Fractured by N.O Darling

Chapter 296

**Luke’s POV**

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Brent givesa tout, which takes only a few minutes. There is a communal type area with dirty pillows on the

floor and makeshift tables made out of wooden pallets. Brent tellsbreakfast will be served here in the

morning. There are stacks of board games and playing cards on a pallet in the corner and another pallet is full of

packaged paper plates, plastic cups and cutlery. There are large bottles of water that look like they have been

refilled many times, the plastic warped and dirty.

“I don’t suppose there’s a bathroom, is there?” | ask, trying not to show my disappointment at their living

conditions.

“There's one around here somewhere,” Brent says, leadingdown another mud tunnel. “Here, we move it

every few days for obvious reasons. You can always tell which one is a toilet by the colour of the curtain. If it's

one of these blue ones, it’s a toilet,” he says, holding back a curtain to reveal a literal hole in the ground. I fight

the urge to wrinkle my nose in disgust.

“What about washing facilities?”

“We have daily trips up to one of the gyms or leisure centers, we have people working in them that can let us in

to shower. I'll make sure someone takes you tomorrow. We also have fresh clothes brought down daily. You can

leave your dirty clothes in the corner of the communal area, and they will be taken to the laundrette and

returned. | can’t guarantee someone won't take them though. It’s a bit of a free-for-all with the clothes,” he

shrugs.

“That's fine. Thank you. It's quite the set-up you have here,”

“We are constantly on the move, so we don’t have anything permanent, but it works. Get ssleep, I'll

probably see you in the morning,” he says before porting out.

After Brent leaves, | debate my options. Should | go back to Robert or search for Harper? I'm sure there won't

just be teens down here. They will have someone here keeping them under control, because there's no way a

group of teens would follow a set bedtroutine without it being enforced. Whoever is watching the teens has

most likely been told to keep an eye onand Robert too.

| make my way back to Robert, peeking my head in to checkon him. He is curled up on his side, snoring softly. |

step back, looking down the tunnel. | can see multiple curtains covering the entranceways to more rooms.

Harper could be so close, right behind any one of these curtains. | wish | could just call out to her, but that is the

worst idea.

| check my bond link. They're all still awake and anxious.

“I've been taken to sunderground tunnel system. It’s like Cornelius‘ hideout, but on a much larger scale.

They are living underground in burrows like rabbits. The whole place is silent, but the guy who broughthere

said this place is full of teens. I'm going to start searching the rooms, but this place is like a maze,” | say into the

mind link.

“So we were right about them possibly being underground, Deacon says.

“Yes, we had no chance of finding them,” | confirm. “I have another lead for you to check out. They are using

gyms and leisure centers to shower. They have people worlding there to let them in, so you might want to get

ssurveillance set up on any that are near the locations we found evidence in.”

“Good work, Luke. I'll let Raff know and get something setup to monitor them,” D responds.

“Okay, Robert is still sleeping, so I'm searching alone for now. I'll update you when | can.”

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Chapter 276

“Be careful, don’t get yourself caught snooping around in there,” Mason warns.

“I won't,” | reassure.

“Luke, I'm so proud of you, and I love you,” Josie says.

“I love you too, Sweetness, I'll be back with you soon, | promise,” | tell her before closing down the link.

I very slowly pull back the curtain of the first room | cto. It's the sas the one Robert and | have been

assigned, and this one has two boys sleeping in it. It’s difficult to see them clearly in the dim light, but I'm almost

certain neither of them are Archie or Dillon.

| back out and make my way deeper into the tunnel. The stale air seems to becthicker with every step | take

and the smell of the damp earth intensifies. The next room seems to be a storage space. Crates are stacked up, |

don’t stop to check their contents.

| move further into the warren with practised stealth. The tunnel splits into two and | go left. My footsteps are

almost silent, muffled by the soft dirt beneath me. This section seems new, the floor is not well-trodden like the

ground near my room.

| check behind each curtain as | pass. None of them are people | recognise, but with the lack of light and sof

them having their heads under the blankets, | can’t be 100% sure. | won't risk waking them to find out though.

Who are you?” a boy demands, sitting up when pull back the curtain to the next room on my search.

“Sorry, wrong room,” | whisper, before quickly backing out

There seem to only be boys here. Maybe the females are kept in a separate location? | backtrack, deciding to

check the other tunnel and as | make my way down it. | find two sleeping girls in the first room, but neither of

them is Harper. Encouraged that I'm headed in the right direction. | pick up my pace, searching two more rooms

before | hear muffled voices up ahead.

| pause, holding my breath to listen intently to the voices that are coming closer. | glance around, | can either

port back to my room or find a place to hide. | spot a blue curtain up ahead and pray no one is using this toilet as

| dart behind the curtain.

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