“My…. inhaler….” I wheeze at the guy in the corner. “Can’t…. breeeeeeathe…”
And, with those words I let my head flop down towards my chest. I make sure to keep my eyes closed, and my ears pricked up. When one of your senses is off, then others become much keener than normal. Seeing I was left with barely anything functional in my nose, that meant that I needed to focus on my hearing. Now, it is paying off more than ever
.
I hear the guy’s footsteps moving closer and closer to me. If my nose was any good, I’d be able to tell exactly when he’s in front of me, or when he leans down to check on me. But, I can’t smell him. Instead, I can only listen. His body fights the air around him, the air that is in this case, my best friend. He’s a heavy guy, his shoes are pressing hard against the cement floor, even though the soles of his shoes try to soak up all the noise. But, it’s impossible. A keen ear will always hear them.
Making sure to breathe as slowly as possible, I need to confuse him. I need to make him think that I’m dying. I’m on the verge of death, and he needs to find my non-existent inhaler.
I hear him stop a little away from me. He hesitates to approach me. My breathing has calmed down to the extent of being barely noticeable. Suddenly, I feel his fingers pressing against my jeans pockets. He feels nothing. He checks the pockets of my jacket, and I feel a gush of air brought on by his presence.
I know this is my moment. It’s now or never.
I lift my head as hard as I can, and I come down onto his with a bang. A million sharp needles of pain pierce through my face, my forehead and my chin. I try not to focus on the nerve-wracking pain, because I know there will be more to follow. The thug’s body slumps down onto the floor, right in front of me. A thin trickle of blood starts oozing from both of his nostrils. But, I know such a big guy won’t stay down so easily. So, I need to go on with my plan.
I look down at my legs. They’re both tied to the chair legs. My hands are tied to my back. The only way I can do this is the most painful. But, I can’t risk this guy getting up, or Sven coming back. I need to do this now.
I take another deep breath, trying to tighten my muscles as much as possible. The wall is close behind me. I just need to bang against it as hard as I can. Slowly, I lower my body onto my feet, managing to keep a balance of both my body and the chair that’s tied to my back. Without thinking, as these things usually go, I slam hard backwards, as hard as I can. A part of the chair breaks, but the seat and the legs remain intact. I sway to the front again, and repeat the action, even harder this time, ready for any stray spike that might dig into me. But, at this point, it’s a risk I’m willing to take.
Sometimes, you got more luck than brains, and this is exactly one of those situations. The back of the chair separates and my hands are loosened. I manage to wiggle them free of the rope, and I do the same with my legs.
As I’m about to step over the body which lies prostrate on the floor, I feel the guy’s hand grab at my ankle. With one swift kick in the chin, I solve that problem. His head jerks to the other side, and I stay there another moment, to see if he’s getting up again. Once I’m sure that he’s knocked out for good, I step over him and walk to the door.
I expect it to be locked. But, again - more luck than brains. I smile at the silver lining in this whole shit storm, and push the door open. A dark hallway opens up before me. I can’t see shit in there. I hear nothing but silence. Fynn’s nose would come in mighty handy now, but who knows where he is.
I wonder if he and Maddie are alright. If she’s with him, she should be. He’d die first before letting anything happen to her. I know it. So, maybe I shouldn’t worry about them. I should worry about myself.
With positivity in mind, I take a step down the dark hallway, hoping that whatever monster is lurking in its depths would be one I can take on.
Chapter 21
“You can’t come and that’s final!” Fynn growls at me, as he shoves his gun in the back of his pants, then adjusts his shirt over it.
“But, you said you needed me,” I snort. “Why would you give me a gun then?”
“Because I thought they’d come after us here,” he explains. “Then, we would have been able to set up traps, and stay inside. We might have been able to take them on, just the two of us, because they’d come to us, on our terrain. Instead, they turned the tables on us.”
He sighs heavily as he speaks, his forehead all wrinkled and brows furrowed. This is the Fynn that I’ve known from day one. Serious Fynn. Fynn who always solves problems. Fynn who doesn’t sugar coat things.
“I know you’re scared that something will happen to me,” I start. “I’m scared of that, too.”
“That’s why I need to take you somewhere, where you can hide,” he interrupts me.
“But, you’ve said it yourself. There is nowhere else to hide.”
“That’s why it doesn’t matter where you go. Any place will do. They won’t know where you are, because we don’t know where to go, where to take you.”
“Stop talking in riddles!” I feel myself getting angry at him, and that’s the last thing I want. He’s on my side. We’re on the same team, and we need to work together to survive, to find Anderson.
“Just let me come with you,” I plead.
“I can’t do that,” he shakes his head.
“I can help you.”
“You’ll be a distraction,” he snorts, not caring the least bit that he might hurt my feelings. He just tells it like it is, and you need to deal with it, if you want to go along for the ride. “I can’t focus on finding Anderson and trying to keep you alive.”
“I can do that just fine on my own,” I sneer. Of course I know that’s not true, but the heat of the moment is high, and I’ll say anything to have him take me along. “And, besides, I need to find out what happened to my father, Fynn. This isn’t just about you and Anderson, you know.”