Crimson Mists

26. The Magic of Metal Rounds (2)

At that moment when Allen granted me the option to see them, my disbelief was potent. Not until he smiled, strolled towards the door, turned the door knob and said, "follow me".

As we walked down the hallway, a lot of thoughts swept through my mind...

Was this how he would grant me one of my heart desires?

Was this how he would grant my pleas— something I'd stopped asking of him cause he'd locked me in the dungeon four out of the five times I'd asked, to the extent that I'd just stopped asking all together?

What would Henry think of how I'd given up on them so easily?

Hell, what would Hilda think of me perambulating with Avian when her own brother was caged because of me?

Unconsciously, I swallowed to ease my dry throat, and to hopefully ease the thought of Hilda's displeasure.

Pushing one foot out after the other, I didn't realize that we'd gotten to the staircase until I stumbled into Allen's back and he said, "Careful Harida, we don't want them seeing you bruised and thinking I hit you, especially your boy toy."

Allen waltzed through the sitting room, then into a room on the corridor that led to the back door. He opened the door and got in. I followed reluctantly and then, the guard behind us.

The room appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary: a bed, a very small, ceiling high window, a desk, a closet, and two other doors. The closet was Allen's chosen path. He opened their wooden doors, and adjusted the hidden door within, which parted to reveal a pitch black abyss. He flicked a switch, and then and there, the lamps by the wall of the staircase all came to life, illuminating a dusty, metal staircase.

Panic swelled in me, and thoughts , a myriad of them, rose up like an avalanche.

Dust...

Dirt...

Such a dirty environment? I sure hoped they were okay!

The staircase had ash-grey door at both sides of its landing and I counted about four landings, before we got to the final landing which had a door, ash-grey like the others.

With a wave from Allen, the guard opened the door. The bunch of keys in his hand clanging and glinting as his wrist turned repeatedly.

With a final clang, the door groaned and he pushed it open, withdrawing the key and giving room for Allen to walk in. Allen walked in and I followed after, studying the new environment and waiting patiently for the guards presence behind us.

The room we just entered had marble floor, smooth and laden with dust, and other than the living furnitures— three chairs, a shelve, old wooden boxes— that sprayed it, it had a bar gate that separated it from another room. One which lacked proper lighting, and from my view, was also deficient of any human presence.

Henry? What?

"Is this...?" I trudged forward till I was before Allen and immediately, after seeing the coyness in his gaze, I held the lapels of his coat and dragged him towards me.

"Where is he?!"

Was that surprise I saw in his gaze?

As quickly as it came tho, it vanished, and in its place was his forever irreplaceable mask of emotional unavailability or should I say... nonchalance. 

I felt his arms moving, pulling tactically at mine. Then, Allen went still in my hold. 

I caught the direction of his gaze and that was when the supposedly lack of action from our third presence occurred to me. The guard!

I turned slowly, like I knew I'd been infected with a virus and was awaiting a read out of the doctor's diagnosis when I saw him, our guard, clothed in his black formal wear and laying on the floor, unconscious.

No blood, no fumble.

It appeared that he'd been lain silently by someone who wasn't Allen or I.

I could feel my blood rushing to my ears as Allen breathed on my neck. Then his arm become wound about my neck as he used me as a shield.

"No, no, no! Allen, no."

Just when I thought it was all over, I felt a metal pipe poking my spine.

"Stay put," Allen commanded. "Just one blast and you'd be immobilized for life."

"Allen..."

"Who did you call?"

"What?!" I tried to turn but his arm kept me locked in. "You've been holding me here like a prisoner, guarded twenty four seven with no communication devices and no chance to ever see the outside world like I used to, and you're blaming this all on me?!"

"Careful Megbu. This is a wrong time to be defiant."

He removed the gun from my back, and used my body as a partial shield for his as he pointed the gun at different corners of the room. "Show yourself! I won't ask again."

At first, there was no response.

"Show yourself you bitch!"

Then, we sound of metal rolling before us was lucid, and after then, a particularly familiar bangle was added to the trinket on the floor. Same bangle with an HH carved on it.

Then we heard their footstep approaching and another pair which was stealthy from behind us. The sensation was too much, but before I could respond, the figure that had thrown the bangle and trinket jumped out from the shadow to pull me down and then a gunshot round.

It wasn't the first time I'd was hearing that sound of destruction but this one was quite as notable as the first. Along with the continuous ringing sound in my ear, and eyes widened by shock, there was also Allen's hemoglobin splattered all over my face and some parts of my neck. 

Allen's body fell with a thump. And along with it was a silence that paved way for self reflection.

As I looked at Henry, the way he still had the gun pointing towards where my father had been holding me moments ago, and Hilda, who had me all cuddled up on the floor, I didn't know if I'd been rescued to the park of salvation or to a path of doom.

I looked at Allen's body again, and his lifeless eyes, and the blood pooling around his head.

Then my gaze switched to Henry and I didn't look away. I couldn't. The shock must have superseded any other emotion on my gaze cause Henry threw his hands in the air, and turned away and Hilda had to turn my face towards her so I saw nothing of my father's destructive world but her piercing brown eyes and mouth twisted in displeasure.

She didn't call my name, and I think it was for the best cause I was long gone... at least, a part of me was and I didn't even know why I was that affected by his death.

All my life, I'd never seen any of my problems fade like a smoke in the wind without a promise of returning.

That was just a first.

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