Blood Bound

Chapter 36: The escape

I do not like the sound of that but I don't see any other options. Or more like, I can't think of anything else. Our only way out lies down at the parking garage and if we don't want to end up back at the holding cell, awaiting our doom, we're just going to have to bite the bullet and face whatever waits for us at the bottom.

We slow down at the landing of the first floor and peek down. There's no one waiting by the door and the only sound we hear is the slight buzzing of the fluorescent light above. Sophie carefully puts me down, then presses her small frame against the cold cement wall.

"I'm going to see if the coast is clear," she whispers. "You stay here."

I nod and I watch her silently move towards the thick metal door. She hardly makes a sound, or maybe she does and I can't hear it because of the thundering beats of my heart. I start gnawing my fingernails, peering over the rail. She opens the door an inch or so, then closes it. She beckons me to come down and I hurry to her place, trying with my exhausted legs not to make any noise.

"I only saw the Sangue security guard," Sophie informs me in a whisper. "He's not that far from the door."

"How are we going to slip past him?"

"Easy," Sophie replies, flashing me a dangerous grin. "I'll just give him what all Sangues want." She opens the door again just a crack and says before she slips out: "Don't watch."

I feel suddenly cold, like an icecube id sliding down from my throat and all the way down into my stomach. I know, with a sick feeling in my gut, what she's going to do. I feel repulsed, yet I can't resist pressing my ear against the door. I don't hear anything at first and then, there's some sound, like a muffled cry. Then I hear fast footsteps approaching and Sophie throws the door open, mouth, chin and neck glistening in fresh blood.

"We've gotta move," she says and pulls me into a run again. I manage a glimpse of the security guard before we turn a corner; a sprawled heap on the ground with blood pooling from his gaping neck wound.

We run as fast as we can, past the lone, shiny cars strewn across the vast parking lot until Sophie stops in front of a black Mercedes Benz. There's no surprise there that it belongs to a vampire, with all the tinted glass. Sophie pulls out the car keys Grigori had given her, pushes the button and the car blinks its headlights and we hear a soft click, signalling that it's unlocked. Sophie jumps into the front seat and I clamber into the passenger seat next to her. She shuts the door, jams the keys in and starts the ignition. I just manage to fasten my seatbelt when she thrusts her foot down on the acceleration and floors it.

I gasp, clutching the arm rest. This car is fast. We speed towards the exit. The toll pole is down and the other Sangue guard is right beside it, waving his arms and motioning us to slow down.

"Are you going to run over him?" I ask shrilly, glancing back and forth at Sophie and the fast approaching guard.

"If he doesn't move, I will," she grits her teeth, gripping the steering wheel tight.

"Get out of the way!" I shriek, even though I'm quite sure he doesn't even hear me.

The guard's eyes seem to widen as we approach the pole with alarming speed and he just barely ducks out of the way. The car rams through the pole, sending splinters flying everywhere. I see an oncoming vehicle to my right and hitch in my breath in horror but Sophie swerves to the right, avoiding a collision with the car.

"Be careful!" I shout fearfully.

"Shut up!" Sophie snaps irritably. "I am being careful!"

"At least don't drive so fast when we're in the city," I tell her. "We don't want the cops following us as well."