Crowned [Sequel to Turned]

14: The Unlocking of Hearts and Cages

The metal cuffs around Whittaker's wrists broke with a loud snap, sending shattered pieces of subzero metal flying. The shrapnel made loud tangs and twangs as it bounced along the rough concrete floor. She stood there, frozen for a few moments. With all the noise she had just created, she was certain guards would rush into her cell. Her icy blue eyes locked onto the cell door, where she expected the guards to start pouring into the small concrete cell. But, to her great relief, there were no guards in sight. Whittaker allowed herself a small smile as she hurried over to the metal bars of her cell door.

Breaking the cuffs had taken her longer than she would have liked. Getting the metal cold wasn't the hard part, the hard part was breaking the cuffs off. At first she had tried just pulling down repeatedly on the cold cuffs, which did not seem to work. Then she tried freezing the cuffs more and coating them in frost to keep the cold, which didn't seem to help. Finally, she figured out she had to bang the cuffs into the concrete wall behind her. After a few good swings, the cuffs shattered like glass.

The first part of her escape plan worked, but now she had to unlock the cell door. This was the easier part of her plan. She slipped her hands between the metal bars and placed her hands over the lock. Freezing and shatter the lock would take to long, and she didn't have a key, so she would simply make herself a key. Ice spread from her hands into the lock and after a moment or two, she was able to turn the key of ice and watch the cell door swing open.

She smiled and stepped outside of the cell. "Now all I gotta do is find Cole." Whittaker said to herself and turned to hurry down the hall on her left, only to see a group of three guards. The guards had just rounded a corner and entered into that hall way, about forty yards away. Upon seeing her they began to charge towards her.

"Hey! We have a prisoner escaping!!" One of the guards shouted, and she could suddenly hear several more pairs of charging footsteps. All their armor was clinking as they ran, their silvery swords and shields glinted as they reflected what little light was in the hall.

Whittaker blinked and then spun on her heels to run the opposite direction of the guards. Their noisy charge was growing ever closer. She couldn't outrun vampires... But she could out fly them.

With sudden determination, she sprinted forwards with new vigor, skipping from one foot to the next before finally jumping off the ground with both feet. Neither of her feet touched the ground again as she soared through the air, only about five feet off the ground and gaining speed. The gap between her and the guards grew exponentially as she sped down the hall.

Now all she had to do was find Cole and leave place.

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Nocturne tapped the arm of his chair, or throne actually. His throne was made of real silver and fine black velvet, accented with blood red rubies around the edges. It was a masterpiece, and had been with his family for generations. Nocturne lifted his gaze to look at the small boy who sat against the right wall.

The boy had short brown hair and wore a simple blue shirt and tan cargo shorts. The boy's white sneakers looked like they had seen better days though. The sneakers were filthy, with a hole or two in them and fraying laces. In fact, the boys shorts were fraying slightly at the edges and his shirt had a hole in its sleeve.

Nocturne contimplated the sight a moment and slowly began to frown as he noticed the boys long face. The skin around the boy's eyes were red and puffy from crying. His bottom lip wobbled slightly, as if he might burst into sobs a second time. The part that bothered Nocturne the most was the boy's sad, deep crystalline blue eyes. The boy refused to meet Nocturne's gaze and stared at the ground, hugging his knees tightly to his chest.