Will Saf and Jess escape?
Saffron
The clang of metal echoes down the hall as Jess yanks on her cell door. I push and pull on mine too, putting all my Wolf strength behind it, but all it does is add to the noise.
Is everything alright in there? a male guard demands over the link, and I nearly jump out of my skin. I'm still not used to hearing voices in my head and it's even weirder when I can't see him. A second ago, I thought Jess and I were the only ones here, but apparently not.
I glance through the cell bars at what I can see of the empty hall to my right. Even though the link sounded inside my head, like a thought in someone else's voice, I somehow know that it came from the direction I'm looking in. I can also instinctively tell that the guard was shouting and that he's actually pretty far away.
You know she can't link, a second male guard replies. His voice is a lot quieter, which makes sense since he's talking to his colleague.
Then, two sets of footsteps echo down the hall, heading toward us. I start yanking on my cell door harder, and if the noise level is anything to go by, so does Jess.
"Is everything alright?" the first man demands when he comes into view.
It startles me that he isn't dressed like a guard, and neither is his colleague. I'd been expecting men in uniforms, armed with weapons, but what we get are just two regular guys dressed in jeans and t-shirts. If I saw them on the street, I honestly wouldn't look twice. Well, except for their scent. It's familiar, and I know exactly why—these guys were there when their leader injected me with his syringe.
"Can I get you anything?" the first man to link, a guy in his thirties, shouts over the rattling of the cell door. He's shorter and a lot stockier than his tall, skinny, companion, and his tone is friendly. Somehow, he makes it sound like I'm a house guest and he's offering me tea.
"Let me out of here," I demand, yanking on my cell door one more time.
"Yeah, let us out," Jess cries.
"I'm sorry, Saffron, but we can't do that," he tells me, looking genuinely regretful. It's kind of weird, the way he ignores Jess, and the fact that he and his lackey both stand in front of my cell, just out of her view of her.
"How do you know my name? And why did you bring us here?" I shout. Jess chooses that exact moment to stop trying to break out of her cell, and my question echoes loudly in the ensuing silence.
"Us?" the short, stocky guy asks in surprise. "Oh, do you mean blondie?"
"Her name is Jess. Shouldn't you know that, if you kidnapped her?"
"We didn't kidnap anyone. We're just doing our job."
"Some job..." I mutter.
"Please help us," Jess cries. "Our Alpha's rich. He'll pay to get us back."
"Don't be so sure." The guard shrugs. "Plus, even if he would, this job's got perks."
"Like what?" I ask, then instantly regret it. I should not be curious about the sorts of perks that come with kidnapping teenage girls.
"Doesn't matter." The guard waves off my question. "Plus, this job's easy. All we gotta do is keep you safe. How hard can that be?"
"Attacking me with a syringe and locking me up in a prison cell isn't my idea of safe," I tell him. "What do your Alpha plan to do with us?"
"You'll see soon enough." The guard smiles, but he looks more amused than menacing. Like he knows something I don't, and can't wait for me to find out.
"Can we get you anything while you wait?" The other guard speaks for the first time, his voice so high pitched it almost squeaks, "Food? Water? A blanket??"
"Escape?" I suggest and Jess yanks on her cell door again.
"Nice try." The stocky guard turns to Jess and snaps, "Will you stop that racket?"
"Let me out," Jess cries, yanking harder, and he just shakes his head and turns back to me.
"How about some burgers?" he asks me, reaching into his pocket and taking out his phone. It vibrates in his hand—though I can't actually hear it over the noise—and he holds it up to his ear. "Yeah, we'll be right there." He hangs up and waves for his lackey to follow.
"Hey," I shout after them. "Let us out of here."
"I'm sorry, Saffron," he calls over his shoulder. "We have to deal with this, but I'll send someone down with takeout."
His footsteps recede down the hall, and then he links again, talking to the tall, skinny guard. Hurry up. They've spotted an intruder.
"Did you hear that?" I ask Jess as soon as they're out of earshot, but she's so focused on trying to escape that she doesn't notice. That or she can't hear anything over the clanging metal. "Jess? Jess!"
"What?" she shouts, letting go of the cell door long enough for me to speak.
"Did you hear what the guard said? About intruders?"
"Intruder," Jess corrects. "What does it matter?"
I pause, because one intruder definitely doesn't sound as good as the whole pack coming to rescue us. Unless they sent one person in to create a distraction.
"Well?" Jess snaps.
"Maybe it's Logan, or POW, or..."
"What the Goddess is a POW?" Jess asks. I open my mouth to reply, but she interrupts, "I used to think that too, you know."
"Think what?"
"That they were coming for me," Jess says dejectedly.
"They are coming," I tell her, quickly telling her about the red wolf who'd been following me. "Amaryllis would have gone back for help, Jess. I bet they're here now."
"They probably captured her too," Jess argues, and the adjacent cell door rattles as she yanks on it.
"Then she'd be down here too," I point out.
"Unless they killed her."
"Jess!" I snap.
"I'm just being realistic," Jess snaps. "If they didn't spot her, she's probably hiding her Omega ass in some bush, too scared to go home."
"Or she ran back to get help," I snap. "Why are you being so negative?"
"I'm not. I'm being realistic." Jess pauses. "Look, they grabbed you from the same field we got attacked in, right?"
"Yeah..."
"If the Trackers couldn't follow the Rogues who took me, do you really think they'd be able to follow the Rogues who took you?"
"Well..." I feel my heart sink.
"It's been days. Or it's felt like it." Jess sighs. "They never turn off the lights here, you know. It's hard to tell if it's day or night, and I keep sleeping in bursts, which makes it worse."
"It's Friday," I tell her.
"Four days, Saffron. It's been four days. What makes you think they'll suddenly find us?"
"Because there's an intruder?" I ask sarcastically. "Look, if it is them, they'll rescue us, and if it's not, we need a backup plan."
"Like what?"
"Well..." I stare at the cell door.
"It's hopeless," Jess moans repeatedly, and a sniffle echoes from her cell. "At least Zara's okay. Even if we die, she—"
"We're not going to die!" I snap. "And I do have a plan. I—" The guards' footsteps echo down the hall and I instantly go quiet.
Keep walking, the short, stocky guard orders from somewhere far away. Two sets of footsteps approach, one set of paws clicking against the hall's stone floor. Either they've brought a dog, or they caught a wolf. Darren, open the cell.
Metal clings against metal as Darrel—most likely the tall, skinny guard—opens the cell to my right. There's a thump of a body hitting the dirt floor, followed by a yelp, and then a whimper. The cell door clangs shut, and I picture the key turning, locking her in.
"What about the takeout?" I shout as the guards start to leave.
"I'll go check on that," the short, stocky guard shouts, and once again footsteps recede.
"Amaryllis?" I ask when I'm sure they're out of hearing range.
S-safron, she whispers back the link.
"Thank the Goddess you're here," Jess cries. "Did you bring help?"
A moment passes in silence, and then Amaryllis finally whispers. N-no. I followed them here so I'd know where they were taking you. I tried to be careful, but...
"You let yourself get captured." Jess snaps, finishing the sentence for her.
1. Rate this chapter on a scale from ♥ (1) to ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ (10). What did you like? What did you hate?
2. Oh no, they captured Amaryllis!!!
3. Any predictions? Suspicions? Etc.
4. What's Saf's plan? How would you try to escape if you were trapped in there with them?
5. Wolf Pack Game: What paranormal creature would you rather be? [Grant other commenters Powers/Limits] (Example: Person 1: Dragon ; Person 2: replies: "Every time you sneeze you breathe fire, burning everything in your path" ; comment: Zombie)