Obscure

sixty

"The castle isn't much farther away," Tadashi announced. He stared intently at Sophie and Aubrey. "Do either of you remember the route you took to escape?"

Both Sophie and Aubrey shared a look.

"Not exactly," Sophie answered with a grimace. "It was light out when we last ran through here, and not to mention that we were being chased by the Headmaster and his stupid cronies."

Tadashi sported a somewhat annoyed expression. "Alright. We will have to sneak in through the sewers like usual."

"That won't be necessary," Aubrey said, her nose curling with disgust. "I know for a fact that werewolves have a keen sense of smell." Her gaze zeroed in on Tadashi and narrowed. "Our escape route ended somewhere around a small river. All we need to do is find that, and then it shouldn't be hard at all to retrace our steps with your sense of smell. I'm sure it will be easy for you to track our scent."

"It's settled then," the redheaded girl spoke up, glancing uneasily in Tadashi's direction. "Let's move out. We'll have to remain silent from here, lest those blasted bloodsuckers hear us through the walls."

Aubrey scowled at her. "Excuse me, but I happen to be one of those bloodsuckers."

Tadashi grunted. He jumped from the branch, landing atop the crunchy mixture of grass and leaves below. The redhead followed with a heavy sigh. Sophie pursed her lips, taking in Aubrey's lethal expression. The girl looked ready to have a hernia.

"Breathe," Sophie coaxed, patting Aubrey's shoulder.

Aubrey grumbled incoherently under her breath. She seemed to get more and more agitated the closer their group got to the castle. Sophie jumped down, dust exploding around her feet, and waited for her friend. Aubrey jumped down and the quartet darted forward, zig-zagging through a maze of trees. The trees soon opened to allow a slender river to weave through. On the other side was a mixture of forest and massive rock. Tadashi's nose twitched. Without warning, he darted to the left, across the river, and through a small fissure in the side of the cliff.

Sophie's stomach twisted as a very familiar cave engulfed them. Tadashi hesitated and looked back, expression expectant. Aubrey looked around and pursed her lips.

Before anything could be said or done, Sophie started to run.

Her instincts took over and followed a small tugging in her heart. The connection was palpable; it burned and fluttered like butterflies all at the same time, deep inside her chest. The familiar rock wall crumbled away at her touch as she zipped further into the castle, almost immediately finding the Headmaster's laboratory.

A hand shot out and wrenched her to a stop. Sophie whirled, lips curled back into a snarl and her dagger raised. Tadashi stared at her calmly, completely unaffected by her feral expression. His grip tightened on her arm, nails digging into her skin, and then he looked around her. Sophie was pulled to the side of the door, where the others were clustered. Aubrey replaced Tadashi, holding onto Sophie's arm like a child.

Tadashi quietly opened the door. It cracked open, and Tadashi inhaled. Then he took a step inside, gesturing for them to follow. The door was shut softly behind them.

Sophie stared at the sight in front of her, hardly able to comprehend.

The room had been wiped clean. Heavyset stone covered the walls and floors, and the torture chamber had vanished. The various machines and wires had been narrowed down into one massive, cylindrical experiment pod. A small white light illuminated the body within the pod from below.

"E-" A hand clamped over her mouth, and the redheaded hunter glowered at her. The hunter pressed her index finger to her lips and scowled.

Sophie ignored her. She freed herself from the hunter and darted forward. The others immediately tensed behind her, prepared for a trap of some sort. Sophie slowed to a stop in front of the pod and placed a hand on the glass.