A Key To Another World

Chapter twenty

Drip... Drip... and dripping. That was the sound of water drops falling from time to time from the moss-covered ceiling. Everything else was rather quiet, as if the place was completely empty, and that scared Zoe. She had actually expected to fight hundreds of redclaws, since she was in the middle of their dungeon. But it was better that way anyway, because she didn't want to attract attention, and she had already taken a good beating from the redclaw general himself before she could free herself from his grip. She had only one goal in mind, and that was to find her brother and her alien lover. Together, they surely had a chance to win the upcoming final battle.

Quietly, she followed the brick hallway covered in damp moss and stopped before an intersection. Before she even dared to stick her head out to peek, she scanned her immediate surroundings with her telepathic ability. When she didn't spot anyone, she sighed in relief and took a look. Her white pointed ears were the first to pop out of the corner, ahead of her whole head.

All possible paths led to a long corridor, except for the one on the left, at the end of which there was a wooden door. Therefore, Zoe decided to walk quietly towards it. Arriving at the wooden door, she tried to open it, but the door would not push open. She looked a little further down and discovered a lock. Of course the door would be locked. She growled in annoyance and glanced at her paws. They had bloody scratches all over them and in some places her fur was torn. She sighed before extending her claws and trying to pick the lock with them.

Something cracked in the lock and then she felt an immense pain, she yelped. Blood oozed out as she pulled back her paw. One of her claws broke off and was now stuck in the lock. She considered setting the door on fire, since it was made of wood, but when a thought occurred to her, she decided against it. She didn't want to attract attention.

An excellent idea came to her mind on how to pick the lock. She remembered her prize when they played the shell game with the mighty tree. There was this strange metal object she had won that drove Michael crazy. He told her it was a gun, a dangerous weapon. But he didn't get a chance to explain to her exactly what it was and how it worked.

She pulled it out of her tribal bra and held the cold object with both paws. It had a strange looking handle to hold onto, and a small barrel sticking out from the other end. She took a look inside and saw only blackness. There was another strange metal part there, the trigger. Perfectly shaped for a finger to pull.

She thought about it carefully before pointing the gun at the lock and leaning her claw against the trigger. She counted down from three in her mind and pulled the trigger at zero.

Nothing happened.

Suddenly she heard a distant roar behind her. Now she was worried about Michael and Connor. They could be in danger right now, and worse, they could be dying. Immediately she turned, sprinted to where the roar was coming from, and crossed the intersection again.

After a few minutes of running, she decided to take a little break and huffed. She looked around and realized she was in a huge, long hallway. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling, bathing the entire room in light. On the sides of the hallways were many metal gates, one of which was wide open.

She walked toward the open gate and glanced at the other gates. They looked like prison cells. Some of them had chains on the walls and a table with torture tools. In others lay corpses, redclaws who had betrayed their own kind, and Xenonians who couldn't fight back well enough. The thought that her loved ones were dead or tortured in one of these cells made her weep.

She was now only a few steps away from the open cell door. Her heartbeat quickened and she suppressed the urge to sob. Why was the door open? Was Michael or Connor in there? Had they survived and escaped just like she had in time? She hoped to God they were still alive somewhere nearby.