The Black Angel [Gratsu]

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

★ Natsu's POV ★

A/N: There's gotta be another way out, I've been stuck in a cage with my doubt...

I woke up to the feeling of something cold.

Eyes still shut, I felt the surroundings around me. My cheek was pressed to the concrete ground, and I had to use all my strength to push myself into a sitting position. My head throbbed incessantly, like I was stuck in the middle of a dance club. I blinked rapidly and rubbed my temples to clear my thoughts, to figure out what was going on. I surveyed the environment, avoiding the light streaming in from the barred window, trying to focus as the room twirled around like a top.

I was in a cage.

The feeling of the cramped space was so familiar, it unnerved me, sending chills down my spine. When you live in a cage for thirteen years, the hard flooring and the iron bars closing you in is hard to shake off, I guess. The fact that I couldn't forget it made it worse.

My heart started beating faster, and my wings snapped out on instinct. They couldn't span out the entire fifteen feet, and they bent against the bars of the cage harshly, making me flinch in pain. I folded them back up, seeing I was too tall to stand up as well. I suddenly felt extremely claustrophobic, and my breath hitched in my throat.

Well, at least the Lab had the courtesy to give me a large cage, not a medium one like the last time I was here, five years ago. At least I had some leg room.

Head throbbing with a headache, I looked right, seeing no one in the cage next to me. My eyes lingered on the cage to my left, and my heart thudded loudly as memories resurfaced. Lisanna, I remembered. I could remember the scene like the back of my hand; she was always locked in the cage to my left. The Angel Experiments were always in numerical order.

I could practically see her shimmering opalescent hair, her soft white wings, and her happy blue eyes. Like the finest porcelain, they always shined brightly, even when they had no reason to. Even when there was no hope left, she managed to find some, no matter how small.

I blinked, and the image of my beaten-up best friend vanished from my vision. Snap out of it, Natsu, I told myself. Focus on the issue here: getting out of this cage, finding Gray, and escaping this hell hole.

I moved towards the edge of the cage, where the padlock keeping me from my freedom was. I knew I had various tools that could pop out of my smartwatch, including a lockpick, but when I felt for it on my wrist, I was disappointed to see it wasn't there. I cursed silently and opted for Plan B, which was thankfully still in the realm of possibility.

I reached in my hoodie pocket, brightening up when I saw the flashlight was still there. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, I unscrewed the bottom and shook out the batteries, the real tool inside. I had to use my pinky finger to shake it loose, but eventually a spring fell out of the tube.

"Jackpot," I whispered.

I stretched out the spring into a thin, straight line, curving the end just slightly. Knowing the flashlight was now useless, I left the empty flashlight and batteries discarded on the floor and moved towards the padlock, working on picking the lock.

I jiggled the wire into the lock, pushing all the components into place. When I heard it unlock, I resisted the urge to cheer out loud. Stuck in a cage for thirteen years, I thought bitterly, And I escape within five minutes.

However, my happiness was short lived, because I barely had time to exit the cage before I heard the voice that made my heart drop to my stomach. "And just what do you think you're doing?"