Antidote

Chapter 42

Zoe approaches the door cautiously. Instead of busting it down without a thought like she did to the others, she eases it open a crack, as far as it will go with the chain on, to peer inside. I put my ear up to the wood, listening for voices. There aren't any, but I can hear a faint moaning coming from the other side. Zoe pulls back and looks at me with wide eyes, so I know she's heard it too.

Cautiously, Zoe puts a hand to the door and breaks it down quietly. Well, I shouldn't say quietly, because it's impossible to break a door down quietly, but she does it quieter than the others. We enter the room, looking around for the chair, but the room is completely empty.

Another moan sounds, and resonates through the chamber. "Where is that coming from?" Zoe asks, running a hand through her hair in frustration. Carefully, I inspect all of the walls, tapping them lightly and pressing on small sections. Despite these secret-angent-ish actions, I still can't find a door or a spring or anything that would lead to a secret room.

Another moan floats around the dungeon, and this time I recognize the muffled sound. It's Tristan!

I grab Zoe, telling her urgently that I know who it is. We walk back and forth across the floor, trying to find a hidden spring or a section that sounds hollow. We find nothing.

Then, we hear a wail. The sound of it sends shivers down my spine. It's almost animalistic, that cry. It came out as a growl and a scream all at once. Zoe shivers unconsciously, and goosebumps rise on our skin. The wail comes again, and I listen to the direction of it this time. It seems to be coming from right below us.

I work my fingers over the floorboards, tracing their shape. I feel a small difference and trace that. When I'm finished, I can barely see the faint outline of a trap door. Gesturing, I alert Zoe to the door's presence, and together we pull it up.

Swarming down the steps like S.W.A.T. team members, our eyes search the dusty floor. I see two sets of footprints leading away from the door and towards a tunnel of black.

"Do you have a flashlight?" I ask Zoe as we prepare to follow the footprints. "No," she whispers. "But there's a light at the end of the tunnel, so we can easily find our way out." "Yeah," I agree halfheartedly, my voice shaky. As we enter the tunnel, I unconsciously clutch onto Zoe's wrist.

She gives no reaction, which surprises me. I expected her to tease me about being afraid of the dark, but she doesn't. Instead, she lets me keep an iron grip on her arm.

Before long, we reach the end of the tunnel and step into a solitary room. A single overhead lightbulb gives off a faint light source, allowing us to see the dreary gray walls and concrete floor painted with crude slogans. Zoe winces at one, carefully stepping on it and smearing it. I do the same.

As like the room above, a single chair stands in the center of the room. And in it, oh holy day, is Tristan!

I race over to him, slapping his cheeks forcefully to awaken him. It takes a couple of seconds, but he manages to rouse himself. Looking him over, I'm distressed to see that he's more hurt than the others were.

His clothes are rumpled and his hair thrown into disarray. He's sporting shiners on both eyes, his lip is cracked wide open, his knuckles are bloody and cracked, five cuts on his face are still spewing blood, and his right arm is twisted at an odd angle, making me suspect that it's broken. His eyes are dull and blank, like they've lost their luster.

When he catches sight of me, however, he brightens considerably, a smile stretching across his face. Just as soon, Tristan remembers where he is, and the smile is replaced with a frown of concern.

While I calm his worries, Zoe wanders over to a small gray cabinet and throws the doors open. "Oh my god!" she shrieks. "What?" I look over, and see what frightened her so.

There are exactly five complete human skeletons hanging from pegs in the cabinet.

Taking a deep breath, I calm my nerves and turn to Zoe. "Let's go." Obviously wondering if we are going to suffer the same fate, she needs no prodding and we quickly make our exit.

Helping Tristan stumble along, we make our way through the tunnel and back to the trap door. We exit through that and then leave the original room.

"Okay," Zoe says once we're out. She pulls Tristan and I into the shadows and continues. "We need absolute quiet of we're going to make it out of here alive. Do you understand me? Not one word." Both Tristan and I nod in agreement, and we set off stealthily.

Before long, we come upon the dark hallway I walked through to get to the cell dungeons. Apprehensively, I clutch Tristan tighter to me, remembering my encounter with the meaty-handed man. Zoe leads the way, taking slow, cautious steps, eyes scouting for danger. I hold onto Tristan's left arm as we go down a flight of stairs.

I desperately want to ask Zoe where we're going, but I know I can't talk. So I follow her.

Eventually we come upon a big, heavy door. Zoe opens it cautiously, looks out, and motions for us to follow.

I'm hit with a blast of cool night air as we emerge into the back alley. Resting against a garbage can, we breathe sighs of relief, even though we know that we're not out of danger yet.

Suddenly, sirens begin to scream around us. A loud commotion is heard inside, and people from Blake's gang rush out of the building in an attempt to save themselves. The police are here before I can say, "Busted!" and arrests are made all around.

Slowly, Zoe and I help Tristan to the truck, where the rest of the gang is waiting for us. The boys help get Tristan into a comfortable position, and then we speed off and away from the chaos scene at the warehouse.

***

When Tristan and I get home, we're both exhausted. We tumble into his bed together without a second thought, and soon we're peacefully asleep, entwined in each other's arms.

AN: Yeah, I know, his rescue wasn't really that dramatic or heroic or whatever. I just didn't feel like making more drama stuff, so I settled for a dramaless escape and rescue. Anyways, I'm thinking that the next chapter or the chapter after that will be the last chapter before the epilogue. So, vote comment all that good stuffs until the next update! Bye my lovelies!

All my love,

Em