I had no plan, no idea's, no anything that would help us get out of here. But I had determination, and right now, that was everything that I was relying on. I was completely strapped in, so my first priority to get out of these leather bands. They were pulled so tightly I felt like I was a mummy, the tips of my fingers and the area that connected with the band was slowly changing colours, making me sick almost every time I looked at it. The buckles were all old fashioned ones, where a metal piece was looped through wholes to tighten it. Based on my current position, I knew that it was going to be a challenge.
Both Elijah and Isaiah were completely out, I knew that having all their blood in their head probably wasn't beneficial. I couldn't see anything within reach that would probably be of any assistance to me. My shoulders were strapped back, meaning that I couldn't just lift my arms out of its restraint, so accessing Nero's wall of torture toys would be about as likely as Das going to heaven.
Basically, it was zero.
I was well and truly stuck.
I looked down at the leather. It was thin and fraying, in some parts it was only just being held together by a thread that would even by the thickness of a single strand of hair. Perhaps I had been strapped with this as they were under the impression that I would talk, or maybe I wasn't supposed to stay here, perhaps Nero was meant to take me out but decided leaving me here would be more of a punishment, forgetting the actual condition of the straps.
Regardless of the reason, I bent down and latched my mouth around the strap that I could reach. I started digging my teeth into it as hard as I could, pulling it around as I tried to break it apart. I felt it snap in my mouth, I let go as quickly as possible, spitting out the strings and strands of leather that had lodged themselves into my teeth.
The band fell to the floor, quickly being kicked away with one easy swing of my foot. I pulled my hand upwards, curling it over and moving it around so the I could latch on to the buckle that held the leather strap against my wrists. I could feel the sharp metal poking underneath my fingernails as I tried to lodge my finger underneath the connector. Slowly, I pulled the stick of metal out of the holes, I then let myself feed the strap through the buckle, letting a sigh as I quickly went to work on the other, using my now free hand. As the second strap was pulled away I rubbed my wrists, my hands being a garish purple colour due to the lack of blood supply. I got to work, pulling away the straps that adorned my shoulders and then leaning down to take the ones off my feet and the one that wrapped painfully around my calves. My knees cracked as I stood upwards, but I didn't have time to waste.
I ran over and quickly got to work on the knots that held my brothers suspended in the air. As I untied the knots, I carefully held onto the rope, lowering each of them down as to not injure them further.
I pulled out the bandage roll that I had shoved in my pocket. I looked at them, for both it seemed that their chest and back seemed to be the worst. I didn't have time to find disinfectant, not even a bottle of alcohol that I could poor on to clean their wounds. I guess we were just going to have to make do. I started one at a time, wrapping the entirety of the chest and following through around their back. I had no idea whether I was doing it right, though my wrapping looked uneven and sloppy. When I would reach their lower back, I pulled the bandage underneath the one before it a few times before tying it into a not, securing it in place. I'm not sure whether it would hold, but it seemed to be working for now.
I pushed them up against a wall, hoping that it would let them come back into consciousness quicker. Until then I had to wait.
I had no ideas. I would guess that it would be night by now. Did they turn the lights off? Would I even be able to see, let alone navigate myself through the building?
I looked over, remembering the recording device that had been implanted into their ear. I thought for a moment, could it be turned on by someone else.
I leaned over Isaiah, who was the closest and carefully tapped his tragus, exactly where the device had been installed.
I held my breath, and not even a second later, a small blue light began to flash.
It was on.
"It's Elora," I whispered, feeling immediately stupid, "Elijah and Isaiah have been injured, though they should be able to walk, they sustained no leg injuries. I'm going to try and wake them up. We're making an escape, tonight."
I then pressed my finger back down over the mic and let it slowly turn off. I knew that it would be safer that way. I stood up and hastily turned on the sink, letting my hands form a bowl as to catch the water. I could feel the dirty liquid squeezing itself through the cracks of my fingers, but within a second, I was ready. I turned of my heel, slashing the water in the general vicinity of where my brothers were now lying on the floor.
Within a second, I heard two gasps, one following in suit of the other. I turned the water off as quickly as I could, letting myself rush back over to be at their aid.
Elijah and Isaiah drowsily opened their eyes, as they began to regain consciousness.
"How are you feeling?" I whispered urgently.
Elijah looked down, "Better then I thought I would be feeling."
"Can you walk?" I asked again.
Isaiah raised a hand to cradle his head, "Who knows? But probably."
I let out a sigh of relief, "Oh thank god. Look, we're getting out of here, I don't want to continue having you two at risk. Especially now with the severity of your injuries. They don't give you time to heal down here."
"I agree," Elijah bit out, "But you need to remember that you're injured too."
"I can barely feel it," I lied, "Look, did you guys come up with anything before you came?"
"There were a couple of vents that we could access, but I think it would be easier just to make a run for it and then get through one of the vents in another room which will lead us to the outside." Isaiah quickly explained. There are multiple access points, we'll be able to do it."
I nodded, "Try standing, I'm going to grab a weapon I turned on your mic and said that we were going to make a break for it tonight. I'm not sure if they heard it, but if they did, then they should be ready with whatever you guys had organised to happen."
"It will be a little different since we don't know the entire layout of the building, nor did we coming in. But it will be fine, we'll make it work." Elijah promised.
I nodded slightly, heaving myself up and walking over to the wall covered in Nero's murder instruments. I grabbed the most nimble thing I saw, a long dagger with a brown twine strung around the bottom quarter. Should I be put in a situation where I need to use it, at least it will be easy.
I grabbed two more daggers, however, they had more of a grated, curved edge then mine did. I held them both tightly in my left hand and I shoved them into Elijah and Isaiah's direction, both of them have managed to lift themselves up, and were now leaning not-so-gracefully in a hunchbacked position.
"In case of an emergency." I explained after taking a glance at their confused faces, "Can you walk?"
Isaiah shifted uncomfortably, "I doubt it even matters, we'll have to whether we can or we can't."
I looked down, "You're not wrong. Are you ready to go? The lest time we spend dilly-dallying the better."
After getting both of their approvals I walked over and grabbed onto the door handle. Unsurprisingly, it was locked. I pulled at my dagger and carefully jammed it in between the wall and the door. I pulled it up and down until I heard a satisfying click and the door swung open. I pulled it back carefully before ushering my brothers out. I held my hands steady on the door, slowly pulling it back as to not make a sound but to keep the door closed.
Then it began.
We didn't start running, not yet, not so soon.
Our footsteps were light as we silently paced the pitch black hallways. I ran my hand along the wall, feeling out any doors or curves where we would need to turn.
I was leading the way, mainly due to the fact that I was the only one who could stand upright. If we came up against something, I would have the best bet of fixing the problem.
A yellowish light began to filter its way into the hallway where we were walking,
"That room is where the vent is, we saw it on the way in. It's really easy to get into, and once we do, we'll be able to get out of here." Isaiah whispered, his voice louder against the silence of the hall.
I raised my hand, showing them that I had heard. I slowly poked my head into the room.
Completely empty.
I found the vent that Isaiah and Elijah had mentioned. It was in the wall, we would be able to lift it up and crawl in with ease.
Everything was working,
It didn't feel right, it shouldn't be going this right.
I felt something slash out against my back,
"ELORA WATCH OUT!" I heard as the weapon made contact with my skin.
I turned around, pulling the dagger into my hand and launching it into the figure behind me, feeling with the utmost confidence that it wasn't either of my brothers. I heard a sound, I knew it was a pain-filled sound, but there was something else in it too, something I couldn't identify.
I had stabbed them right in the chest, most likely the heart, maybe a lung, I hadn't checked.
I pulled my dagger out and gasped, staggering backwards.
What had I done?
Belial was lying on the floor, the blood slowly beginning to seep through his tunic and onto the floor beside him in a thick, careful trickle.
His blond hair was sprawled out against the floor, the scar on his face slowly becoming more and more prominent against his quickly paling skin. A green, oozy liquid was covering the sword that he had slashed me with. I chose to ignore it.
He started to cough, his eyes rolling back into his head. His mouth opened and closed as if he was trying to say something but the words were stuck in his throat.
I was frozen.
"Do you regret it?" I choked out. He was dying, I knew that, but I needed to know. "Did you regret what you did?"
A smile came over his face, the blood coming out faster now. "No, not even a second of it. Should I ever be given the chance to do it again, I would say yes in a heartbeat. You mean nothing to me, Elora, you never did."
And then he died.
Just like that.
It was so quick, so unbelievably quick.
He hadn't regretted anything. I knew people didn't want to lie on their deathbeds. I could see the sincerity in his eye, the way his smile curled into something much crueller.
I needed to keep moving.
Elijah and Isaiah had managed to screw the bolts loose, leaving an empty hole for us to crawl in through. I went in first, my hands and knees pressing uncomfortably against the cold metal. I crawled far enough in for Isaiah and Elijah to get in, following my actions and pulling themselves through the hole. WE didn't have to much space, at least, Elijah and Isaiah didn't, but it wasn't too bad. The ceiling was high, higher then I had expected it to be, and I had about five inches extra space if I pressed myself up directly against the wall. We paused and Elijah fed his hand through the vent holes to retighten the screws.
Then we began to move.
Slow and steady, I tried to move as silently as possible, I didn't need to alert anyone of my position. That would be disastrous, to come this far only to be caught in the vents on the way out.
I would hear small 'lefts' and 'turn right,' from my brothers when we were approaching a turn or a crossroads. The slash in my back was beginning to become more and more prominent, the feeling slowly digging into my bone. But I ignored it, there was nothing I could do to help myself except getting out.
My head was beginning to feel faint when I heard one of my brothers whisper, "That one, open that vent."
It was dead straight in front of me. It had been pitch black in these hallways, so I wouldn't have even known there was a vent there if I hadn't been able to spot the soft moonlight peeking through the cracks. I grabbed my dagger and pushed my hand through the went flaps, sticking my dagger into the indent of the screws to undo them. I went as fast as I could, moving on the moment I felt the small screw land in the palm of my hand. My hands were beginning to shake slightly, my view becoming blurred. I felt the vent door come undone. I pulled it back and placed it on the side with the bolts. I looked out, the vent had opened up onto the back of the building. I had half expected us to end up in another room, all we needed to do was open the door. But I figure that this would be easier, just a small drop and then we're out. We're in the wilderness. I didn't really recognise where we were exactly, but I knew that we were far out. I could see the trees, hear the trickling of perhaps a small lake in the distance. We weren't too far out, though I wonder how Maddox will be able to get to us, or how we'll be able to get to him. Maddox. I would be seeing him again soon. My heart lit up in fireworks at even just the thought of it. I turned myself around and slowly began to lower my legs out of the vent. We were so close.
Something hit my head like a wave. It wasn't an object, more like a feeling pressing itself up against my brain. My eyes rolled back into my head as I fell back, my hands disconnecting with the vent as I slowly went falling to the ground.
I felt my skull crack against the ground.
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Pls don't hate me too much for that ending ;)
Anyway, I'm feeling a lil bittersweet I'll be honest. We have 3 chapters left, meaning this is the last week of publishing. Honestly wish I had made this story longer so it didn't have to end :(
But, I asked you guys for 10k reads and 400 votes and yall really delivered on that one. So thank you all for the support.
Remember to vote and comment!
See you in the next chapter,
Eryn