![]() ![]() Every nerve in my body buzzed with anticipation. The door hissed as it slid open, and I was greeted by the stale scent of filtered air. ![]() I punched in the required six digits, the buttons beeping in response. Four years ago, when I first broke into the lab, it took me only a week to figure out the right combination. For someone who worked for a clandestine company, Dad had never been cautious with his codes. The stairs ended in a small annex, where a keypad had been installed in the wall, the buttons glowing in the dark. I'd long ago mapped the creaky floorboards in the hallway, and I skipped over them now, pushing through the living room and the kitchen, taking the stairs down to the basement two at a time. But seeing the boys with permission wasn't the same-wasn't as thrilling-as sneaking down there in the dark. ![]() Moonlight crept through the window, the shadows from the maple trees sliding this way and that.ĭad had asked for my help in the lab eight months earlier, so I could go downstairs anytime I wanted now. ![]() I sat on the edge of my bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes, bare feet rooted to the hardwood floor. And while I no longer needed to wake at midnight in order to visit the boys, my internal clock was still fully tuned to the schedule. But that didn't stop me from sneaking down there. FOR MOST OF THE LAST FOUR YEARS, I wasn't allowed in the lab. ![]()
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