000d, 00h, 00m, 00s
"Amidelle?" A hushed whisper of a voice infiltrated my sleep that night. A continuous, annoying sound right by my ear that just wouldn't stop. "Ami—!" Combined with the vigorous shaking of my entire body, eventually, I snapped out of my sleep.
With an audible groan, my eyes batted open carefully to adjust them to the bright light I expected around me. Though, it was completely dark for the first time in weeks.
So, instead of adjusting my eyes to the light, I had to adjust them to the darkness. And as soon as I did, recognising the pair of eyes right in front of mine, they widened. My breath hitched as I scrambled towards the wall, pressing against it in hopes it might swallow me whole.
"I told you not to go—" Hearing his voice felt like a bolt of electricity shooting through my entire body; it made me inhale a shaky breath, and my head almost explode.
"No—" I shook my head vigorously, hoping my blurry vision would make it seem like he was someone else entirely; maybe snap me out of this nightmare, even.
Because the man in front of me couldn't be Esmond Terran. He couldn't be, and I didn't want him to be.
But the brown curls and full brows; with the dark iris barely even separable from the black of his pupil in the complete darkness the room had wrapped around us, and the light scent of citrus lingering in my nose, it couldn't be anyone else.
And the prospect of it only made me try to get further away from him— was there a way to get further than the wall behind me?
"I told you, didn't I?" He repeated once more. "And yet you still went, and look where that got you." There was a disapproval in his tone as his gaze flickered through the relatively narrow room. And though I'm sure he couldn't see much, it didn't take a genius to know he didn't like the things he did see.
"I'm right where I'm supposed to be—" I hissed back, trying my best to stand up to the feeling tugging in the back of my mind that told me to just let go. "You're the one who shouldn't be here! I belong here, with The System. You—"
My voice faltered as I watched his head tilt, his eyes narrow, and a few wrinkles on his forehead appear — his face falling into one of disappointment or surprise; maybe both.
And he swallowed thickly, acting like he didn't understand the words coming out of my mouth; maybe he didn't want to understand.
I wanted to make sure he would.
"You ruined everything," I roared in a whisper, my finger pointing right at him as a wave of confidence washed through me, and I moved closer to him. Breath still heavy, for the first time since I woke up, I wondered what he was doing here, in the first place.
And as realisation dawned on me, my eyes grew wide as my lips parted. "I'm not going with you, Terran! Forget about it—" The only thing I could think of doing was to raise my voice.
And I let go of my pend up anger, frustration and irritation with the man stood before me, back slightly bent as he was leaned down to level our eyes.
I was angry at him for making me question The System, for being against them in the first place, for getting me involved with him and his stupid propaganda.
Surely it would alarm at least one of the guards if I simply yelled loud enough. "Esmond Terran, I hate—" His hand on my mouth muffled the words about to slip past my lips, an alarmed expression on his face as his head cocked to the side, and he listened into the silence for any sign of someone reacting to my loud voice echoing through the halls.
Nothing.
An exasperated sigh escaped my lips, though the sound that would've escaped my lips was muffled by his rough hands against them. My nose twitched in irritation, and my eyes further narrowed into a glare. My head was pounding.
"We have exactly three minutes to get out of here—" He muttered, his voice dropped by a few octaves to keep it low. I wasn't sure if I imagined the threatening undertone in it or whether it truly was there.
His head turned towards the time displayed over the black screen underneath it. In red digits, similarly to the countdown on my wrist, it read 03:38, and his gaze snapped back onto me. "Two minutes," He corrected.
My arm jerked away from his touch as soon as he reached out to grab it, another muffled groan escaping my lips as my brows knitted together tighter. My head was twisting and turning, trying its best to get away from the hand firmly pressed against my mouth.
I thought the feeling of his skin against mine would make me implode soon enough if I wouldn't bring that distance between us. Though contrary to that, his other hand placed itself behind my head to push me further towards him, eyes piercing right into my soul and his heavy breathing fanning against the tip of my nose.
"Listen here," He grumbled, his bushy brows furrowed in that familiar way. "Stop fucking moving—" His hand reached for my arm once more, this time managing a proper grip on it that made me stop resisting. "That's better," He huffed, shaking his head to get rid of the strand of hair hanging into his face.
Just as his lips parted to speak once more, his head snapped towards the opened exit at the sound of approaching footstep. A flicker of relief darted through my head at the same time as his eyes widened in a startle— not quite sure what to do.
His eyes met mine again, and my lips turned upwards into a victorious grin underneath his touch. Though as my eyes flickered back towards the exit, it faltered as I recognised that fiery hair.
"Bloody hell—" Aiden shouted in a whisper, my eyes widening as my brows furrowed. A sigh of relief escaped Esmond's mouth as he followed my gaze. "This is taking ages in here; we've got another minute—"
Aiden cut himself off as his eyes caught mine, the previously concerned furrow in his brow relaxing. "Amidelle, hi," He smiled brightly, and for a moment, I swore I could feel my heart skip a beat at the way my friend's smile lit up the entirely dark room.
For no reason at all, I could feel my eyes brim with tears as my head felt entirely too heavy for my neck.
"Look, darling, it's Amidelle," He whispered, his head turned over his shoulder as he spoke lowly to someone behind him. Eniola's curls appearing from behind him soon after. My brows furrowed further in disbelief, not quite sure how to interpret what was going on.
Though I didn't have much time to do so either way, a muffled yelp escaping my lips as Esmond muttered an "Oh, for fucks sake—" before placing his hands on either side of my waist and throwing me over his shoulder as if it was nothing.
With my attention entirely on both of his hands now on my thighs, holding onto them tight enough to make sure I wouldn't fall, I hardly took notice of his hand no longer covering my mouth.
I could've screamed for help at that moment. But I didn't.
Instead, I clutched onto his upper body, head thudding and cheeks red as I squeezed my eyes shut in order to not throw up, too.
My grip around him tightened when he started walking faster and faster— almost running, at this point — hoping to feel like I was in control of whether I would or wouldn't fall over his shoulder when I definitely wasn't the one in control.
Every now and then, my eyes opened to glance around, realising quickly that we were moving in the opposite direction of where I had been going for the past few days. Further away from the dining area. Further away from the common room.
For a split second, I thought of Rose.
And then the previously dark corridor was illuminated by red lights and the only sound blaring through it was the loud, low sound of a siren.
I swallowed thickly, my body bobbing up and down on his shoulder as his grip on my thighs tightened, and he walked even faster.
I could feel his head turn over his other shoulder, my own gaze lifting to find a group of men running into the corridor through the doors on the other side of it. The flashing red light only making them appear every other second.
They were the light at the end of a tunnel I wasn't quite sure I still wanted to get out of.
And before I could vigorously shake that thought out of my head, Esmond slipped through an opening in the wall, turned around so that my eyes fell on Aiden and Eniola's feet before the sound of it sliding shut accompanied the following darkness around us.
He ushered them further through the narrow corridor, fast-paced, and his breath heavy as his grip readjusted around my thighs, hands unconsciously travelling up my legs in order to have a better hold of me.
The ringing in my ears got louder with every squeeze, every squeeze reminding me of when our hands brushed against each other, the way his hands felt against my skin and the way his lips moved against mine.
Every squeeze made my head buzz, and my ears ring– over and over again until I couldn't possibly take it anymore.
"Okay—!" I shouted, my voice making the sound of footsteps fade away as the entire group came to a halt. "Okay—" I repeated once more, feeling myself calm down just slightly as I began wiggling in his grip. An annoyed sigh passed by his lips, his hand almost moving again. Though, the words coming out of my mouth before seemed to make him rethink that choice. "I can walk by myself, thank you very much," I huffed, a final squirm finally releasing me out of his arms with a groan.
I patted the white shirt I wore down, shaking my head as I did so before my eyes flickered over the three faces— eyes having adjusted to the darkness.
Before any of us had the chance to say anything, a loud noise made Esmond push the pair further down the corridor before he turned towards me, an inquisitive brow quirked.
"Don't even think about running back there," He warned, eyes darting behind me only for a second before he took my hand in his — making sure I wouldn't do exactly what he had just told me not to do again — and dragged me along with him, up the stairs leading into seemingly nothing.
I couldn't help the way my body reacted to his touch as I followed him. And I wasn't sure if he had to even hold my hand in order for me to go with him.
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hehe
Thought? :)
See you tomorrow. <3