My breath caught in my throat. Had I just understood that correctly?
A meaningful silence spread between me and Jay. Suddenly, he pulled his arms out from behind his back and pulled me into his arms with a powerful jerk. How had he gotten loose?
All at once I felt him tampering with my bonds and a tremendous heat crept along my arm. It smelled burnt...
"Ouch!" I exclaimed reflexively, suddenly able to loosen my hands. Concerned, he took my hands in his and looked at me.
"I'm sorry. I burned you slightly. It wasn't intentional, but necessary to get out of here." I stared at him, aghast, but then nodded. So his superior ability was fire?
I automatically had to smile and hugged him. I just had to do it. If not now, when else? Usually we were always bitching at each other, and now we were both just being ourselves, without the protective walls of our beloved sarcasm.
I felt him hug me as well and just stayed like that for a moment. It seemed as if time stood still and yet at the same time flew by. How long had we been in this position? I didn't know and in the end I didn't care. It counted only that I could be in his arms. In the arms that belonged to the person who risked everything to save me, Jay.
I opened my eyes and saw his countless abrasions. Unbridled rage rose in me as I thought of how someone righteous, like Jay, had been beaten down by such idiots. He didn't deserve such a thing.
I ran my right index finger along his wounded cheek, whereupon Jay created a little space between us and looked at me spellbound. I opened my mouth and wanted to say something, but my vocal cords didn't really want to. I closed my mouth again and tried again.
Nervously I stammered, "I-I, Jay I-I..." I looked at the stone wall. What if he didn't like me after all and was only treating me this way because Joshua had kidnapped me? What if I now opened my mouth and embarrassed myself to the bone?
'What if' those words could be both a blessing and a curse. Why was I so cowardly and awkward when it came to my feelings for Jay? I looked at him again and tried to say something, whereupon he roughly grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him.
"Damn Mira, it's not that hard now! I'm tired of pretending that I don't love you." He growled and the next moment I felt his soft, demanding lips on mine. Was this really happening right now or was I dreaming?
He lifted me up and pressed me against the wall. I buried my hands in his soft hair as he worked his way down my neck. It was an incredible feeling.
After a few seconds, he lowered me back down and stared at me with a victorious grin.
"I was right. You like me, Zaila." He grinned crookedly.
Quick as a flash I grabbed him by his shirt and now pressed him against the wall. I got very close to him so that no leaf fit between us and hissed, "Even now, you still call me that? It's really unbelievable! Don't make me angry!" I grinned slightly.
He took my face in his hands and purred, "Oh and what if I do?"
I moved even closer to him and breathed, "You'll find out soon enough then."
He laughed and hugged me again. "I love you, Mira. I really do. You're very special. You're versatile. Have a big mouth and you're also shy. You have an amazing character and are loyalty personified when it comes to your friends. Plus, you always know what's going on inside me and what I'm worried about. I love you for that. You are a perfect fit for me. As of today, you belong to me."
I raised an eyebrow and asked, "What, I don't have a say in this?"
He thought about it playfully for a moment and then came to the conclusion, "Um... no. I've made up my mind. You'll never get rid of me."
Laughing, I asked, "Is that a promise?"
He replied, "I don't say anything I don't mean."
"All right then." I said and we disengaged from each other. He stretched and then staggered slightly to the side.
Concerned, I went to him and helped him back to his feet. "What's wrong?"
He coughed a few times and croaked, "I don't have enough strength to-"
"Then drink!" I said, holding my arm in front of his face.
He looked at me seriously, but then bit into my arm without batting an eye. Immediately a small feeling of happiness flowed through me, which was followed by a slightly woozy feeling.
After a while he let go of me and his red colored eyes shone promisingly in the darkness. "I didn't have anything to eat for dinner and had thousands of wounds from those fucking Inferior vermin on my body, but thanks to you they've all just healed and I've gained new strength to kick those wannabe bad guys asses properly." He straightened up, knocked the dust off his legs, and helped me up.
"Now please take a few steps back, Mira." I did as he said, whereupon he took a deep breath and thundered his fist against the bars of our cell. A tremendous amount of flame made it glow and an incredible heat spread through the room. In the next moment he lowered his hand and grasped the glowing bars. I began to sweat. Damn, that was hot. Well... the heat.
He bent them apart with an ease as if he were pushing aside a curtain, leaving enough room to escape.
He squeezed through the large gap and beckoned me to join him, "Come on, or do you want to stay in there?"
I quickly followed him out of the cell and cursed, "No thanks, let's get out of here. It's hotter in there than in the sahara. desert"
Laughing, he shook his head and reached for my hand. We crept through the dark corridors and it was getting cooler and cooler. We must have been walking through this underground for twenty minutes and it still looked the same everywhere. A true labyrinth.
"Do you think there are guards running around?" I asked, glancing nervously in all directions.
Jay muttered thoughtfully, "I'm not sure. But it would be really stupid of them not to have someone running around here."
Suddenly, we heard a rasping cough. Quickly, Jay pulled me behind a corner and whispered, "Just stay behind me okay?" I nodded slightly and my heart began to race. I didn't want to imagine what would happen if we were caught.
The voice rang out again, "I-I won't hurt you. I'm locked up in here." The scratchy, raspy voice ended in a tubercular cough.
Chains could be heard rattling. Castle ghost with smoker's lungs, or what?
We peeked around the corner and spotted a person in a cell wearing dirty, worn out clothes and chained to the wall with thick steel chains.
Jay stepped toward the nondescript, easily overlooked cell and asked, concerned, "P-Principal Mary? Oh my God." I joined Jay and stared at the man with a flowing beard.
What a horrible sight. He was skin and bones and had dark, heavy bags under his eyes, the kind even I didn't have after the worst of the retreat. He hung there as if death would pick him up at any second, or in that case more likely redeem him. What had they done to him?
Jay heated the bars again and entered the cell. Eww... extreme heat. I fanned myself and followed Jay.
Principal Mary looked at him with a smile and said, "Mr. Park, how did you get involved in all this? I never wanted my innocent students to be involved in this. I apologize for my brother."
As if out of one mouth, Jay and I exclaimed, "Brother!?"