Old Way ||| Ateez

38

Running didn't work out as well as Mingi had originally hoped. In his panic, he'd forgotten that he couldn't see anything... So as soon as he got out of his room, he ended up slamming into the concrete lining the hallway.

He grunted and shook his head, blinking rapidly as if that would clear his vision.

But it didn't...

All he saw was black.

Despite the panic that threatened to take over, Mingi gave himself over to his wolf and trusted his instincts.

He whirled on the spot and slapped his hand against the open door to his room. When he felt it swing shut, he followed it and fumbled and until he could turn the lock.

The loud click reverberated in his head a few times before it was drowned out by Nova's unearthly screeches.

He didn't want to stick around to see if someone came looking for her, so Mingi started to feel his way along the wall.

It felt like it took him ages to get anywhere, and it left him feeling so incredibly frustrated.

Mingi kept his arms extended in front of him and slid forward so that he could feel his way with his foot. Each movement was slow and calculated, yet he tried to be hasty in his desperation to escape.

When he eventually found a set of stairs, his heart started to race. For the first time in... months? He wasn't sure, but he finally smelled fresh, clean air.

With freedom so close, the alpha stooped over to crawl up the stairs on his hands and knees. He decided to stay on them when he reached the top, feeling safer being closer to the ground as he tried to follow his nose to the exit.

It took him several minutes, during which Nova's screams of outrage continue to grow louder and louder, before he managed to find what he believed was a door.

By now he was weeping softly. He'd tried to stay strong but...

He was terrified.

How was he supposed to... to do anything like this?

With a broken sob, the alpha guided his hands up the door, searching for the handle.

Nova's voice continued to grow louder, although it kept cracking. Maybe she would wear it out enough to where she couldn't talk...

But Mingi guessed that someone would be here long before that. She must have contacted someone by now.

And to top things off, the door was locked.

Mingi tried to find some way to get it open, however his shaking hands made it nearly impossible to feel his way around.

So he decided to try brute force.

The first time he slammed against the door made him scream in pain as fire exploded in his shoulder and down his back and arm.

He knew then that his body was too weak for this. There was barely any muscle to cushion each repeated blow to his shoulder as he rammed the door again. And again.

And again.

Eventually, the pain simply went away. For a split second, the alpha wondered if maybe he'd done permanent damage...

That thought didn't last long, though, because suddenly the door burst open and he was falling down several stairs.

Mingi tried to catch himself, but since he couldn't see how far away the ground was, he couldn't judge where to hold his arms.

That, couple with the unfortunately realization that he couldn't even lift his right arm, caused him to land face and chest first on the ground.

Leaves, sticks, and stones scratched at his exposed skin. Pure agony coursed through him.