I purse my lips, thinking. There was no way I would make it out of here with a hungry vampire, two kids that dont know how to fight, a guard that doesn't know how to fight and a broken hunter. Odds were not in our favor.
Alas, I had to come up with something. "Where's my stuff?" I ask the man who was helping us.
He hesitates, but sighs, bringing us back down towards the beginning of the long underground hallway with wooden doors leading to the cages. When we get to the entrance, the first stall had a bunch of stuff in it. I pause, looking at our new alli. Then I look at Fletcher, "If he tries anything, kill him."
The man pales, "What? But I…"
Fletcher glares at me, but I enter anyway, gathering up all my stuff. Including my cell phone. Walking back out I turn to Beth, "You said Zeno had gotten a call from you, right? Do you know his number?"
She nods, "They called him over an hour ago. He should have been here by now."
I hand her my phone, "Call him."
She hesitates for a moment. She didn't trust me. Not yet. But after a moment she sighs and dials the number. After the first ring he answers. "Hello." she says, 'It's me Beth." She nods enthusiastically, "Yeah, I'm okay now. Where are you. No! No, don't come in, I'm safe now!"
I snatch the phone away from her, "Hello?"
"Who the hell are you? Where is Beth? Put her back on the phone. I'm in the parking lot right now. I will come in and get her by force-"
"Calm down, Zeno. My name is Quinn, I have Fletcher with me also. We're going to be breaking out. You still being in the parking lot is actually a good thing. I have a plan."
"What kind of plan?" he asks slowly on the other side of the phone.
"One that involves you reeking some havoc." I say, a smile smearing across my face.
"What kind of havoc?" He says, a hint of a smile could be heard in his voice, too.
"I'm going to pull the fire alarm." I say. "As soon as most of the people are out, you come in fighting. We'll be heading out, also fighting. As soon as we meet in the middle the coast should be mostly clear. We get the hell outta here."
"Wait." He says, "The reason I'm waiting here and not going in is because I'm waiting for someone."
"Who?"
"A man named Cecil." He says.
"Cecil?" both me and Fletcher say at the same time. Fletcher snatches the phone away from me as I try to remember where I had heard the name before.
"Are you crazy? Cecil's here? He followed us? Yeah. Yeah. Oh no." Fletcher's face goes as white as a sheet of paper, "He's here? Yeah. yeah. Same plan. Take Cecil with you. Yeah. Try to keep him from killing too many people."
He hands the phone back and I stare at him like he handed me a bomb, "Hi. Quinn again."
"So, plan is I go in with Cecil after you pull the alarm? He just pulled in. He's totally ready to do this." I hear a voice in the background say, "Lets do this shit." and than Zeno says, "I'll run it by him real quick. You pull the alarm." The line goes dead.
I look over the group, "Grab what you can from this room. We're getting the hell out of here."
Beth and Noah rush by me gathering their own stuff. Wallets, phones, weapons. Noah has a knife I notice. I give Beth and Fletcher one of my knives. Fletcher stares at it for a moment before turning to me, "Are you sure?"
I had thought it might be a bad idea at first, but with him questioning me, I felt as though I could trust him, oddly enough. I nod, "Yeah. Just don't make me regret it."
He smiles at me, an honest, kind one, "Thanks."
I look away, a strange heat rising to my face. "Lets go." We walk to the elevator, and right next to it was the red switch. "I hope they're ready." I lift the transparent plastic box and yank down the handle. It was much easier to pull down than I thought it would be.
Loud sirens and flashing lights go off as we load into the elevator. The man who had helped us, stopping at the door, staring at Fletcher with wide eyes. I grab his shirt, "Too late to back out now." I say, yanking him in with us.
It was an awkward ride. Fletcher wouldn't look at him and he was too scared to look away from him. Not that I could blame him, Fletcher was like a ticking time bomb. He was a vampire after all. But now wasn't the time to be turning on each other or distrusting one another. We had to fight our way out as soon as those doors opened. We had no idea what would be on the other side of that door.
The elevator lurches to a stop and the door slides open to pure and utter chaos. People were screaming and shoving each other to get out. There didn't look to be a whole lot of people in the establishment on my way in, but now that people from all over the building were rushing for the one exit, it sure made it look like there was more than a couple people.
We step out, sticking together as the crowd shoves into and around us, like angry waves on an ocean. An elbow gets slammed into my hurt arm and I yelp in pain just as a large man shoves his way by me, throwing me into Fletcher who catches me, his eyes flickering to my neck. He helps me stabilize then continues on with the rest of them, a careful, watchful eye on Noah.
Just as we were in sight of the exit a gunshot goes off and Fletcher is knocked over into the rest of the people exiting. "Fletcher!" I gasp, turning to see the man from before, who had knocked me unconscious.
"You really think I would fall for this little trick?" He spits out, loading his shotgun. He aims it at Fletcher again. Who was bleeding from the shot. Badly.
Noah jumps in front of Fletcher, "Stop!" He cries out. His eyes shut tightly in fear, his body trembling. But, he stood his ground, like a tree before getting cut down.
Before I could think, I run straight into Noah, knocking him over. The man levels the gun just as a black mass slams into him. He manages to get his gun up to block teeth from tearing into his neck. But the gun is crushed under the teeth of the werewolf biting onto it.
"Zeno!" Beth screeches out. I turn to look at her as a golden wolf gently nuzzles his head into her chest, bending down for her to even teach him. He crouches and she slips on top of his shoulder blades, gripping tightly to his fur.
I slide my sword from its sheath and go to help the black wolf, whom I assume was Cecil. Just as I get there the man shoves a knife right into his neck. Cecil yelps like a dog, staggering away, trying to get the knife out with his back paws.
The man throws another knife, but I cut it straight out of the air with my mother's sword before it could reach him. It clatters to the floor, and the man gives me a look that would kill people. A chill goes down my spine as he stands, pulling out a sword of his own.
Zeno comes to my side, a deep growl coming from the deepest part of his chest. A growl that vibrates the floor. Beth who was on his back hugged onto him closely, shaking. Cecil, managing to dislodge the knife from his neck comes to my other side, looking calm and collected despite all the blood leaking from his neck.
Despite the fear I had gnawing away at my stomach that I had two monsters on either side of me, I also felt all powerful. He was now out numbered, three to one.
"Look, there's shit coming this way that will put you on your knees. Were going to need allies. I plan on protecting everyone I care about. I plan on saving as many as I can, no matter what. What do you plan on doing?"
He smiles, "The vale is broken, little girl. It's not something easily repaired. A new dawn is coming. One where only the strongest survive. You think your special because you can pull together a cute little band of misfits? Think again." He takes a couple steps back and disappears into the crowd that was just beginning to thin out.