Chapter Text
“I’m gonna go look for her.”
Slowly, Nova’s brother turned to look at them, eyes squinting wearily. His voice croaked, “ What? ” He knew he had just suffered through a concussion, heart still pounding in his ears, but did he hear them correctly? “What did you say?” he repeated.
Nova swallowed, “I’m going to go look for Sophia.”
The only sound that followed was the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor.
So he wasn’t hearing things then. He sighs, “No, you’re not. That’s stupid.”
“Why not?!”
If Adam had the energy, he’d roll his eyes, instead he takes a calming breath, “Because it’s dangerous.” Gesturing with his hand, he then alluded to himself, “Do you want to end up like me, with a concussion and broken ribs? I’m not exactly having fun here.”
“But Sophia is still trapped in there! You heard what they said, they have reason to believe that the children are STILL alive-”
“You think I don’t know that? ” He suddenly snapped, “You think I don’t want to find my daughter too?! If I wasn’t hooked up to all this crap, I’d be out there looking for her too! They told me I was lucky to have survived the collapse at all.” A waning pause filled the room and Adam breathed shakily, “Look, you don’t need to play hero. That’s the cops’ jobs.”
“They aren’t doing anything though!” Nova argued, “They already said they’re putting the investigation on hold because of some government shit or whatever; So, as always they’re being COMPLETELY useless.”
“Listen to me.” Adam hissed, before lowering his voice to a near whisper, “There’s something… going on in that building. It’s… not what it seems.”
This piqued the younger sibling’s interest. Nova leaned in, copying the other’s secretive demeanor, “Like what?”
Adam paused for a moment. Should he actually tell them or not? After all, he had no concrete evidence, just hearsay and rumors that had circulated between the other teachers during their downtime. Well, it’s not like he was going back to work there, they couldn’t fire him, right? Plus, if he couldn’t stop Nova going, then he could at least try to warn them.
“There’s a lot more to the daycare than it seems. You know those mascots they have out sometimes?”
“Vaguely. I’ve really only seen that tiny… blue… thing. Captain Diddle or something?”
“Fiddles .” Adam corrected, before waving it away, “That’s not important. Anyway, those mascots the handlers let play with the kids… I don’t think they’re animatronics like they told us. They seem too sentient.”
Nova stared, “What, like people in costumes?”
“No, no, something else . I think– and stay with me on this– I think they’re alive .”
“Alive? ” they repeated, “Adam, I think that concussion did more to your head than the doctor thinks. Maybe you need an MRI-”
“I’m serious!” He hissed, then rubbed at his face with his free hand, “Okay listen. In the back office, past the play area, underneath the computer desk, there’s a red button.” he murmured, “It reveals an elevator of sorts that goes down and I mean DEEP down. I found it by accident while looking for supplies.”
Nova cocked their head, obviously puzzled, by their brother’s (possibly insane) ramblings, “But, I thought the building was only one story?”
“Exactly.”
“Sooo, Is it a basement or…?”
“I don’t think so, I couldn’t get a good enough look though,” Adam said, “One of the mascot handlers stopped me before I could investigate. He told me the office was off limits to teachers and daycare workers,” Thoughtfully, he paused, “I think they know more than they let on.”
Suddenly, just as Nova was going to continue their line of curious questioning, a nurse walked in, immediately silencing the two siblings.
“Alright, Mr. Miller,” The nurse began, walking over to Adam’s bedside, “You need to rest, and you-” he looked over at Nova sternly, “Need to leave, so your brother can do just that.”
Nova frowned, but begrudgingly complied and rose from their seat, before flashing their eyes back towards their brother.
“We’ll talk more later, okay? Just please… be careful .” Adam pleaded.
The two then said their hasty farewells while the irritable nurse watched them both closely and impatiently. As the door closed behind Nova, their mind began to race with the interesting conversation they just had. Mindlessly, they began walking down the hall and towards the exit, plotting silently in their head. One way or another, they were going to find their niece and rescue her at all costs, and no human or “mascot” was going to stop them.
Once outside the hospital building, they stopped and craned their head upwards, where Adam rested and recovered in his room. Nova took a small breath, sighing softly through their lips, “Forgive me, Adam,” they muttered to themself, “I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can.”