we don't belong here • lrh

Chapter twenty four | adrenaline mixed with strength

Chapter twenty four | adrenaline mixed with strength

L U K E

"Valentine, I'm gonna get you out of there alright?" I said to her, trying to not panic. I looked around the room for a second time to contemplate what to do.

The chair. I could use the chair to bust the door down. No that won't work. The door is metal.

Hmmm... I could use that gift card in room to unlock the door. It's metal, Luke, remember?

"Fuck!" I screamed out loud in frustration gripping onto my blonde locks.

What am I going to do?

Then it hit me. Crowbar. There's a crowbar that Twenty Four keeps. It's in the abandoned room to prevent the doctors from finding it when they do room checks.

"Val. I'm going to go get something to help me open the door. I'll be right back."

"Wait, Luke," Valentine said through the metal door. I could tell from her voice that she was about to cry. "If something happens, I love you."

I paused for moment when she said those words. Worry filled my mind.

"Valentine don't say your goodbyes, not yet dammit. I will be right back."

I ran to the room, which felt like minutes, minutes I didn't have. The burning smell increased as my visibility decreased. I now could barely see my own hands in front of me.

It was a blur as to how I got into the room, from muscle memory, (?) but I did. I shut the door quickly to keep most of the smoke from entering as I searched for the metal crowbar. Last time Twenty Four had it, she hid under the couch so that's where I looked first.

I got down on the ground and picked the front of the couch up. There laid the rusty metal tool.

In a rush, I picked the weapon up and ran out the room. The smoke got worse. It burned my eyes and throat as I ran through it to Valentine's room. I coughed trying to heave up the smoke that was invading my lungs.

"Valentine! Are you still okay?!"

No answer. Please no.

I ran, forgetting about the smoke, not even thinking about the fire. Just thinking about her.

I reached the door and the adrenaline mixed with my strength must have been enough because the door opened loudly. The room was just as smoky as the hall and there Valentine laid, pale and unmoving.

I ran to her and pulled her into my chest. Her heart was still beating and she was still breathing. I took her jacket off of her body and tied it around her face to prevent her breathing anymore unwanted smoke. I grabbed another jacket from her bedpost and tied it around my own face.

Hopefully this will help until we get outside.

"Valentine, you need to wake up, baby," I said kissing her temple while moving out of the black, cloudy room. A few tears slipped past my eyes. "It will all be okay."

The hallway was long and I couldn't see much. The walls were the only guide I had to use. My feel and touch senses kicked in for me to get out of the smokey room.

I was beginning to lose all hope on ever getting out of the asylum, but then I saw a red glow shining from the other end of the hall. Four letters were illuminating brightly that told me where to go.

EXIT.

"Thank fuck," I said pushing my long, tired legs forward. Each step I took toward the door was another step I felt like falling, but I couldn't. Not with Valentine unconscious in my arms.

The double doors looked foggy as the rest of the place did too. I felt faint as I pushed the doors to the courtyard open fully.

I ran out the exit and almost tripped over the steps leading up to the burning asylum. The concrete looking more blurry every step I took.

The grass was wet with early morning dew and the bushes surrounding the green swung with the flow of the wind. Every other detail that I normally would notice was fuzzy. Everything but Valentine's face in that moment.

Her dark, curly hair to her tiny, buttoned nose and even the curve of her waist to her wide, ample hips. Then to her perfectly shaped face and her well cared for skin.

She was a dream.

She was my dream.

I placed Valentine in the grass once we got far enough from the building. I got down on my knees beside her and moved her hair from her face. I bent down and kissed Valentine's mouth with a gentleness I couldn't fathom.

"I love you too, Valentine."

I looked around to observe my surroundings as best I could. I could see all the patients, guards, and doctors that escaped the hospital in time. They were looking at the encounter between Val and I. I didn't care. And I could see the smoking rooms.

Then I saw nothing but I did feel the wet rainy grass around my head and Valentine's hair under mine.