Nero knew my plan even before I did.
I thought I had a chance, turns out I didn't.
As I turned a corner, Nero was there waiting, my entire body crashing into him with a fury of force. His large arm wrapped around my neck, pulling me off my feet entirely.
"Nice try," He gritted, "But unfortunately, that's just not going to work."
I had no way to respond, but I would guess that the tears now drying under my eyes. I could feel my airways closing, my breaths sparse as his grip became tighter as we moved.
My eyes felt glued shut, blood coming out as I coughed, my face most likely going a gruesome shade of purple.
I felt my body being dragged down another set of stairs, though I knew we were heading in a completely different direction than usual. I was probably being put in a new cell for whatever reason, one that was even more difficult to escape from, as if I'd even have the chance.
I knew something was seriously wrong when I could feel the dampness in the air, when I could hear a slow drip of water against plastic pipes. I heard the swing of a doorway before my entire body was catapulted forward. I opened my eyes, pushing my hands out in a way to brace the fall. I felt my body slam against the floor, something black and sticky immediately smearing itself on me. I could feel what felt like glass shards stab into my hands and bare skin. I choked back a sob.
The loud swing and slam of the cell door falling back into place jarred me back into reality
Trapped again, like a mouse being toyed with before the cats decide its purpose would be better spent elsewhere.
A loud sob erupted from my mouth as I moved onto my back, slowly moving so my back connected with the wall. Compared to this cell, the one I had been in before was a five-star resort.
While it was much more spacious than my last, it was also much more disgusting. It was clear that I wasn't the first occupant.
There was virtually no light, no light switches or windows, only a small lightbulb near the door. I leaned my head back against the wet, brick wall. I felt disgusting, the pain really beginning to settle in as my adrenaline was slowly beginning to fade.
I didn't want to look down at my leg, knowing that it would easily be the worst injury that I have ever sustained.
I had no idea what was happening upstairs, though as I sat here, literally in my own filth, the more I doubted that it was Maddox, or anyone coming with the intention to save me or any others that were imprisoned here.
I would have to rescue myself, figure out my own escape plan.
I had no idea how long I had been here, though I knew that the longer I was, the worst I would be.
I needed to get out.
But perhaps not now, maybe when I could stand properly, that would most likely be the best course of action.
I would get out of here,
Unless of course, I died first, which was highly likely.
I heard a door open, a beam of light streaming down for just a moment before it was abruptly shut off. It was probably Nero again, but perhaps he wasn't alone.
I could hear something else, like someone struggling against ropes or trying to talk while being gagged. They ended up back in front of my cell door. It wasn't Nero, it was Lucifer and Judas, both holding two imprisoned bodies in tow.
"Enjoy the family reunion," Judas sneered as Lucifer pulled open the gate.
The bodies were thrown in my direction, I cringed at the sound of the impact.
My mind flickered back to what he had said, my heart began to beat quicker, he couldn't mean...
I leaned forward, placing one of my hands forward to move me further. I curled one of my fingers around the material gag on the body closest to me. It broke in a moment, the person taking a long gasp of air.
I moved over and did the same, the second person near identical to the first.
"No," I whispered, horrified, "Please, no."
I was on my hands and knees now, the heavy feeling in my chest outweighing the screaming, stinging feeling in my calf.
They pulled themselves up, one placing a hand on his head as a groan erupted from his lips.
I looked at them,
My brothers.
I fell back, "What are you doing here?" I almost screamed.
"We've come to get you out? Thought you'd be a little happier Lor, not going to lie." Elijah said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I looked at Isaiah, my mouth open wide, a look of horrified concern taking over my features. I fell back, placing a hand over my mouth.
Isaiah did a double-take, "Your leg... what happened?? Are you ok?" He asked urgently.
I shook my head, "What are you doing here?"
Isaiah moved over, Elijah pulling himself directly next to me. Isaiah pushed my leg down from the crouched position it was in. He stuck his hand down his pants, quickly pulling out a roll of bandages.
"Peyton thought it might be a good idea, in case you needed medical assistance." He quickly explained, starting to unroll it.
My mind was about to explode. "Peyton? What-"
"They brought us in to ask us about you, if you had visited us or anything, see if we had information. They were under the impression that you had run away or something. Once we started piecing our two sides of the story together, we realised that something else was in play. Zina suggested we come in undercover almost, help try and get you out." Elijah quickly explained. "Look, we have a plan. We just need to stay here for a little longer to lower suspicions of anything, then we're getting out of here."
I bit my lip as Isaiah slowly began wrapping the bandage around my leg.
Elijah pointed to his tragus in his ear. "They put in a microphone, a recording device of sorts. They can hear us, and you as well, along with anyone in the general vicinity. They can send though messages, just small ones to alert us if there are any changes."
I paused, "Is Maddox there?"
Elijah nodded carefully, "He's here. He misses you, he says he loves you."
With those words, everything felt so, so much more real. My soulmate, the one I had left thinking I hated him. And I was here, caught in some unbelievable situation that was happening. I was here, in a cell, with an injury the length of my forearm.
I lost control.
I started crying. Loud, ugly sobs that echoed in the room, blurring my sight as I rested my head on Elijah's shoulder.
"I love you too." I wailed, trying to wipe away the mass of tears that were spilling down my face. "I love you too! I'm so sorry,"
I couldn't stop. It was like everything that I had pent up was coming spilling out now. I felt Isaiah stop fussing with leg, wrapping an arm around my shoulders as I let go.
"He hates me doesn't he?" My irrational mind asked, "I'm so sorry, Maddox I would never leave! I couldn't- I wouldn't leave you! Not now, not ever!"
"He doesn't hate you," I heard Isaiah whisper, "Though it is kind of hard to be the messenger here."
I wiped a hand along my cheek, "I'm sorry, I didn't even think of you guys."
Elijah rubbed my back, "It's fine, we can turn them off."
As if on instinct, the two boys raised their fingers and lightly tapped on their tragus - the area of which the messaging device had been implanted. A small light blue flash came of it for a moment, before dimming slowly.
"We can turn that on and off whenever we want to," Isaiah confirmed, "Just to give us some privacy I suppose."
"Of course, yeah that makes sense," I mindlessly answered, "You guys really shouldn't have come here, I don't even want to think about the type of dangers that you'll get into now you're here. They certainly haven't been gentle with me, I doubt you will be receiving special treatment."
"And we came well aware of that fact. Our priority is getting you out of here so that your boyfriend can launch an official attack, putting this whole thing to an end. They needed someone on the inside to help you get out. We were the perfect option." Elijah protested, as if his words were persuading me of their safety.
"How did you even get caught anyway, did they reveal their location by accident or something?" I asked miserably.
Isaiah shook his head, "We went snooping around the warehouse that had been found with all the guns and stuff. We were asked kindly to leave but upon resisting, we were taken down to a group of people. They must have recognised us, since the next thing we knew, we were being dragged down here."
"But that was kinda our plan though, so it's fine," Elijah added as an afterthought.
I sighed, "You're both idiots."
A dumb smile took over their face, "Yeah, but since we're hot, we make it work." Elijah said with a playful wink.
Isaiah opened his mouth to speak but was rudely interrupted by the opening of the entrance door. The opening and closing of the door were followed by three low voices arguing with each other. I couldn't hear anything they were saying, only the sound of their voice.
The atmosphere in the room changed almost immediately, the small feeling of victory in my chest was being extinguished.
They weren't done with us,
They were never done with us.
It was the same men, Lucifer and Judas, this time accompanied by a sulking Belial who was slowly hanging behind them.
Lucifer leaned against the cell door, sticking his hand through the bars and beckoning us over. I went to stand but was pushed back by a firm hand on my arm. Isaiah and Elijah both stood up and walked over. Despite there being an entire cell door between by brothers, Lucifer, Judas and Belial, they were cuffed immediately.
They made no sound, the only thing I could hear was the sharp click of metal against metal. A key was shoved in the keyhole, allowing the door to swing open. An arm was placed around their throats, while the other hand held together their bound wrists. I stayed on the floor, unmoving.
"Bound and gag her, then bring her to the room when you're finished," Lucifer ordered in Belials direction, "Don't take to long though. This has got to be quick."
Belial gave a sharp nod before pushing past his brothers and entering the cell.
I didn't move, yet I held his gaze, not backing down.
He leant down and ripped my hands out, quickly wrapping the rope around my wrists and pulling me up in one, quick motion.
"Keep up, I don't want to have to deal with you being slow." He looked down, pausing as he noticed the thick white tape that was currently wrapped around my calf. It was as if he had suddenly remembered what had happened perhaps only an hour ago.
I wasn't healed, not even a little, the pain still causing my strife. I supposed I just had to hope that whatever they had planned next didn't involve any repetition of their past treatment of me.
He chose to turn a blind eye to it, since I suppose, in hindsight, there wasn't really anything wrong with it. Every step sent sharp, electric jolts of pain up my leg. I grit my teeth together, keeping my mouth closed as we went up the stairs.
I didn't need to give anyone extra reasons.
I knew that it would backfire against me in the end.
The route we took was familiar, we were heading in the direction of the torture room that I had been occupying almost every single day since I had arrived, excluding of course this morning, which was a whole other experience within itself.
I could see the door, a figure sending a shadow looming against the cloudy door.
As if the shadow knew we were there, the door swung open, a gust of cold air coming out of the air-conditioned room. Nero was standing there, a loose singlet covering his chest, accompanied by the too-familiar sadistic smile.
He leaned against the door, I gulped as we made eye contact,
I knew that this wasn't going to be good.
Belial shoved me forward, Nero grabbing on to the loop between my hands.
"Let's have some fun shall we?" He breathed, I turned my face away.
"Really, after all the fun we had this morning?" I spat,
Nero looked down at my leg, scoffing at the bandages that covered the wolf's bite. "You seem to be handling it quite fine on your own. Besides, we have other plans for this afternoon."
I gulped, not wanting to know what he meant by that.
He grabbed me into the room, pushing me down into a seat up against the wall. Two leather straps were pulled against my body and tightened as hard as they possibly could. Another one went around my legs, plus two more for my wrists. I tried to move even an inch, it was impossible. I cringed, my hands already beginning to go a reddish colour.
Nero moved out of the way and I looked up, I saw Elijah and Isaiah hanging from the ceiling, their head nearly touching the floor as their eyes darted between me and the other.
I bit back a gasp,
They wouldn't.
"Since you have been so reluctant to share any useful information, we've decided it may be necessary to take other... routes of information-extraction. You say something, anything, that will benefit us, it all stops. However, until you do..." As if to prove his point, his fisted hand went flying into Isaiah's stomach. Isaiah curled in pain for a moment before biting out a few words,
"Don't say anything, we'll be fine." Another punch came in.
Elijah looked at his twin frantically, "Say nothing, Elora, not a single word. We can't risk it-" Nero had picked up a bat that he had lying on the floor and swung it into Elijah's back, promptly causing his words to be replaced by a bone-aching groan.
I knew they were right, I couldn't say anything.
So I kept my mouth shut, not a single word leaving my mouth.
It went on for hours, the hitting, the screaming, the roars of pain. Their clothes were torn to shreds, their backs a bloody mess. I could see it in their eyes, the pain was indescribable.
Yet I kept my mouth shut.
I watched the spiked bat, the whip, the salted water that would be poured into their wounds. I watched their bodies writhe in agony as each devious act was performed.
But I couldn't do anything,
I let it happen.
And then Nero stopped, letting his weapon drop to the floor as he exited the room. He offered no word of explanation, only leaving us abandoned in the room. I tried to move, even inch the chair forward, but my efforts were futile. It wouldn't surprise me if the back of the chair was bolted to the wall.
I cried silently as I watched them swing in and out of consciousness, I was unable to talk, my own throat is raw from the screaming.
I looked at my brothers as my decision was planted in my head,
"We're leaving," I whispered, already knowing that the room was soundproof, plus being free from cameras or recording devices. "We're getting out of here, tonight."
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I'll be honest, I genuinely have no idea why this story is glitchy, but it is. Did you guys not get a chapter on Wednesday? Cause it should have been 38, but idk anymore.
Also, thank you guys so much for 9k. I'm srsly shook. I kinda wanna ask tho, next week is the last week of DA, because there is only 3 chapters left and I'll post the epilogue with the last chapter, so do you guys think by Monday we would have 10k and 400 votes?
I really hope yo8 guys are enjoying this story, also, still number 1 in human after like? A week or something? Wild.
Anyway remember to vote and comment!
See you in the next chapter,
Eryn