No Pain, No Glory | Tomarry

20: Desperation leads to trouble

"There are 20 hours left, Burga. What if they don't make it?"

Adrian wasn't in the best of spirits. He was always prone to anxiety attacks out of the blue. His mother worried about it a lot.

"They will. We just have to have faith in them." Whispers the heiress, while trying to open a can of tuna with her mouth.

She twists the tiny lid of the can upwards with her teeth and pulls with all her might. She had checked the expiration date and they were safe because there are two months left for the tuna to start rotting. She pulls the lid off further until it opens completely.

He isn't sure about her hopeful words.

He had seen two pieces of green glass from broken bottles inside a box. He had tried with everything in him for the glass to be levitated with wand less magic. And it had worked out. A bit. He is still trying.

He sees two glass pieces flying out of the box.

Walburga isn't paying him much attention, for she is trying to open up a second can and after she does that, she tries to reach for a bottle of beer with her leg.

The piece comes closer. He knows this will hurt a lot, but he prefers freedom over a little bit of pain.

He finds the point where the leg of the chair is wrapped with tape and digs the glass in. It starts to sting a little, but that doesn't concern him.

He has to try. He might die in the process, but he has to try, he cannot go down like that. He has to help Burga escape her own restraints.

He sees blood slowly making its appearance. He digs the piece deeper and moves it all the way down. Finally. One leg is free. It may be bleeding, but it's free.

He hears the girl yelling. "Adrian, throw away the glass now! You will end up hurting yourself!"

"We cannot depend on the others, Burga. That's very unfair for them. We have to save ourselves."

And with this, he cuts off the tape on the other leg. Again, more blood. He sucks a breath in and the piece flies to one of his hands. After three tries, the tape is also removed. He reaches for the glass piece with the free hand and cuts the other as well. There are deep cuts on his wrists, but the thought of going away from there keeps the pain at bay.

He gets up with difficulty. His steps are slow, for his legs feel a tad numb from sitting down for hours to go.

He tries to be gentle with cutting off the girl's tape, so not to hurt her as much.

He starts with her legs as well.

He can see the little hairs there standing still. Her feet are shaking, no matter how much she tries to hold them in place.

One tape is off. Little blood, just a line of it, not a deep one. Good.

Then the other. He gets it out with five moves and throws the tape on the floor.

He gets up to find her hands. He does his best not to look at her face, not to see the sadness and gratitude all mixed together.

He slowly cuts off the one of the left hand. That's comforting. Besides a single cut, her hand is alright.

He moves the piece towards the other. There the situation is more challenging. The tape there is wrapped around more than the others, at least seven times.

Okay, deep breaths..

He tries to be careful with his hand.

He experiences some kind of dizziness, but he ignores it, or at least does his best to.

He pushes the glass deeper this time. Again, he sees blood, but bites his lip to remain concentrated on the task. One, two, three - And it's off.

He removes the last piece of tape with a triumphant little glance at her direction. He throws the glass aside. Her right hand is bleeding more than the other and so he finds some cheap wrapping paper and bandages the area with it.

That's it. Now they can leave.

Er, why is she crying?

Dizziness takes over him utterly. His vision darknens.

Oh. That. Right. There is a slight chance he might die... He laughs at the thought of it.