whiskey." He grabbed an empty glass from below the counter and set it in front of her.

She couldn't help but laugh. How peculiar it was. They were pretty much complete strangers, but it felt like they were friends. She didn't even feel compelled to ask him a ton of questions like she had when they arrived. At that moment, all she wanted was to forget the complete mess they were in. It seemed like Edric would have agreed.

Alex took a moment to admire the dark liquid in the glass. She could only imagine Cicero's reaction to her drinking. He would probably go on a tangent about how disappointed he was in her. Blah, blah, blah. It didn't matter, anyway.

The drink was sweet, but burned as it went down her throat. She set the glass back down with a cough and covered her mouth with the back of her hand.

A smile crossed Edric's face as he laughed at her reaction. He leaned forward on to the bar with his hands.

"I didn't think you could laugh," Alex managed out through another cough.

"Only when people think they're tougher than they are." He hopped back over the counter and motioned for Alex to follow him. "I want to show you something."

She was skeptical about leaving the room, but she had a gut-feeling that Edric wouldn't lead her to any trouble. If he wanted to cause harm, he would have done it long ago. Hesitantly, she stood from the chair and followed Edric from the room.

They walked silently down the hall, leaving behind the light of the bar.

"Is this the part where I'm murdered and my friends will say how stupid I was to follow you?" Alex questioned, fidgeting her hands uneasily.

Edric chuckled.

She looked closely to see if he was going for a weapon, or changing his posture at all. He remained confident, if a little wobbly, in his walk.

"If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to bring you here. Just stop with the questions already," Edric said over his shoulder. He turned back around and continued on.

Another minute passed before Edric finally halted in front of a door. Dim shadows danced on the wall from the light behind them. Alex couldn't make out any markings or numbers, just like the room with the bar.

"The doors themselves open at the slightest touch, but the rooms would be empty without some adjustments first," Edric explained, though his words went over Alex's head.

Edric pressed his index finger on the wall beside the door, and immediately a panel appeared as if from nowhere. Without pausing, he navigated through a multitude of small and unrecognizable symbols. Alex squinted to make out what he was doing, but before she could process anything, the door opened.