The Riches of Power

Trauma

POV Trinity

"What are we going to do about her, then?" I asked, pointedly at the woman. I had just gotten up off the floor. My words came out more sour than I wanted them to. I didn't like the fact that she could just knock me off my feet like that. My arms were crossed and I only just realized that I was glaring at her.

"We can't just leave her here and we can't let her go," Calvin started, "She could tell someone that we're missing." He said. She seemed like she wanted to get out of here quick, but if she was caught then she could let the guards know that we left. It would be her perfect distraction.

"I concur" Karen interjected. She was no longer balancing on her scythe. "We could take her with us." She suggested.

"Hey don't I get a say in any of this?" The woman asked. She seemed very irritated. I felt like justice was served in an odd way. I silently laughed to myself as I pondered that thought. 'You knock me off my feet, but that's ok because we get to decide your fate. Wow that's a little extreme.' Everyone else had chosen to ignore her. That is when the house began to shake. Dust and plaster fell to the floor and some cracks appeared in the walls. All that you could hear was a loud apoplectic shout.

"We have to go!" Elaina commanded. Ryder was the first to open the large wooden door and make a break for it. As we continued I realized that Ryder probably had no clue where he was going.

"Elaina how do we get out?!" Karen screamed. We had clambered down multiple hallways, and it wouldn't have surprised me if Elaina was just as lost as we were. That's when I heard the screeching coming from behind us. It wasn't close at all but the sound suggested many more than just a few demons. As I turned to look down the empty hallway I noticed that Riley still had a hold of the woman, who was just as willing to run as we were.

Then we started to hear screeching coming from in front of us, forcing us to come to a stop. We had about five minutes tops before we were screwed. The woman had shaken Riley off in the panicked moment, Riley gave a shout and ran after her, as she went to one of the walls. "Stop," she yelled as Riley pulled at her. "I know a way out." She aggravatingly screamed. With her cuffed hand she felt around a dark wooden column that lay next to the wall. Hurriedly she traced the intricate details in the wood until she found a diamond shape towards the bottom. It popped open the front part of the column revealing a hidden cubby or perhaps a passageway. Without even looking back at us, she darted into the hole. I followed after her making sure to always keep her in sight as she continued down. It was definitely a secret passageway.

On either side of me were beams and plaster that held the house together. There were some spaces that were wide open, but covered with a tinted glass of some sort. One way mirrors, perhaps. There were many turns and branch offs from the original path, but skillfully the woman maneuvered. The thumping footsteps behind me let me know that I wasn't the only one who followed this mysterious woman, who navigated very well through the walls. She slid down a wooden ladder that must have been several stories tall. I did the same ignoring the burning and the possible splinters in my hand. As I got closer to the bottom a pungent smell filled the air. When my feet hit the floor, the jolt of the impact sprung up my back and made my knees weak. The woman seemed disconcerted that we had kept up with her, but I was too focused on the smell that had activated my gag reflex. I breathing through my mouth was much more tolerable than breathing through my nose, but still not very pleasant.

"If I get all of you out, you have to cut these off," She gestured to the handcuffs around her wrist. We all nodded in agreement, our faces contorted due to the odor.

Instead of wood and plaster like the previous floor we were surrounded by grey cement brick. The space was still very limited, but unlike the previous floor we could have two people shoulder to shoulder instead of one. She walked over to the wall and crouched down. She unlatched a barely noticeable camouflage latch and pushed at the wall revealing a small opening. The smell was twice as putrid now. After crawling after the girl and then seeing where we were, I froze.