In Between

Chapter Twenty-one: Voices Fading

Out of Mel and the twins, Apryl automatically pictured Cain's cold and clinical face. There had always been an iciness in his expressions that didn't show in Soren's.

"Maybe the Warriors aren't here yet," Kieran said hopefully.

"She held my hands. In what universe is that not a disastrous sign? Why else would Mel insist that the girls come outside? You know that she's smarter than that," Draven reasoned, and Kieran seemed to have no choice but to accept it.

"Alright, but if the Warriors are really out there with the twins held captive than what do you want to do?"

"Sneak out. There's an old hatch in the basement that leads to the side of the house. I found it earlier when I was looking around. Apryl and Bri need to find another place to hide," Draven said, ushering everyone into the basement. Apryl barely had time to grab her discarded clothes (she made sure not to forget Gilda's nightdresses) before she had to follow Draven to their escape route. In the darkest recesses of the basement, there was an indented section that led to a steep set of concrete stairs. They followed Draven up the steps where he quietly opened the hatch for them.

"Aren't these things usually locked?" Bri whispered as the four of them slipped outside.

"I busted it," Draven said simply. He put his finger up to his lips to silence them as they slowly made their way towards the front of the house. Apryl's eyes darted around as she tried to spot any Warriors in hiding, but there were none that she could see. Draven was in front, so he was the first to figure out that there were indeed Warriors waiting for them at the front of the house. "Crap," he hissed under his breath, "I was right. They're all out there, and it looks like they might have weapons."

Apryl tiptoed up behind him and peered over his shoulder. "Oh no, they have guns!"

"Those metal sticks are weapons?" Draven confirmed.

"Haven't you ever heard of a pistol before?"

"Never. What do they do?"

"Put a hole in your head if they have good aim. We need to get out of here, or they're going to kill us," Apryl said, frantically pulling his arm to move him out of the line of sight.

"What should we do?" Kieran whispered.

"Let's start by checking if they're also around back," Draven suggested.

As it turned out, the Warriors had only brought a group to stake out the front which meant that they hadn't known there was another exit. The four of them were hesitantly entering the backyard when Apryl noticed something peculiar. "Kieran, is that your family's car?"

"No, Lyon dropped me off here yesterday. There shouldn't be any carriages in this area," he said, yet a perfectly good car was parked at the side of the alley that ran alongside the Kittson's backyard. It looked brand new, but there wasn't a single person watching it. "Who would leave that here?" Kieran asked, confounded. "People who are wealthy enough to own a carriage rarely come around here."

"I remember the way the villagers looked at your car when we were driving it in the Strip. It was like they'd never seen one before," Bri added, as she started forward to check it out.

Draven moved in front of her so that he could take a look at it first. "I wonder what it's doing here. I suppose it could be a trap," he mused, but he jiggled the handle on the door anyway. To their surprise, it opened. "This is certainly our lucky day. I can't believe that there's actually someone stupid enough to even leave the keys in the ignition...I wonder if it'll explode when I turn it on."