Mingi POV
None of us have an idea, how we could escape. Last time Hongjoong was able to unlock the door with the needle of his brooch but we don't have anything, that you could pick a lock with this time. We sit in the cell and wait for something to happen.
A tall man in dark clothes and a grim face that is covered in scars comes in.
He has a bag with him. To our surprise it is medical equipment. He starts treating San's and Yunho's wounds.
"Why are you helping us?", Jongho asks.
"I'm not. It's going to be a public execution. They need to be able to stand on the stage and executing someone who is already half dead wouldn't be fun to watch."
Of course it isn't out of friendliness. Why would anyone in this place help us...
Since I feel very exhausted from the last few days I take a nap for a while.
Some hours later I get woken up by a lot of footsteps. The king and a lot of nobles enter. I recognize one of them as an influential noble who has visited our village before. I also spot Yeosang between them.
"Yeosang!", I shout. I see him smile at us briefly. He seems stressed out but otherwise okay.
"No way! He is a well-known doctor. Everyone keeps talking about how good he is. And he is associated with the Nekra Kingdom?!", I hear Seonghwa whisper.
"Many of these are influential people in their countries and they all work with the Nekra Kingdom?", Hongjoong whispers in disbelief.
"I feel sick. Mr. Kierik's family has been friends with ours for a long time. His son and I were in the same class and often hung out together. We have visited each other often and ate dinner together. I can't believe he works together with a murderous psychopath."
"We need to let people know then! When we get out of here we need to send letters to all of those countries and tell them about it!", San says.
"It's very expensive to write to other countries. I don't know if we can afford to write to all of these countries and maybe they won't believe us.", Hongjoong states
"My grandpa is part of the council. He might be able to convince them how serious the matter is and then they could inform the other countries.", Jongho says.
"Wait you mean the council of the Neutral Zone?! I didn't know your family is this powerful."
"Maybe Yeosang could sign it too. It might seem more believable then.", I suggest.
"Yeah, that-"
The rest of Hongjoong's sentence get drowned out by a loud scream and cheering. It sounds scary. I instinctively grab Jongho's arm and lean against him.
The screams continue for what seems like an eternity. Then it suddenly gets silent. A minute later I hear loud gasps and footsteps that come in our direction. Yeosang rushes by and throws something into our cell. He is followed by a soldier and a man in a suit. As soon as they are gone, I crawl forward to get the thing that Yeosang threw in. It is a brooch!
I try to pick it up but hurt myself because of the needle.
"Ouch!"
"Why are you always so clumsy, you idiot...", Yunho says with a weak voice. Hongjoong picks up the brooch instead.
"Oh, you're awake.", I state.
"How could I sleep when it is so noisy."
"Are you feeling better?"
Before he can answer, the screams continue, so he just nods.
Ten minutes later the screaming finally stops. People cheer and clap loudly. I hear footsteps again.
"Are you sure that you are okay, your majesty?"
"Yes, it's nothing."
The king holds a tissue against his shoulder where blood spills out of a cut. Did Yeosang do this?
"Maybe I can use this anger for our plans.", I hear the king say.
My blood boils as I see all these nobles walk by again with big smiles on their faces.
"What now?", Jongho asks Hongjoong who is looking at the brooch in his hand.
"We use this to escape. But we need to make a plan. I think we should start by assessing where the soldiers are patroling."
Jongho and I move towards the bars and look down the corridor. There are soldiers at the stairs that lead upwards. Jongho suddenly turns away.
"What's up? Is there something?"
I turn towards the direction that Jongho was looking in but before I can even see something Jongho puts his hand over my eyes.
"Trust me. You don't want to see that."
Jongho's voice is shaky. I hear something getting dragged on the ground. Corpses? Oh god! Why did have to end up here? The thought of what could happen to us makes me anxious, I grab Jongho's hand to soothe myself. The younger man hugs me and tells me that everything will be okay.
We continue to look around in the prison a few minutes later.
"There are two soldiers at each end, one patroling in between and probably one in one of the rooms.", Jongho reports.
"We will definitely need a distraction. Unfortunately we are all in one cell this time."
"Maybe we should just be risky and do it without a distraction. I mean we're getting executed tomorrow anyway. We don't have anything to loose.", San suggests.
"Nothing. Except a hand maybe.", Jongho comments.
"Okay, never mind."
"Maybe we just need to wait for a bit. There might come a moment where the soldiers aren't paying as much attention.", Seonghwa says.
"What if that moment never comes?", I ask.
"Then maybe we can escape when they get us out for the execution."
"I guess that is the only thing we can do for now since none of us have an idea. Let's talk about what we are going to do when we escape. We still need to get Yeosang and Wooyoung then.", Hongjoong states.
"I could try to distract the soldiers while you save them. You would be slowed down by me anyway.", Yunho proposes.
"Are you crazy?! We are not leaving you behind!", I exclaim. Hongjoong motions me to be quiet.
"He must be confused because of his fever.", San adds.
"We should split into two groups. It's easier to sneak around in a small group and more efficient.", Jongho tells.
"Wooyoung is the only one of us who knows the castle though.", I utter.
"I think we can figure out where Yeosang's room is on our own. If we split it is definitely saver. Not only is it more efficient and easier to hide. If one group gets caught, the other group can still save them.", Hongjoong explains.
We discuss who will be in which group. I end up in the group who is going to save Wooyoung along with Jongho and Seonghwa.
We sit around for some time. Some of us have dozed off, the rest of us are talking about the nobles from earlier.
Suddenly somebody comes up the stairs. It is the scary doctor from earlier. He says something to the soldier on the corridor and then speaks to the soldiers who are standing at the exit. Hongjoong uses this moment to pick the lock. We stand next to him, waiting for the door to open or to tell him when the man turns around again. Yunho has to lean against San. Both of them seem to do slightly better but it still might be hard for them if we have to run.
I hear a faint clicking noise. In the exact same moment the man turns around. He looks at us angrily.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?! GET AWAY FROM THE BARS AND THE DOOR!"
He shooes us to the back of the cell before he disappears into the room where the king and his friends were earlier. A soldier comes out of the room on the opposite side and gives a key to the soldier in hallway. Him and one of the soldiers at the front meet at the first cell on the right.
"The door is open. Everyone in the same group, grab each other by the hand, so you don't loose each other if it gets chaotic. Run on my signal.", Hongjoong whispers.
The soldiers pull a young woman out of the cell. She begs the man to just kill her but they ignore her.
As soon as they pass by Hongjoong gives us the signal we go to the door and open it. The soldiers at the stairs immediately charge towards us while the soldiers that just passed by seem confused and panick. Jongho uses this moment to grab the woman by the waist, throw her over his shoulder and we run off towards the castle.
The confused soldiers block the soldiers from the other end of the corridor for a few seconds and San kicks the soldier in front of us who tumbles backwards and falls to the ground. We sprint up the stairs and run past the soldiers who are waiting on the other side. We run through a lot of corridors with quite a few soldiers running and screaming behind us.
We are able to hide in a small storage room. Yunho groans and lets himself fall onto the floor and Jongho puts the woman back onto the floor.
"Where are we going from here?", I ask.
"Wait. Who are you and what is going on?", the woman asks
"We are treasure hunters and trying to rescue the other two of our group. Who are you and why were you in prison?", Jongho replies.
"I am Marsola. I told my friend that I wanted to flee from the Nekra Kingdom with my lover and she reported me to the guards."
"Oh my god!", San exclaims.
"One of our friends is still in prison, the other is in the castle. With which group do you want to go? And do you know the castle?", Hongjoong asks.
"I don't want to go back to the dungeon but I know that it has a side entrance. You have to go through a small building between the castle and the barracks. Otherwise I don't know anything about the castle."
"That still helps us a lot. You are in my group so stick close to me. Once the footsteps are gone, we'll go out and split into our groups."
We wait for about a minute before the footsteps outside stop. We sneak outside, Hongjoong's group turns left while we go back to where we came.
"We lost them, search the rooms!", I hear someone command in the distance. The corridors that we walk through are completely void of any soldiers since they were all chasing after us. Somehow Seonghwa remembers all the turns that we took, so we quickly get back to the stairs that lead into the prison. When we arrive we hear a lot of voices from down there and someone coming up the stairs. Jongho motions us to follow him. He brings us to a corridor which has a window that leads outside. He opens it and we climb outside.
It feels good to have some fresh air again. I am glad to be out of this hell house and would like to never return.
But unfortunately we do have to go back into the dungeon. It is even darker than earlier, I can't even see my feet when I look down. I guess that means that it is nighttime? Not too far away are the lights of the city. I grip on even tighter to Seonghwa's hand. We sneak through the castle grounds towards the light of a group of houses that are a bit away from the city since Jongho thinks that these might be the barracks.
Then we all run into a fence. Ouch!
"****!", Jongho exclaims
"Are you okay?", Seonghwa asks.
"I ran into it with my injured arm first."
"Do you think we can climb over this?", I ask.
"We have to."
I go first. I almost cut my hand open at something sharp at the top. Luckily there seems to be space between these parts of the fence.
"Be careful at the top. There is sometimes something sharp. Don't cut your balls or your butt on it."
"...O-okay...", Seonghwa answers.
I try to climb down the other side of the fence while the next person is trying to climb over the fence. All of a sudden I step into a thorny bush and scratch my leg open.
"There are bushes with thorns on this side."
"Then jump.", Jongho says.
I look behind me but of course I can't see anything. What if I jump directly into the bush?
"I'm scared."
I hear a sound on the ground next to me.
"I did it, so you can do it too.", Jongho encourages me.
I close my eyes and jump off of the fence. I land ungracefully on the ground but at least not in a bush.
We wait for Seonghwa but he doesn't come.
"Seonghwa?", Jongho asks.
"I-is it high?"
"Not that much I think."
"I did it, so you can do it too.", I say.
I hear Seonghwa make some scared noises.
"It's more likely that you will die if you stay there than if you jump.", Jongho says.
Two seconds later Seonghwa crashes into me and we land on the ground together. Ouch!
"Sorry, Mingi.", Seonghwa says. He gets up and helps me up as well.
"We should move on, someone might have heard us.", Jongho says and I hear his footsteps on the grass.
"Wait, where are you?", Seonghwa asks. He moves forward. I keep on holding his hand and follow his lead.
"Ah, sorry. I forgot that we should hold hands."
It takes a bit until we reunite again.
We reach a building that is a bit away from the houses that we saw in the distance. We hide at the back of it. In the dim light that shines through the window I see Jongho holding his arm and biting his lip.
"Are you okay?", I ask him.
"Yeah, it just hurts because we ran into that fence earlier."
Seonghwa peaks through the window.
"It's a residential building! But I can't see the person living there."
"Let's sneak around the house and look through the other windows.", Jongho suggests.
We go to the next window.
"It's a kitchen."
Then to the window at the front.
"There are stairs that lead into the basement."
"Maybe they lead to the side entrance."
"Why would someone have a tunnel to a prison in their house?", I question.
"Do you think this is a normal person who is living here? Between the castle of a murderer and the barracks?"
He is right, only someone who works closely with either the army or the king would live here. Probably someone with a important position, so it might not be unlikely and this seems to also be the house that the woman described.
"How do we get inside?", Seonghwa asks. While Jongho makes a plan, I take a look at the front door. It's a simple black door with a black door handle. I try to open it, expecting it to be locked and stumble forward when I realize that it is not.
"Guys, it's open.", I exclaim.
The two look surprised but follow me. We don't risk to look around and immediately go down the stairs.
The basement is full of medical equipment, books and notes about the human anatomy and a small laboratory. There is no doubt in whose home we are, it must be the creepy guy who treated our wounds.
Now it makes perfect sense why here would be a tunnel to the prison and I am guessing that it lies behind the door at the end of this room.
"Wow, all this medical equipment and a whole laboratory. The king must pay this doctor a lot.", Seonghwa comments.
"I don't think he is solely a doctor.", Jongho says while looking at the books on the shelf.
"I think he is also the hangman."
"What?!", I shout. Seonghwa motions me to quiet down.
"He has a bunch of books about torturing here and he also went into the room where the king tortured people earlier."
"Yeah, I learned in school that back in the days, when torturing and executions were more of a thing in Kroos Republic, the hangman were often very versed in medicine. So it isn't far fetched.", Seonghwa tells.
"It just seems a bit weird to do both as your job, when they are essentially opposites."
We stop looking around and go through the door. Behind it is a long dark tunnel. Jongho fearlessly steps into the darkness. Seonghwa reluctantly follows after him. I take a step forward but my heart starts racing. The things I have seen and heard earlier come back into my mind. Will we see and hear even worser things when we get to the second floor of the dungeon? Before I can think of anything further, Seonghwa grabs my hand and pulls me towards him and Jongho.
"Sorry, but we have no time to be anxious or scared. Every minute we waste is another minute of Wooyoung suffering.", Jongho says.
Right, I have to get through this, I have to be strong. My friend's life is on the line.
We stumble through the pitch black tunnel until Jongho feels a wooden door. He opens the door and it takes a few seconds until our eyes get used to the brighter staircase. The tunnel has led us to a small platform between two sets of stairs, one leading upwards and one leading downwards.
There are a lot of footsteps coming from above. Jongho motions us to go downstairs. At the end of the stairs are soldiers.
"Mingi, you get the keys, we will distract the soldiers.", Jongho whispers.
The two storm in and immediately attract attention from all the soldiers.
Each of them has to fight with three soldiers. I walk past them and hastily look around. The structure of the second floor is almost the same as the one of the first floor. In the middle two rooms split off. I see keys in the one on the left. Unfortunately a soldier is in it. He immediately attacks me. I dodge and sprint into room. I use the table in the room to keep some distance between us before I step on it and kick the soldier into the face. The soldier gets knocked out and falls to the floor.
"Sorry.", I say. I hope I didn't injure him too badly. The keys are arranged in the order of the cells. I run out of the room for a second to search for Wooyoung's cell. He is in the last cell on the right. I run back into the room, get the key for that cell and then run back. With a quick look back to the entrance, I see that on the one hand the two have knocked out two soldiers, on the other hand Seonghwa is bleeding from his leg and Jongho looks in pain. I try to open the cell but my hands are shaking so much that I keep missing the keyhole.
Wooyoung runs towards the door.
"I knew you would come. Open! Quick!"
He gets impatient with me, grabs my hand and helps me to put the key into the keyhole. The door opens, Wooyoung runs out and kicks the soldiers that are fighting with Jongho into the back. I help Seonghwa with his soldiers. I grab one of the soldiers and push him aside. I pick up Seonghwa who kicks the other soldier into his face.
"Let's get out of here.", I shout. The other two nod. I run up the stairs while carrying Seonghwa. Jongho opens the door of the side entrance for us.
We run through the long and dark corridor with the footsteps of the soldiers behind us. We make it back to the basement and go straight through it, up the stairs. A familiar figure and a couple of soldiers wait for us at the front door. Seonghwa kicks one of them while I dodge the attack of another soldier.
"I won't let you escape!", the creepy doctor shouts.
He takes out a sword and starts attacking Wooyoung. Seonghwa, Jongho and I try our best to fend the soldiers off. I manage to steal a spear from one of the soldiers. The soldiers that were behind us catch up. We are surrounded. What now?
Author's Note:
Another long chapter! I hope you like it. The next chapter might take a bit longer since I am going on holiday next week. I have a Valentines Concert Date with Ateez and I am going to the concert on Wednesday too.💞🎉 So I am out of town for four days. I also might have to attend a funeral. 😢