Poisoned Lips

17: Escape [p2]

Freyja managed to get into the air duct right on time. She heard guards trying to break the bathroom door down.

The vent was completely dark and extremely small. She sighed in relief. The guards wouldn't be able to chase her. She crawled faster. The sound of the knife hitting the shaft matched her heartbeat.

Her objective was to find the others because she wouldn't be able to escape alone. Freyja crawled blindly in the vents, her knees already bruising. The cold air that blew through the vents made her want to stop. 

Suddenly, Freyja fell.

She tumbled down some sort of slide and nearly broke her neck as she landed face-first into the aluminum structure.

But she continued regardless with a racing heart, hoping to see some sort of exit. Felix would be tracking her down.

A light glow emanated from her peripheral view. She turned right and followed the glow, stopping when she heard murmurs.

Freyja peered through the grille. She was looking at rows of cells. About five miserable people in each cell. The number of the cells was written above. 220, 221, 222...her cell number was 285. Azalea and the others had to be close by. 

She kicked the grille from its position. It fell to the ground with a loud CLANG. 

"Did you hear that?" 

A guard. There were guards in the hallway. Freyja sucked in a deep breath and hopped down elegantly. The years of leaping off of tree branches paid off.

Two guards were patrolling the hallway. One looked to be around 16 years old and the other was in his late twenties. They stared at her. She stared at them. The man drew his sword.

"Young lady, surrender yourself."

"I'm awfully sorry, I must've gotten lost. Is that— is that snake?" Freyja screamed.

The man looked beside him. Then, she threw her knife. It settled into his neck. The man fell on his knees, choking and clutching his wound, but Freyja had shut her eyes. Blood. The blood was too much.

She heard a small clang. The young guard abandoned his sword with a frightened look and ran the opposite way. 

Freyja pressed her palms to her eyes and breathed deeply. Then, her eyes wandered to the cell numbers. She began jogging.

230…
235…
240…
250…

She arrived at a staircase. Making sure that there was no guard below, she ran down the stairs. 

260…
265…
270…
275…
280…
Her heart began to hammer in her chest as she spotted about four guards outside her cell. She pressed her back to the wall and hid behind a pillar.

"You stupid idiot!" Azalea screeched. "Get your hands off of me!"

"Let her go," Devland said.

"Ok, you better shut up Devland. I'm still angry at you."

"No!" Ken screamed. His voice was panicked. Freyja poked her head around and saw that a guard was going into the cell. The bombs!

Freyja breathed deeply.

"Hey, guys!" She said in a cheery high-pitched voice.

The guards gawked at her. Their focus was diverted. Easy to fight them. She made eye contact with Devland and glanced at the guard. He understood. 

"Shouldn't you take me too?" She asked, stretching out her hands with the layout.

"Miss—"

Devland grabbed the guard's head and rammed his knees into it. Lila slipped away from her guard's grip and strangled him from behind with the chains around her wrists. Azalea pinched her guard's flesh and Devland knocked him out from behind. The other guard left was the one in the cell. Lila cracked her knuckles and she heard a series of groans and screams come from inside the cell. She came out grinning.