LES DÉSCENDANTS

~Chapter 5: Une Évasion (An Escape)~

Avenir POV:

Enjolras's eyes flew open.  I gently began to end the kiss, but I was quickly thrown off and pinned against the wall.

"Who are you," he snarled, his wild eyes darting through the darkness.  I pocketed the artifact, never taking my eyes off his face.  There was zero recognition in his eyes.  He was wild.

Be serious, Avenir, I thought quickly.

"Enjolras...it's-"

"Are you the one they call Avenir?"

I hesitated to confirm.  This was not the Enjolras I knew.  This was dangerous to give away my identity.

"Enjolras, it's me..."

He snarled.  "I'm looking for Target X.  They said that's the only way I can get out of here."

Still recognizing that I was pinned against the wall, I stated in as calm a voice as I could, "I'm here to get you out of here."

His face softened, but not from recognition or kindness.  This was a man living for survival.

There was one final check to see if he was truly brainwashed from a Flash-like event.

"Password," I whispered.  This was Les Amis's secret signal, in case of emergency, to find one another in a crowd or among the enemy.  The answer, of course, was ABC.  This was made up by Enjolras himself.

"STOP PLAYING GAMES WITH ME!" Enjolras shouted, and he grabbed my shoulders and slammed my head into the cell wall.  I cried out in pain and crumpled to the floor, just as Bahorel crashed into the small cell, tackling Enjolras...or this monster that used to be Enjolras.

He was brainwashed, all right, clawing at Bahorel as Bahorel held him down and making inhumane noises.  

"No one's coming, you maniac, we stopped time!" hollered Courfeyrac, pinning Enjolras's feet to the floor while Bahorel punched him down and pinned his arms.

"LET'S GO!  NOW!" bellowed Joly.

"We...can't leave him..." I said, weakly, feeling a warm trickle down my head.  So much pain...

The girl stood up, using every ounce of strength.  "YOU CAN'T LEAVE A BLOODSTAIN, AVENIR!  THEY'LL USE IT TO FIND YOU, OR CLONE YOU...OR..."

"WHAT ABOUT FINGERPRINTS?!" screamed back Joly, above Enjolras's yells.

"I wish we didn't leave a trace," I gasped to the artifact, as I stumbled to my feet.

"LEAVE HIM!" screamed the girl, about Enjolras.  "HE'S PROBABLY BEING TRACKED!"

"TARGET X!  TARGET X IS HERE!" screamed Enjolras, his eyes rolling.  The girl's screaming had momentarily distracted Courfeyrac.  Enjolras used this opportunity to kick Courfeyrac square in the chest with all his energy.  Courf yelled in pain and curled into a ball.

This was not my Enjolras.  This Enjolras was going to kill us.  

"LET'S GO!" yelled Bahorel.  "RUN AND I'LL FOLLOW LATER!"

I took one last look at who had once been my love.  I had done this to him...I had brought him here.

The whites of his eyes were showing as he struggled against Bahorel's grip.

"Aurélien..." I whispered.  "Please no..."

"Go, sister..." I heard a voice pound in my head.  "Leave him...NOW!"

I awoke from a trance and bolted from the cell, through the dungeons, and out the door.  Joly, Courfeyrac, and the girl were on my heels.  We didn't look back until we burst through the escape Bahorel had instructed us to do; us being able to do so once I pressed the artifact to the door.