This time I came to naturally, my throat painfully parched. From the angle of the armchair across the room, I could tell that I was once again lying on the couch. It took too much effort to move so I just continued to lie there waiting for the remnants of the drug to leave, wiping away the lethargy taking over my body. Unfortunately as I lay there, though my mind cleared, my sense of pain did too.
My stomach throttled me with its sharp pangs and my cheek felt swollen against the cushion it was lying on. I was dying to move, to get water, to get Advil, to do something to try and get away from the sharp, sore and stinging sensations invading my drug haze.
Yet I was afraid that as soon as I dared to move Mr. Berkeley would come around and administer another unwelcome shot. And so I waited for what could have been hours for all I knew. It was a funny thing, not having a clock to look at. With my mind so muddled, I had no sense of time whatsoever and that scared me. What if Mr. Berkeley was planning to sneak me out soon? What if I was already too late?
As I was taken out of here my chances of escape would go from slim, to none.
The sound of the door creaking open made me jump and I moaned as fresh pain wracked my body with movement.
“Holy shit,” I heard a female voice gasp before footsteps rushed to the side of the couch.
“Are you okay?” I blearily looked up into Kate’s heavily lined eyes, and anxious expression.
“Mmmphh,” I grumbled.
“Okay, Okay…” She talked to herself as she nervously tapped her fingers on the side of the couch. “Let’s see...shit. Jack wasn’t kidding.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing,” She quipped, “Conserve your energy. Now this might hurt a bit…” Kate slid her arms under me, pushing me up into a sitting position. I gasped as pain laced my abdomen.
“Sorry!” She squealed as she continued helping me up until I was in a standing position.
“Can you walk?”
I nodded and gritted my teeth as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me out the door. Each step resounded through my midsection, making me wince as the vibrations shook apart my insides. I barely kept from screaming out at the pain.
Kate was relentless as she led me through the deserted halls to one of the dorm rooms. It was only my fear of Mr. Berkeley that kept me from crying out with each step I took, feeling as though a mallet was being continually slammed into my gut.
When we got inside the room, I was faintly surprised to find myself standing in Jack’s dorm.
“You okay?” Kate asked, pursing her lips as she wiped a stray blond hair out of her face.
“Wonderful,” I groaned as I gingerly placed a hand on my stomach, gasping even at the slight touch.
“Can I?”
I nodded. She gasped as she lifted up my shirt, “Holy shit.”
She looked at me, and I saw her eyes were wide. “Here- lie down- I’ll get Jack right now. We don’t have much time – I don’t know how long Mr. Berkeley’s board meeting is going to last.
I grunted in reply as I sunk down onto Jack’s mattress, rubbing my temples in an attempt to clear my head. The migraine from the other day was rearing its ugly head again. God, I hoped he had Advil.
Soon enough I was lying back down, staring at the ceiling, trying to clear my mind. But whatever drug had been put into my system took its own sweet time in going away. Though I was much more lucid, I could tell that my reflexes were slow, my body and mind difficult to command.
My sense of time was terrible.
I was tracing the cracks along the ceiling with my mind when someone rushed into the room, slamming the door behind them.
“Fuck,” I turned my head to see Jack with his fists clenched and teeth gritted in anger. He looked ready to hit something. Kate appeared from behind and grabbed his upper arm, holding him back while whispering something in his ear.
I couldn’t help but feel angry that she was the one to calm him down.
However he didn’t listen to her and instead broke his arm away before throwing a earth-shaking punch at the wall. I gaped openly, ignoring the way that disturbed the soreness in my cheek. The hole in the wall was noticeable, flakes of drywall sticking up over all the edges.
But Jack didn’t stop there. He brought his fist back again with a large thud, and then again, and again... By this point I could see scratches forming across his knuckles and a pang of guilt hit me.
“Stop,” I croaked out softly, praying that they could hear me.
Mid-punch Jack froze and turned to look at me as if he was unsure of what to do.
“Ally?” He asked as he came over and kneeled by the bedside.
“Don’t do that,” I frowned, creasing my eyebrows and winced at the way that pulled my face around.
Jack sighed and lightly ran his fingertips across my injured cheek, “That fucking bastard…” He seethed, though his touch remained so soft I could barely feel it.
“You’re bleeding.” I deadpanned as I caught sight of his knuckles.
“Who cares? You got fricking beat up by a thug and I just let it happen.”
“You couldn’t have done anything,” I protested, biting my lip.
“Maybe. But that doesn’t change the fact that I feel like I could’ve.”
I sighed heavily before looking Jack straight in the eyes. “Please don’t feel bad.”
Jack ran a hand across his face, “I can’t promise you that, but for now we have more important things to do. Todd’s rewiring the cameras right now. We’re leaving at seven.”
“Cameras? What do you mean?”
Jack cracked a grin, “Didn’t Todd ever tell you what he got in here for? He’s a genius when it comes to wiring. Unfortunately for him, he played around with that shit one too many times.”
“Oh,” I frowned. It seems like I’d been so self-absorbed in my own problems that I knew hardly anything about anyone else. Once again.
“Kate you’re still on Berkeley duty?”
“Yep,” She mumbled apathetically as she examined her nails.
“Good,” Jack nodded.
“So how exactly are you planning to get me out of here?” I asked sheepishly, still surprised that Jack had bothered to orchestrate this rescue plan in the first place.
“Very sneakily.”
“So we’re winging it?” I raised an eyebrow.
He nodded once again.
“Awesome sauce,” I muttered sarcastically, the side of my mouth twisting into a frown.
Jack pursed his lips and took hold of my shoulders, staring deeply into my eyes, “The cameras will be out. We’ll be careful. Todd and I know the watch system by now. I promise we’ll get you out of here in one piece.” Jack ran a hand along my lower lip, sending a shiver down my spine and making me instinctively part my lips.
“Ahem,” Kate coughed and I shot my head towards her as Jack dropped his arms and stepped back sheepishly.
“Well, since you two lovebirds are busy, I’ll go keep tabs on the Berks.” Kate bit her lip, pausing for a second before she came forward and quickly threw her arms around me, “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” I choked out, thinking that this may well be the last time I ever see her.
As she slammed the door, a thought occurred to me and I groaned out loud.
“What’s wrong?” Jack’s eyebrows creased in worry.
I narrowed my eyes at him, “We are not lovebirds.”
He chuckled, “Of course you would be the person to focus on that one word.” I rolled my eyes in exasperation as we momentarily lapsed into silence.
A few moments later, while looking me over, Jack pursed his lips, “Do you want some Advil?”
“Yes, thank God.” I grinned despite the pain as Jack handed me a glass and two little white tablets.
Downing them, I felt better already, whether a result of the placebo effect or not, I could care less.
The bed dipped beside me as Jack sat down, taking one of my hands in his and automatically, I leaned my head onto his shoulder. We sat there for awhile as I felt the effect of the Advil really sink in, transforming all the sharp pains to a constant dull ache, that though painful was much more tolerable.
Ten minutes to seven, a windblown Todd rushed into the doorway, eyes wide and panicked.
“We don’t have long,” he huffed. I could see beads of sweat clinging to his forehead from his rush to get here.
“Let’s go then,” Jack said as he let go of my hand and scooped me up into his arms.
I bit my lip guiltily, “are you sure you don’t want me to walk?”
“Nah, you’ll just slow us down,” Jack rolled his eyes as he tweaked my nose.
“Oh okay then,” I mumbled softly as I let my head sink onto his chest. I felt like a whirlwind of events was spinning around my head. It was all so sudden- leaving now after all this time, yet after no time at all.
That was when it dawned on me that as soon as I stepped outside of these doors, nothing would be the same. I would be an outlaw because the authorities wouldn’t understand any of this. To them, I’d look like a delinquent on the run.
And, to my horror, I realized I’d have no way to prove that I left for a legitimate reason. I couldn’t prove that Mr. Berkeley was a spy. I couldn’t prove that he’d beaten and drugged me. I couldn’t prove a damn thing.
“Damn,” I muttered under my breath.
“What?” Jack asked, puffing as he tried catch up to Todd as we rounded a corner.
“There’s no proof against Mr. Berkeley. He’ll get away with it all. Fuck…They should have freaking cameras in his office too. Stupid confidentiality laws.”
“It’s okay we’ll find some way to nail the bastard.” Jack grimaced.
“…not when we look like outlaws. Are you sure we shouldn’t just go to Mr. Brighton about this?”
“Look at it this way. Who do you think Mr. Brighton is going to believe, you or Mr. Berkeley? Mr. Berkeley lied his way into this school under a fake name and Mr. Brighton believed it.” Jack paused to look down at my face for a few moments. “Besides, the longer we stay here, the easier it will be for him to get to you and take you away.”
I guess you’re right.” I sighed, and looked away from Jack to notice my ever-changing surroundings. We twisted through the labyrinth of hallways, passing doorway after closed doorway.
However, as we raced by these doors, Jack’s breathing became increasingly harsh as he tried to keep up with Todd, burdened by my weight.
“Hey I think I can walk now; the Advil’s really helping a lot,” I lied through my teeth.
“Are you sure?” Jack huffed and I nodded, hoping he wouldn’t see the lie etched onto my face.
He quickly set me down on my feet before pulling me forward into a brisk trot. I sucked in a sharp breath as the first couple of steps set my stomach on fire again.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Jack frowned as he scrutinized my face.
“No time,” I deflected. “Let’s go,” I tugged onto his hand, not letting him protest any further.
Luckily the hallway we were running down came to its end and soon Todd was pushing a door open to the outside, the sunshine pouring in.
“We have to really hurry from here. There’s a signal that goes off when these doors are opened.” Todd warned as we sprinted out into the open parking lot.
I nodded and gritted my teeth, clutching Jack’s hand tightly as we made a dash for it.
The warmth from the sun felt so nice on my skin at first, but as I approached the large steel fence surrounding the campus, I was uncomfortably hot, with sweat beginning to cluster at my temple.
“What now?” I gasped like a fish out of water.
Jack bit his lip, glancing around until his eyes fell on the few cars left in the staff parking lot.
“You can hotwire a car, right?” He grinned mischievously.
I groaned, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No…that is unless you enjoy climbing over electric fences.”
“I’ll pass,” I groaned, as I followed the two boys who were already sprinting across the pavement.
As I stumbled into the open car doorway Jack had picked open, I moaned as I leaned over, stabbing a sharp shot of pain through my abdomen.
“Got any tools?” I asked as I examined the workings of the car. I noticed a photo that had fallen on the floor, and smirked when I noted a familiar face. Oh this was perfect. Someone wouldn’t be happy to find their car stolen…
“Nope.”
I sighed; I’d make do.
My hands set to work automatically, doing the things they’d been taught to do.
I felt like I heard some kind of distant shouting, but pushed it out of my mind as the air between the three of us thickened with tension.
“Done,” I sighed, grunting as I stood up, sending a fresh wave of pain over me.
“Good,” Jack quickly slid into the driver’s seat as Todd tugged me into the back.
Thank God the car started when it did. We were able to slide smoothly out of the gates with a wave of Jack’s hand, his visage artfully covered by his black hoodie.
In retrospect those shouts must have been a trick of my imagination because we were able to leave with relative ease, with no one questioning the man driving Mr. Berkeley’s car or the two people ducking down in the backseat.
As soon as we were in the clear, going an even 65 on the highway, I let out a deep breath I’d been holding and laid my head against the seat rest, eyes closed, as I tried to think away the throbbing ache that was left from my ill-advised sprinting spree. I was so damn stubborn sometimes.
However as we ditched a car in a random Safeway parking to get the authorities off our trail and began walking to nowhere in particular, it finally hit me. I’d been true to my word – I’d made it out in less than a year. Though my release was far from what I’d imagined.
I felt a weight drop over my shoulders as Jack gave me his hoodie.
“Thanks,” I murmured as I shrugged my arms into it shivering as I tried to warm myself. The sun had just set and the air was growing noticeably cooler.
“No problem,” Jack smiled as he pulled me close to him, the heat from his body warming me up even more. I let my head naturally lean into him, using it as something to distract me from the fact that the Advil was beginning to wear off.
“So,” I mumbled sleepily, exhausted from the drug dregs in my system, the day’s exertions, and my various injuries. “What do we do now?”
Jack chuckled, “Excellent question. I just wish I knew the answer to it.”
Ehh I don't like some parts of this chapter for some random reason...soooooo I'll probably go back and majorly edit to smooth everything out, improve grammar etc etc. Feel free to let me know if you spot anything majorly wrong grammatically or something just flat out doesn't make sense.
Thank you so much for all your fantabulous support! I love all of you who are a) Reading b) Voting c) Commenting and d)All of the above ^_^
<3 BNW