A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.
Once more, she heard everything. The yelling, arguing, crying, every single second of it echoed down the subway tunnel and into the maintenance room. She didn't expect to catch any of it, though. Rather, she had been expecting to be captured or dead from being discovered, but she was lucky and still free from either creature. All of the noise also gave her an advantage even if she didn't want to move from her spot from terror, but she had to. Ren, Nick, Deidre and (f/n) all were out there still; she couldn't let them down, so she had to summon what remaining courage she had.
Using the noise to hide her actions, she stood up. They wouldn't be able to see the light from her flashlight either due to the door, and they sounded too distracted to notice either, so she explored the maintenance room. At first, nothing of interest greeted her. Dust, rusted machines, spider webs and a rusted metal cabinet rested in the room, but she performed another inspection since an air vent was out of the option due to the only one in the room being incredibly tiny.
On her second run through, she noted something peculiar about the cabinet. She crouched and shone the flashlight's beam underneath it. There, she spotted what might just save her friends: another vent shaft. Brushing back strands of loose light brown hair, she stood up and began to push the cabinet. The metal creaked horribly, but she heard no one racing towards the room; she only hoped that they kept yelling for awhile longer, or she would be detected.
With it moved enough, she lifted off the covering, which thankfully wasn't screwed into the ground, and climbed down. She lowered herself onto her hands and knees, illuminating the metal tunnel ahead. More spider webs greeted her along with the occasional dead spider or insect. Chris, though, pushed back any thoughts of disgust since she had a vital task to fulfill, but there remained the issue of whether the air vent would lead to all of her friends' location. Even if it did head there, where would she pop out of the ground from? If it was in the middle of the room, things might escalate in difficulty quite quickly.
Trying to remain somewhat positive, she continued down the shaft and noted the old fan. She might be able to crawl between the unmoving blades, which unnerved her a little. If she couldn't fit, she would try busting it down. The metal was old enough that it might be possible. It didn't take long to reach the fan. First, Chris took off the backpacks and threw them through the opening onto the other side. Chris proceeded to touch her elbows together and made herself as small as she could as she crawled forward. Just barely, her shoulders fit between the two bottom blades. Once they were through, she moved onto her right side and used her free hand to pull herself forward.
Thankfully, she got through, and she was able to press onward. The arguing grew louder as she drew nearer, and she saw light up ahead that wasn't from her flashlight. She switched the device off and moved in a quieter fashion. "I'll take what you desire most, and, maybe, you'll wake up to your failures." Those words hit her ears, and she practically launched herself forward. Chris reached the opening. There were no screws. (F/n) and Callest were near to the vent opening. Callest raised his left hand. Ether screamed for (f/n). Nick followed. Her next word was ..."(F/n)!"
No hesitation entered her actions. Her body threw itself towards the vent opening. Metal shot up and was cast aside as a loud bang sounded through the room. Chris leaped out of the opening. She reached forward, but Callest's hand already was moving. Sharp nails soared through the air and towards their target. They met flesh, but they missed their bull's-eye due to arms moving them slightly. Several piercing cries, one incredibly high-pitched, resonated in the area as a projectile of crimson flew before thin streams trickled down skin and dripped onto the floor below.
Arms wrapped around Callest's waist and drove him to his right. His nails retracted from the flesh as several individuals, some who had woken up seconds before, wished that they could've covered their ears several moments prior. Or if they could've of, they would've prevented the stabbing altogether. Callest and Chris, however, crashed to the floor. She held onto him tightly so that he couldn't recover as swiftly. "You filthy human scum!" Callest shouted out as his optics switched from her over to (f/n) and Ether.
(F/n)'s body desperately wanted to slouch forward, and Ether was already by her side. He was shouting out her name before his optics met Callest's. The purest form of hatred danced like wicked flames in Ether's eyes, and Callest hurriedly ripped Chris from him and tossed her, harder than he had any of the others, across the room. Her teammates called out to her, with Ren's voice being the loudest. She hit the wall to Callest's left and crumpled up on the ground. Something in her had cracked, but she remained breathing, though, now unconscious.
Swiftly, Callest got to his feet. Ether was on him in seconds. Nails sliced through the air as Ether lost any trace of human resemblance in that moment; he looked nothing more than a monstrous killing machine from the darkest depths of the earth. Cursing, Callest dodged the attacks before he jumped high into the air. His hands gripped onto gate three, and he skillfully climbed to the top of it. About to follow, Ether paused as Nick cried out, "Forget him right now! (F/n)'s going to die if you don't do something!"
That woke him up, and the younger creature paused as his eyes saw Callest land on the other side of the fence before he dashed off down the tracks. A menacing growl left the younger creature's lips before he glared at Nick, who visibly gulped. Ren tried to stand, but he fell back down from his prior beatings. Deidre attempted to do the same, but the creature directed his gaze over to her next, and she froze. Rapidly, he dashed through the room and cut all of their restraints, which left them shocked.
Without another word, the creature rushed over to his pink flower and cut her down from her bonds. She collapsed into his arms as he examined the damage more thoroughly. A stream of curse words parted from him as his rage turned into grief. "(F/n), hang on," he muttered, forcing himself to set her down. He tore off his hoodie and instantly tied it around her wounds to help slow the bleeding. "You need to live. You lived through Haley's attack, right?" he tried to encourage as pained moans escaped her.
Lacking energy, she turned her (e/c) eyes up to him, and a hurting smile met her lips. His heart repaired itself only to shatter all over again. Gently, he moved her onto his lap; his left arm supported her neck and his right her legs. "... You can't. I'm loosing ..."
"No!" the creature shouted as Ren wished he could rush over to Chris. Deidre went over to help Nick. "You're staying alive. You haven't dealt with all of my sh*t just to die like this!" he cried out as her smile fell. Her eyes closed as tears trailed down her face and joined the crimson.
"... I don't want ..." She coughed and more blood exited past her lips. "To die." Gradually and struggling, she opened her eyes again. "... I ..." Tears couldn't be stopped, and they fell from the creature's face onto her. He was shaking his head, and she saw through all of his walls again in that moment. More tears parted from her before the pain in her body forced them to close once more. A tugging darkness consumed her slowly, and her lips parted as a breath left her. "Ether ..."
Slightly, the creature's eyes widened, and he didn't know what to make of the name that left her lips, but his heart clenched tightly as though some lost word from long ago had drifted into his mind. "(F/n)," he spoke softly. No response. "(F/n)," he shook her a little. "No, no, no, no ..." She still felt warm. He still heard her heart beating, but it was slower, and it wasn't getting any better.
Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw a hand reach towards his left shoulder. Instantly, his head snapped towards the person, and he saw Nick there, who was crying too. The creature scowled through his own tears before he glanced back to (f/n). On his own, he wouldn't be able to save her in time, and he had no time to kill the four other humans in the room with him; he didn't even know if he could since one of them had risked her own life for (f/n). That human woman probably had saved (f/n) from a fatal attack, but it would be fatal if he didn't do something quick.
Pushing back his hatred for the male near him, he ordered, "Anywhere! Where is somewhere we can take her? Is there a hospital nearby?" Nick froze and looked shocked that the creature didn't proceed to attack or ask them to leave. "Speak, human! Where the f*ck is one in this d*mn town?!"
Cogs finally clicking in his brain and seeing that (f/n) still was breathing, Nick replied, "The nearest hospital is fifty minutes out. She won't make it. Even if you have a phone and we could call 911, they won't make it in time." The creature looked ready to rip his head off, and Nick immediately thought of somewhere. "A vet. It's not much, but it's twenty-four-seven. I saw one near to the subway entrance. You can go in through the back. If you hurry, you might make it."
Nodding, the creature grabbed his duffel bag and stood to his feet as he gently held (f/n) in his arms. "Show me how to get there." Nick gave him a slightly questioning look. Before Nick could speak, the creature responded, "You four need to leave with me. Callest might still be around. If I leave, he'll kill you four, especially given what she did." His head tilted towards Chris. "I'm paying you back for her actions, so let's move." Again, Nick was about to speak, but the creature didn't let him. "I still wish to kill you, Nick," the creature spoke, and Nick visibly winced at the creature speaking his name. "But, I won't. Just make sure (f/n) lives, and I won't kill you. She dies, and this becomes a different scenario." The creature held (f/n) in his right arm in a careful sitting position before he walked over to Ren, who tried to back away, and threw the male over his left shoulder. "Pick up your unconscious friend," he ordered Nick, who didn't waste another moment. Deidre helped him, and the creature signaled for all of them to start running alongside him as their fear and shock subsided to focus on saving (f/n).