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Cal's POV
I snapped my eyes open at the sound of the small window-like opening on my cell door sliding open. I glanced towards it; noticing a medium-sized piece of paper floating inside and landing on the floor, followed by a pencil being tossed in.
I already knew what it was and decided to pay no attention to it. Instead, I closed my eyes once again and pictured the one thing that makes me the happiest, the one thing that's keeping me from feeling so afraid - Ahsoka. Her smile, her laugh, her voice, her eyes, her body-
"Your final meal is coming soon Kestis, write what you want," A familiar voice interrupted my thoughts that were taking a bit of an inappropriate turn. But I'm a teenage boy in love with a gorgeous girl, what do you expect?
I opened my eyes a second time, before slowly sitting up to get a good look at the person standing on the other side of the window - just to see if my bored mind was playing tricks on me.
But when my eyes adjusted to his shadow and I could make out certain facial features; I knew that it really was him, "Maul?" I asked in surprise.
The only question I have is; how the fuck did he get in here?
He winked as he adjusted his clearly stolen prison guards uniform that hid most of his tattoos. It seems giving up on a rescue wasn't something I should've done. Rex had to have gotten him in here, that's the only theory that makes any sense.
"I hear the peanut butter cookies here are delightful, you can ask for a dozen if you want to." He smirked.
I furrowed my brows, "But I'm-"
"Don't eat yourself sick though, we wouldn't want to have to send you to the infirmary, the nurse is a bit snippy today," He cut me off before tapping on the door three times, and closing the small window to block my view of him.
Three taps, a signal between all of us that we believe or know that we're being listened to. He was telling me not to disclose my allergy, purposely. Then he mentioned me getting sick, the infirmary, and a snippy nurse.
The lightbulb in my head went off and I quickly got off the bed to pick up the paper and pencil from the floor. I know exactly what they're up to, I mean I'm not sure what will happen the second I reach the infirmary - all that is a mystery to me. But all I know is that they want me to get there, and I have an easy way of doing just that.
I always hated that I had a peanut allergy, but today - it's about to save my life. How ironic.
So not only did I write down peanut butter cookies, but a peanut butter and banana sandwich - it's something I've always wanted to try. Snips claims it's the best thing on earth, and if I'm going to basically poison myself - I might as well make sure it's enjoyable. I also want to see just how right she is.
Once I wrote it down, I tapped on the door with my middle finger's knuckle. The opening slid to the side to reveal Maul's face, and I took notice to another guard in the hall as well, just a few feet away. He looked like he was simply patrolling the halls, and I waited until there was more distance between him and us before speaking.
"For a second there," I spoke quietly while sliding the paper back to him through the door, "I was losing hope that any of you would even show up." Not that I felt I didn't matter to them, but my execution date had changed last minute for a reason that is unknown to me. I wasn't even sure if they would know about it in time or not.
He chuckled as he checked the halls to make sure no one was close enough to hear us, "You really think we haven't had our eyes on you like a hawk this whole time? We found out within ten minutes of it happening," He revealed, "So we had to switch the plan up a bit. So eat enough to cause a reaction but don't kill yourself, Ahsoka will be waiting in the infirmary with your Epi." He informed me of the part of the plan that I had already figured out myself.
"Snips isn't meant to be here is she?" I asked in a whisper. I didn't like the idea of her being inside of here with these disgusting men. So I know damn well that Anakin wouldn't either.
Maul shook his head, "No, it was supposed to be Aayla but they decided to do a little switch before Anakin noticed. Ahsoka was pretty adamant on being here." His eyes widened slightly. I'm sure she threatened him in more ways than one to keep his mouth shut until it was too late for Anakin to do anything about it.
I sighed heavily and leaned my head forward against the door, "Make sure nothing happens to her, if things go south for any reason - it's her over me." I tilted my head slightly with a warning glare.
Maul rolled his eyes, "You look just like him when you make that face, stop it. Now no being negative, everything is going to go just fine."
"Knock on wood," I raised a brow with a sinister chuckle, "But I'm serious Maul, if anything happens to my Snips. We'll be having a Halloween repeat." I threatened, and I didn't even need to specify which Halloween I was talking about - he knew, and that's a wonderfully bloody story for another time, "Now we really wouldn't want that, would we?" I smiled innocently.
He pushed his tongue to the inside of his cheek, "You're seriously still angry about that?"
I nodded slowly, "Very, but," I eyed my surroundings and took notice to the guard coming back this way, "If everything goes smoothly today, consider us even."
"Or you can say 'thank you for being here to save my life Maul'," He rolled his eyes again, "Brat." He mumbled under his breath.
I smirked, "Love you." And I do, we just have a unique relationship where it's mostly shit talking and threats - but I'd die for him if I had to, "Now tell the guards I'm ready for my meal, the quicker we get this over with, the better." I placed my fingers on the metal in front of me and slid the small window shutter closed before he could.
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Anakin's POV
"What are you doing?" Piett broke our silence while I shifted through the security cameras to the prison.
I tapped one image that held a hallway and I could see Maul peaking through a door, talking to someone - Cal if I had to guess, "Just keeping an eye on things," I shifted to another camera where Rex was visible, patrolling other hallways, "If anything goes wrong, I need to be able to see it - so I can fix it." I explained to him, usually talking to him is good, it keeps him calm when he's stressed.
"And what can you do from in here?" He snorted and it was just now that I realized - he wasn't asking questions to keep himself distracted, he just didn't pay attention to the plan at all when it was explained. He's confused.
I paused and side-eyed him, "Did you not listen when (y/n) and I explained everything?"
"Uh," He scratched the back of his neck, "Once I heard that all I was going to be doing was driving, I kind of let myself get distracted by nachos." He shrugged.
I instantly pinched the bridge of my nose, "I sometimes wonder why I keep you around," I sighed before looking back down at the tablet, but having the energy to explain anything to him.
"Because you love me," He commented and I felt him nudge my shoulder with his.
I scrunched my face in disgust but said nothing. I kept my attention on the guards that were walking Cal down a narrow hall - Maul was now nowhere to be seen. But I didn't need to check where he went, I already knew.
I grabbed my phone out from the cup holder and dialed Rex's number, "Yes?" He answered after two rings.
"Maul was able to get the message to Cal and they're taking him now, have you done your part yet?" I questioned hopefully.
He sighed, "Unfortunately no, it's completely blocked off with no way for me to get in, I'm sorry An."
I groaned in annoyance and leaned my head on the back of the seat. I wasn't annoyed at him either, just the situation, "It's fine, it was only meant to be a precaution anyway." I exhaled,
I had asked Rex to tamper with the lethal injections that were meant for Cal. So that way if anything goes wrong and he somehow gets placed in that chair, it would malfunction and we'd have more time to figure something else out. But since he couldn't get to it, we can only hope that everything goes exactly how it's meant to.
"You can get out of there Rex, you've done enough for me." I offered, and I could see him in the security footage as he furrowed his brows.
"Just because I didn't get in there, doesn't mean I can't help in another way. I'm not leaving with all of them still in here," He spoke sternly and I smiled. I always appreciated his loyalty to not only me, but my family.
"Okay, Ahsoka and Maul are in the infirmary and Cal just reached the room where he's meant to eat his last meal," I gave him two places he could go to be of assistance in a way.
He stayed quiet for a moment as he thought, "Actually, I have a better idea. A back-up plan, one that I think you'll like." I can hear the confidence in his voice.
I removed the phone from my ear and placed it on speaker for Piett to be able to hear. I noticed a call from (y/n) coming in and as much as I wanted to answer it, I sent it to voicemail, "You have our attention Rex."
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Cal's POV
I sat down on the white chair and my eyes were glued on the plate in front of me, the one that consisted of the cookies and sandwich I ordered. I could practically feel my throat beginning to close just based off of the smell alone.
I was ready and confident when I walked into this room, but now that I'm staring potential death in the face - I'm nervous.
And I say potential death because I had peanuts one other time, well one time that I can actually remember. I was fourteen and barely with Anakin for only a few months.
He had hired a woman to watch both Ahsoka and I while he'd be gone for long periods of time and she wasn't exactly the nicest. But she wasn't as bad as some people I've known in the past so I just dealt with her. Besides, at least she was nice to Ahsoka, it was just me she had some weird issue with that I still don't understand to this day.
Well there was one day that she got lazy instead of cooking for us, which were Anakin's orders, he said he didn't want us eating junk all the time. But anyways, after scolding me for god knows what - I was probably just breathing - she proceeded to throw a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the table in front of me while Ahsoka got something better - although I can't
Not knowing about my own allergy since my mother previously only fed me ramen noodles or cereal, I took a few bites. The next thing I knew, I was being rushed to the emergency room by Maul - Anakin wasn't home that week - and I also never saw that nanny again. I'm not sure if she's dead or if she simply got fired. I didn't care enough to ask - I was just happy she was gone. But now that I'm older, I'm curious, I'll have to ask if I survive this.
I took a long breath and picked up the sandwich first, before taking a bite. Wow, Snips was right, this tasted amazing.
I took another bite and breathing was already starting to become difficult. So I dropped the sandwich onto the plate and grabbed a cookie. I eyed it for a second before taking one small bite; I didn't need to eat that too, but I was curious to see what it tasted like.
Amazing, but deadly.
Within a few seconds, I was on the floor - gasping for air. The guards that were posted in the room ran to my side, "This motherfucker." One of them growled, clearly knowing that I did this on purpose.
I wanted to smile and flip him off, he was one of the guards that had been a huge dick to me during my time here. But my throat was fully closed, and all I could focus on was the itching in my neck and not being able to breathe.
"Get him to the infirmary now." The same guy ordered and I felt myself being picked up from the floor, "You're not leaving my sight kid," He uttered close to my ear, "I'll see to it that you die in that chair today, then your sorry excuse of a father will be next."
Unfortunately, that was the last thing I heard before my lack of oxygen caused me to lose consciousness.
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(Y/n)'s POV
After hearing the gun shot that I'm hoping didn't take the life of my new friend that I've grown to care for; I did what she asked me to do - I fucking ran.
This was a big house, but there were only so many places I could go. So I opted for the place I felt the safest, only because Anakin made it so.
"She's upstairs, get her!" A man's voice shouted from behind me and I could already hear frantic footsteps coming up the stairs, as well as more gunshots coming from inside of the house. This place was turning into a bloodbath and I'll be damned if I've gone through everything I have only to end up as a victim of it.
With a racing heart; I reached my bedroom door and shoved it open before slamming it closed behind me and locking the three locks on the inside. Then I rushed to our nightstand where I pulled out the phone he had bought for me, which I have never used until now since he's always here.
Obviously I couldn't call 911, so his number was the first one I dialed. Tears were pouring down my cheeks and my hands were shaking uncontrollably. Ayala may have just died, and I might be next - I was having a full blown panic attack.
The phone line rang once before immediately going to voicemail - signaling the line was busy. I groaned as I hung up and called him again, only for the same thing to happen, "Fuck!" I shouted louder than I intended to, which was a dumb mistake. I might as well be that dumbass in those horror movies that dies first.
Instantly, pounding was on my door, causing me to jump with a terrified squeal.
I kept the phone in my hand as I ran to our bathroom and locked myself inside before sitting down on the shower floor - hardly breathing because of how hard I was crying.
I had no idea who these men were, why they were doing this, what they wanted, and I also had no way to defend myself. And even if I tired, there were so many of them - I didn't stand a damn chance.
I called Anakin again and prayed for it to go through, but my heart dropped when it didn't - the line was still busy.
So I waited for the beep with a quivering lip, and when I heard it I tried my hardest to cease my sobs so I could sound coherent, "Anakin there are these men here and they're-" I paused when I heard them break through the bedroom door. I was coherent, but my voice was trembling, "They have guns and I don't know what they want, but I think they killed Aya, and I think they want to kill me too. Please answer your phone Ani I'm so scared." I cried and before I could say more, the phone line cut off, and the door to the bathroom was shot open.
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That Halloween incident I mentioned will have its own little bonus chapter ♥️
Also, omg this book is pretty much almost over, I think there's only one chapter left?? Maybe 2? But once again, do not fear - it's simply the end of Book 1 😌 and who knows, I might have a book 3 in mind. Ahhh I have so many ideas I'm not sure two books is enough sooo we shall seee!!
Anyways, hope you liked it!💕
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