The Hidden Knife

CHAPTER 21: THANKS, I HATE IT

'What plan? We need to act fast. They would arrive at any second'.

I walk around with my injured arm still paining. There's no way that's going to be working. How are we even going to escape this abandoned basement? It's impossible. For now. I have the least idea.

'They are coming,' Ethan is shouting on the other hand. I have a bad feeling about this. We need to come up with a plan quickly. I try to focus despite the pain shooting through my arm. Looking around the dimly lit basement, I see no obvious exits. Panic starts to set in as I realize the seriousness of our situation. Ethan's urgent words snap me back to reality. We need to think fast and find a way out before it's too late.

I look down in those dark shadows and notice a small door hidden in the corner. With footsteps approaching and no chance of survival, I run for it. I look back once only to see Ethan racing behind me towards the door. I reach the door and push it open, praying that it leads to safety.

'It's too dark in here,' I say to Ethan, hoping that he would have a torch or any source of light. The remainder of the sentence: "But he just stands there, frozen in fear."

I lock the door behind us, realizing that we are truly alone in the darkness. I try to scan any kind of switch or bulb, but this place is insane. I never should have agreed to explore this abandoned asylum with Ethan.

'I guess we are trapped,' Ethan murmurs. Outside there are voices shouting, but inside the silence is suffocating. I try to clear the way with my uninjured arm, but my boots fall upon a tin can or something that I cannot comprehend. I hear a loud crash behind me, causing my heart to race even faster.

'We need to do something quickly before it's too late.' I yell to my companion, hoping he will know what to do. But Ethan is planning something else entirely, a mischievous glint in his eye.

'Don't tell me you would be fighting him with this.' I say as he shows me a water gun he took out of his dirty backpack.

'Just keep quiet as of now and follow my instructions'.

'You consider yourself my boss? Do you?' I ask with a certain angriness in my voice.

'Shhhhh. If you want to make it out alive, just follow my instructions'. I nod my head. This darkness is like a narrow lane. I keep moving forward, hoping to find a way out soon. Well, I'm having a small lighting device in my pocket. I found it there, lying in those useless items. I hope this is going to help us. I switch it on, and the small beam of light cuts through the darkness, illuminating a path ahead.

'Ethan, I suppose we should move forward'. However, Ethan is planning something different. His voice echoes as he says, 'Move forward. I'm coming'. I follow his instructions and move ahead on the path prescribed to me. To be honest, he had helped me a lot today. But still, I cannot trust him completely. I can't shake the feeling that there is something off about Ethan, something hidden beneath his calm exterior. As I continue down the dark path, the light from the device in my pocket flickers, casting eerie shadows all around me. I quicken my pace, determined to stay close to Ethan despite my reservations. The further we go, the more I realize that this journey may not be as straightforward as I had hoped. But for now, all I can do is trust in Ethan's guidance and hope that he has our best interests at heart.

This looks like an abandoned tunnel. I have some of its locations scouted on my map, but there's no telling what dangers lie within. The map on my office. The whole area looks like a vintage scene from the earlier centuries. I move forward and wait for a few moments before proceeding again. There are three routes from here , each one leading to a different part of the building. I don't know which one to take.

Suddenly there is a huge blast. A loud crashing noise. Not again. I'm not prepared to run again. I'm not prepared to run again, but I have no choice. Ethan is dashing towards me with a look of urgency on his face. His backpack on his back and behind him everything burning with flames. He cries out, 'Runnn'.

I follow him and start running and don't look back. I'm in front of the central route, and I can see flames are dashing towards us. The flames , explosions, the ceilings, and the ground rumbling as if it would collapse at any moment. As we run, I can feel the heat of the flames on my back and hear the deafening roar of the explosions behind us. I can't believe this is happening again. Ethan keeps encouraging me to run faster, and I push myself to keep up with him, my heart pounding in my chest. The fear and adrenaline fueling my legs as we navigate the chaos, desperate to escape the destruction closing in around us.

Hopefully there is another tunnel without soldiers waiting for us at the end of the central route. I can feel my body burning in these flames. My heart is beating two times faster than my normal heartbeat. I fall on my knees, hoping not to have a complete blackout. But that's hope. I don't know if I would get it or not. I don't know if I would get back up or not.

There are again a number of routes on my left and right , but all I can do is focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

'What did you do just now?' I ask Ethan with curiosity.

'Just bombarded them with a filthy grenade'. I find myself laughing a little. It's been a long time until I laughed again. Credit goes to Ethan.

'That was not a water gun. That was a freaking grenade,' I can hear him say as he too breaks into a laugh. I realize that laughter truly is the best medicine.

'So, which route do you want to take now?' I ask him as we both continue walking down the path together.

'The first one'.

'Alright. I hope that there will be no soldiers again. I need to go back to my office'.

But I was wrong. As we walk down the first route, we are met with a number of soldiers present at different landings. As this is a factory. An abandoned factory. We are inside an abandoned factory.

'Any plan?' I ask Ethan. He looks at me with a worried expression on his face.

'Just kill them'.

'How'. Ethan smiles.

He takes out a small sword like weapon from his pocket and says, 'With this'. He pushes a button, and I realize what he's talking about.

'That's a lightsaber. I always carry it in my never ending backpack'.

A freaking lightsaber. Insane.