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Darcy's momentum carried her forward, and she stumbled over the wet concrete, almost falling to the ground in her struggle. She got her footing, hands outstretched, and almost immediately started running again. Valack had crossed an impressive distance since she'd slipped through the doorway, and she cursed him a thousand times over in her head as she barrelled down the hallway up to where she'd just seen the heel of his foot disappear behind a corner.
She turned it blindly- a mistake, she realized, when a wild drill appeared out of nowhere and swung at her head. She ducked the first swing and popped back up to see Valack's balled hand coming for her.
It connected with her nose and sent her stumbling back. She clutched at the broken cartilage and wondered how the hell the old man had such a strong punch. Blood trickled between her fingers and down the back of her hand.
Darcy blinked heavily, trying to get the tears out of her eyes. She dropped her hand and started toward Valack who had started running again, but just before she reached him, he spun around, dropped Lydia, and swung the drill at Darcy's head. She was moving too fast to dodge this time and her movement carried her right into his perfectly timed swing.
Her head went first, careening to the side and sending her slamming into the hallway wall. Stars exploded across her vision when her head collided with the wall. She fell to her knees with a cry, clutching at her scalp, blood oozing between her fingers. The ground swam beneath her and she blinked at it, trying to get her eyes to cooperate. She couldn't focus on anything without it spinning. Bile rose to the back of her throat but she swallowed it down.
After taking a few more shallow breaths, using the wall for help, she stood on wobbly feet. From what she could see through watery eyes and her spinning vision, Valack and Lydia were gone. She closed her eyes and tried to sniff the air for Lydia's scent but her nose was still healing and it hurt too much to concentrate on a scent.
Darcy slammed her hand against the wall she was leaning on in frustration. She was so close. Pushing the thought aside and trying to focus on what she had to do now, she opened her eyes, now focusing better, to see a door to her left. She glanced further down the hallway and debated what the odds were that this was where Vlacak had taken Lydia. Hopping for the best, she crossed the hall and pushed open the door.
A burst of steam rolled out, revealing a shower room. In her presence, male patients cowered in their stalls and on the floor in various forms of undress. Darcy's heart twisted in empathy, but she kept her gaze focused on anything that wasn't the shivering men.
Her nose had healed enough so she could smell their cheap soap and fear beneath that, but she couldn't pick up any sign of Lydia. Wanting to stomp her foot but resisting, she grew frustrated at the seeming dead end.
Just as she was about to turn around and head back into the hallway, her eyes caught on the grate in the far corner of the room while someone burst through the door behind her.
