Chapter 30
They did it. I don't know how, but they got Crow to put us all in the same room. We were all tied up in different corners of a small square room that looked like the office I first found out I was being taken to an asylum as Joanna. I eyed the window that Luna told me about and it was very small, it would take time to get through it, probably more time then we had...
I don't know what happens from here, so I'm waiting on Kain's signal. We've been in here for a few hours now and according to one of the guards we are waiting for Crow to join us.
I turn my head towards Luna and I see her hands wiggling around behind her back. My eyes widen as I see the rope around them loosing slowly. This was one of my worries, how do we get out of the chairs we are tied to? But apparently Luna had this part covered.
I quickly look away so I don't draw attention to her and instead look across the room at Kain who's already looking at me with an indistinguishable expression. I give him a look of confusion and he just shakes his head, looking away. What did that look mean? I've seen that look on him before, but I never quite understood it...
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I'm scared. I'm unsure what to do, but I know what I will have to do if it comes down to it... I look over to Garrett and can feel my heart clench at the thought.
If they find us, I will give myself up to protect him. But I have to hide this from him because he'd never let me sacrifice myself for him. I've been pretending everything is okay and that I'm optimistic, but inside I'm losing all hope. I know he said he would figure it all out and I should have faith in him, but it's hard to do that when all odds are against us.
"Get out here now you fucking—" I instantly cover my ears, unable to listen to the insults he calls Garrett.
Francis is out there with a bunch of his drunk friends and I just know they're here to get Garrett back for what he did to Francis when he tried to take advantage of me. Garrett and I were enjoying a rare night alone, when we heard the front door slam open and a bunch of loud voices charging inside. I instantly locked us in my room, but I know they're on their way up here. I need to protect Garrett. I climb back on the bed next to Garrett and grab the cold metal I keep hidden under my mattress. I stole it from my father after discovering what he was doing to my mother.
I look back to Garrett as the voices grow closer and he gives me an indistinguishable look, almost as if he knows exactly what is going on in my head.
Just as I start to move towards him his eyes widen knowingly. "Elizabeth..." I frown at him as they begin pounding on my door, beckoning us out.
"Garrett, I would do anything to protect you. They only want to get back at you because of you protecting me, it all comes back to me and I cannot let you continue to get hurt by protecting me," I whisper.
"You know I'm more than capable of taking care of myself Elizabeth, even against multiple men." I flinch as he reminds me of the time he was beat up for protecting a maid that was being taken advantage of. He was able to hold his own, but I couldn't bear to see him hurt again.
"I'm sorry," I whisper as I latch the handcuff around his hand. He looks down at it and back at me in disbelief. "Please be quiet," I whisper before he can say anything.
The look he gives me sends a shiver down my spine as I climb out of my window.
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I'm glad I'm pulled from the rest of that memory.
"Well, well, well. Now that I have you all in the same room, what shall we do with you?" Crow says as she walks through the door.
Her five henchmen follow in behind her. That's a good sign; it means they're all here and no one is outside keeping guard.
"No one has anything to say?" She raises an eyebrow.
"It's not like you'll give us any answers, so why bother wasting our breath?" Kain glares at her.
"For the treatment you've been receiving you'd think I would've broken you a little, but you stay standing strong Kain," Crow says thoughtfully. "I wonder what it would take to break you..." She says with a smirk before looking over to me. I see Kain stiffen, but quickly mask any emotion he may have leaked.
She walks slowly up to me and my muscles tighten as she drags a long sharp nail down my face. I keep my eyes on Kain, willing him to stay calm. I can see the struggle in his eyes when I wince as she digs her nail into my face.
"Edgar," she says with a hand held out. I can't turn my head to see what the henchman gives her, but based on the small gasp from Luna and the murderous look in Kain's eyes, it can't be good.
"Don't you dare hurt her," Kain grits out between clenched teeth.
I suddenly feel a cold, sharp metal against my cheek and I freeze. "And what," the blade slides down a little, "are you," it's barely touching me, but I hold my breath, "going to do," it stops against my neck, "about it?" It's digging into my neck and I gasp as it cuts into my skin.
"STOP!" Kain yells out as soon as he eyes the blood dripping down my neck. I hear a small sob from beside me. "Hurt me! Just leave both of them out of it!" The knife is suddenly gone from my neck and I turn slightly to see that one of the men had been approaching Luna with another knife. She makes eye contact with me and subtly shakes her head while looking towards Kain.
I turn back to Kain to find Crow approaching him with the knife. How do I protect him now?
Just as Crow is about to bring the knife to his neck a loud ringer sounds throughout the room. I hear her mumble a curse beneath her breath. "Saved by the bell, I will be back soon to finish what I started," she tells us as she pulls a phone from her pocket and heads to the door, but just before she leaves she turns to look us all in the eye. "I will break you all, mark my words."
And with that she was gone followed by all of her henchmen. I'm staring blankly at the door when something touches my hand, making me flinch back. My head snaps to my side to see Luna crouched beside me, quickly untying my hands.
"Luna how did you get out of yours?" I whisper as she successfully unties me and moves onto my feet.
She glances at me and holds up a pocketknife before slicing the ties. "Stole it from the man who tried to take advantage of me," she mumbles. As soon as I'm free she darts over to Kain and I head towards the window to see if there is any other way to get out of it without breaking it.
I frown as I realize there isn't but they wouldn't be stupid enough to leave us in a room with a window we can easily escape out of. I then go back to the chair I sat in and bring it to the window. I stand on top of it just as Kain and Luna rush over.
"We're going to have to use one of the other chairs to break it," Kain says as he grabs the chair he was sitting in. "Here let me," he grabs me from the chair. Just as he is about to smash the window he turns back to us, "ready?" We both nod and he brings the chair down hard onto the window. I cover my face as glass rains down on us. He uses the chair leg to get as much of the glass to fall off as possible so we don't cut ourselves trying to squeeze through it.
Kain quickly drops the chair and I take it to put under the door handle, to buy us some time, but I can already hear footsteps racing towards us. My heart is pounding away in my chest and I nervously look back at Kain who is pushing Luna's legs through the window as she tries to drag herself through. He glances away once she's mostly out and his eyes widen when he notices I'm not standing there. As soon as Luna is through his head flashes to me and I know the look on my face shows my blatant fear. It wasn't until this very moment that Kain let his fear show back. The look he gave me matched the one he gave me all those lifetimes ago when I climbed out my window. The irony isn't missed as he stands next to the window watching me.
"Go," I tell him and his jaw clenches as he jumps off the chair, ready to come drag me to the window.
"Kain," I say his name with so much emotion that he actually pauses. "Go! Go help Luna, she needs you!"
"And you?" His voice is steel as dozens of emotions pass through his eyes.
"I'll distract them so you can get out," I say simply. A distraction.
"Darling..." His voice holds so much emotion and my eyes sting looking into them.
I'm suddenly bounced off the door as they try knocking it down. I watch Kain's eyes widen and I'm more than sure mine mirror his. "Kain, go!"
I see his hesitation, "Please if anything happens to Luna I would never forgive myself, I know you can protect her!" I rush out. I see the fight in his eyes, but he backs away.
My body is doing nothing to hold this door, but it makes me feel as if I'm giving him time. I'm rocked as I hear them charging their bodies into it and Crow's commands yelling over their grunts.
Kain is pulling himself up to the window. "I love you," I whisper to his back, but he hears and freezes before turning his head to me.
"I love you darling and you better believe I won't hesitate to tell you every day for the rest of our lives once I come back for you," he says in determination, but his eyes shine with unshed tears.
Before I can say anything I'm pushed forward with so much force it knocks the breath out of me. I feel the door slam onto my back and Kain is still here staring at me with wide eyes. "GO!" I scream and I can see it takes everything in him to listen. He quickly pulls himself the rest of the way up.
One of the henchmen sprints towards him and I ignore the pain shooting through my body as I jump up, pushing the door off my back. I grab the last chair in the corner and just as I'm about to slam it across the henchman's back I'm tugged back by my hair, which causes the henchman I was about to strike to look back at me, giving Kain just enough time to squeeze the rest of his body through.
I almost let out a sigh of relief but then I see that a different henchman, the one who was always delivering notes to me, grabbed a hold of Kain's foot just before he could pull it through. I'm trying to fight off the person holding me, when I feel that familiar feeling of a knife being held against me. I stiffen as the knife digs into my back. I watch as the man pulls at Kain's leg. Kain tries kicking him off with his free foot, but the first man grabs onto that one.
Come on Kain...
And suddenly a quick movement catches my eye, and then a gasp is heard as one of the men pulls back his now bleeding hand. I see another movement and now the other man is bleeding.
Luna and the pocketknife!
Kain quickly pulls back his legs. That's the last I see before I'm pushed down and the knife pierces my skin.
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I gift you an extra long chapter to hopefully make up for my slow updates! I am currently transitioning into part-time at my job, so I can actually have time to do what I love (writing)! I plan on writing a lot more, so the next update will definitely be sometime this weekend!
-Julia :)