A few hours later with curfew fast approaching, Isabella and Ren had met up in the cafeteria along with the supplies they had gathered. The duo had patiently waited until the other inmates had returned to their cells. The prisoners were well aware of what occurred during curfew so the Mess hall was now completely empty which led to the two of them being surrounded by an eerie silence.
Ren had brought along around ten kilograms of raw meat which he sourced from the Black Bulls pantry. Obviously, he had to pay for it out of his own pocket and now only had a measly fifty sparks to his name. He also decided to bring along a small glass lantern with a small flame, Ren didn't know if the crystals stopped glowing after curfew but it was best to be prepared.
Isabella manged to get her hands on a small barrel of liquor, Ren assumed she had used her connections with the Daiseys to pull it off, since the gang had ownership of all Luxury goods that came to the prison.
"Is that enough?"
Ren asked while staring doubtfully at the small barrel that Isabella had brought.
"Do you know how expensive Alcohol is in this prison, don't worry though, this stuff is so strong that even the heaviest drinkers only dare to sip it."
She said while cracking open the barrel's lid, giving Ren a good whiff of the pungent liquor inside. Just the smell alone made Ren feel a little light headed.
"We don't have much time left so we should get started."
Isabella urged and with that reminder they began securing bits of meat to the barrel with rope, soon enough the meat dummy was completed. After they were done, they both took a step back to admire their handiwork.
"You think this will work."
Isabella asked curiously, Ren just shrugged his shoulders in response. He had no clue if this hastily put together plan would work. if it was so easy then how come no one else had managed to kill this beast in the fifty years since this prison was built. Ren guessed that there was only a small chance of this plan working but he desperately needed that key.
The two of them jumped behind the cafeteria counter which was a hiding spot they had both agreed upon, from here they had a good view of the meat dummy and would be able to quickly escape if something seemed off.
CLICK.
Ren and Isabella heard the loud mechanical sounds of the Block doors being locked, indicating that curfew had started. They eagerly watched the meat dummy closely in dead silence, both of them were trying their best to not make a sound.
HISSSS.
Both of them heard a loud hissing coming from the direction of the mines, making them shift their gaze to its entrance. At first, they didn't see anything, but a short while later they noticed a long red mass slither out of the tunnel.
Ren focused his vision, now that it had fully exited the cave, he got a better look at it. The snake-like beast was around ten meters in length, it had shiny red scales that scattered the dim light coming from the ceiling onto the ground. It had a pink forked tongue that flickered out of its mouth occasionally and its beady reptilian eyes shifted around the mess hall before locking onto the cafeteria counter that they were hiding behind.
"Oh shit."
Ren cursed silently, while the huge red snake slithered towards them at an alarming pace, completely ignoring the meat dummy they had spent so much effort putting together.
"Let's split up"
Ren shouted, quickly jumping out from behind the counter before Isabella had a chance to react. Ren didn't waste a second and immediately sprinted off towards the mines.
"Huh… wait a sec."
Isabella panicked at Ren's sudden absence, just as she was about to run off herself, she realised that the snake was no longer looking in her direction, instead it had turned its head and slithered after Ren.
Isabella sighed in relief and wished Ren the best in her heart, all she could do now is hope that he was able to keep the snake distracted until curfew ended, as unlikely as that prospect seemed.
Ren continued to sprint down the mines. he had long since realised that the snake was chasing him and had completely ignored Isabella. Ren could only curse at his misfortune as he headed deeper into the mines.
Ren glanced back and immediately caught sight of the snake who was hot on his tail. Despite its massive size, the beast was surprisingly agile, and navigated the twisting tunnels with ease. At this rate it wouldn't be long before the beast caught up with him.
Ren had no idea where he was going, he had headed to the mines in the heat of the moment, thinking that he could use the winding tunnels to lose the snake but it now hit him that this was a grave mistake.
Ren had only been to the tunnels a few times, thanks to his excellent memory, he could remember the areas he had visited… but that was it, after fifty long years of mining, the various tunnels where like a huge labyrinth that Ren had explored very little of.
If he took a wrong turn and it led to a dead end, he was pretty much screwed. Coincidentally, it was at this point that Ren made a wrong turn and was pretty much screwed. Ren staired at the end of the tunnel with despair in his eyes, A solid rock wall cut of any means of escape and placed him between a rock and a hard snake.
He spun around with his back against the wall and immediately laid eyes on the fast approaching snake which was bearing its long white fang's at him.
"Oh shit."
Ren cursed again, he locked eyes with the snake as it slowly slithered closer. Ren who was trapped could only watch the snake carefully, waiting for it to make its move.
BOOOM.
The snake launched its head at Ren so quickly, that he only managed to react at the last possible moment. He dove to the side barely avoiding the snake as it crashed head first into the wall behind him sending fragments of shattered rocks flying in all directions.
The snake managed to recover quickly but Ren was faster. Picking himself up off the ground, he threw himself on top of the beast's long body and held on for dear life at the base of its skull.
Once the snake realised what was going on, it whipped its head around violently, trying to throw Ren off but Ren realised early on that letting go meant death managed to hang on just barely.
The snake seemed to realise that it was getting nowhere and immediately launched itself up at the ceiling, trying to squash him into a fleshy pancake. When Ren caught wind of what the snake was trying to do, he had no choice but to let go and jump of the snake's head.
CRASH.
The snake hit the roof of the tunnel so hard that the surrounding area began to shake and bits of debris began to drop from the ceiling.
Ren started to run but after quickly glancing back he realised that the snake had lost him, it was twisting its head in all directions but couldn't see that Ren was right in front of it.
"Is its eyesight bad."
Ren wondered but before he could fully explore this thought the snakes forked tongue flickered out of its body and it slowly turned its head towards Ren.
Ren quickly noticed that the snake had found him and immediately ran back the way he came with the snake hot on his heels.
As he was running as fast as his legs could carry him Ren desperately searched for a solution. If the snake's eyesight was bad then how was it tracking him so accurately. It couldn't be body heat, the mines were feverishly hot already so Ren couldn't imagine that he would stand out much in this regard.
Ren thought back to when he split up with Isabella, the snake hadn't even spared her a glance before chasing after him, why was that. Did the snake prefer men to woman… no it couldn't be, the snake didn't even notice her. Then what exactly was the difference between them.
In that moment Ren had an epiphany… Scent, Isabella was one of the only prisoners who wore perfume, if the snake tracked its prey based of scent, then Isabella's thick perfume would mask her smell, hence why she flew under the snake's radar.
Realising this Ren continued to sprint out of the mines, now that he had established that the mines were a death trap, he had to leave this place as soon as possible.
A short while later, Ren burst out of the mines at high speeds, with the snake in hot pursuit. Not having the luxury to confirm if his hypothesis was right, he toreof his sweat soaked clothes and headed for the meat dummy buck naked.
Ren threw his clothes at the dummy and didn't look back. He dove over the counter where Isabella was still hiding and held his breath.
"Why are you naked… where's the sna-"
"Forget about that, just give me your damn perfume."
Ren interrupted her hastily. Isabella could tell that Ren was serious and reluctantly handed over a pink crystal bottle that she had kept in her pocket.
"Don't use too much, it's really expensive."
She tried to remind him but it was already too late. Ren had already ripped of the lid and begun pouring the contents of the bottle on himself, not leaving a single drop.
Isabella glared at Ren hatefully but he ignored her anger and instead peeked over the counter cautiously, just in time to see the snake approach the meat dummy.
The snake violently threw itself at the dummy with its mouth wide open and promptly swallowed the dummy whole with part of the table it was on along with it.
GULP.
Ren watched the snake swallow and a large bulge travelled down its neck. In the next moment the snake froze and its beady eyes filled with confusion. It looked around in shock and its movements slowly turned sluggish.
Ren watched the beast sway around in drunken stupor eagerly, it continued to slither around clumsily for a little while before its head dropped to the floor.
BURP.
Strange noises came from the snake before it opened its mouth and spewed out a chunky yellow liquid uncontrollably. The beast continued to hurl and a foul aroma spread out across the mess hall making Isabella pinch her nose shut before she followed in the snake's footsteps.
Ren didn't want to take any chances, so he grabbed the lantern that he had left behind the counter and threw it towards the snake. The glass lantern fell into the pool of vomit and shattered, exposing the beast's alcoholic vomit to the naked flame.
WHOOOSH.
Instantly the liquid set on fire quickly reaching the beasts mouth causing it to roar in pain and slither off rapidly, disappearing into the mines from where it came.
Ren and Isabella breathed a sigh of relief and came out from their hiding place behind the counter. Ren found an apron that the lunch lady wore and wrapped it around his waist. The duo approached the smoking pool of vomit, that had now finished burning and gave off the worst smell Ren had ever experienced.
After inspecting it closely Isabella found a heavily corroded silver key that she held up in delight. Ren sighed and fell flat on his back.
***
The next day Ren had found a spare uniform at the Black Bull HQ although it was grossly oversized, it was the smallest set he could get his hands on, he headed to Block-C, bumping into Isabella on the way.
"Rough night?"
She asked jokingly when she saw the dark bags under Ren's eyes. He ignored her after the struggles of last night he wasn't in the mood for anything Isabella related.
The two of them entered the block in silence and the two guards from before brought them two the second floor where Juan was waiting.
"So, you're both still alive. That's a shock… did you get the key though."
Juan said. Isabella happily took out the silver key from her pocket and displayed it proudly. Juan looked at the key in shock.
"You actually got it."
He exclaimed in shock, he had fully expected them to come back empty handed, in fact he was already surprised that they were alive. He snatched the key from Isabella's hand and inspected it closely.
"Its damaged… but usable. I guess we owe you one."
He said reluctantly, although he had no problem with Isabella who his boss was extremely fond of. Ren was a completely different matter, it was because of him and the Black Bulls, that their alliance with the moles fell apart.
"I want to speak with your boss… alone."
Ren made his intentions in coming here known, Juan glared at him fiercely.
"No way."
He shut him down immediately. There was no way he could leave the boss alone with Ren, who knows what he would do.
The door of the cell opened and the boss walked through while holding a piece of paper.
"It's fine"
The words read, causing Juan to frantically wave his hands.
"But boss, that kid is…"
The boss just pointed at the page and continued looking at Juan. After continuing to stare at Ren menacingly Juan reluctantly stepped aside, letting Ren enter the room.
The door closed behind them and Ren took a seat, waiting for the boss to do so as well. Once the elderly man was seated behind the desk, Ren wasted no time in asking him a question.
"You want to break out of the prison right."
The boss nodded his head in confirmation.
"Well so do I… I'm willing to do anything to escape this place so I need the information you gained in your time as an executioner."
Ren told him, the moment those words left his lips the boss started to tremble, obviously this was something traumatic for him.
"I know that it will be hard to get you to talk right now, so I wont force you. All I want is for you to prepare yourself because I will break out of this prison, before then I will pay you a visit and ask again… I hope you can answer me then."
Ren said casually, the boss stopped trembling and slowly nodded his head.