Royal Blood

Chapter Thirty Three

I run down the corridor which is luckily still empty and I keep running, even when I am out of breath. I soon reach a junction where I can go either left or right so on impulse, I choose right. There are still no guards in the area but I bet that they are not far behind me. Someone must have heard the gunshot, probably from the other side; I went one way out of my cell when I could have gone another. Maybe if I had gone the other way, I would have ran into a group of guards. I do not have the time to think about that now though.

I keep running down the corridor which I notice does not have any cells. Instead there are three doors on each side so I try to open a couple of them but they are locked. Sighing in frustration, I keep going, gripping the gun in my hand as tight as I can.

It is strange, I have always viewed guns as something scary. Whenever a guard at the palace used to walk past me with one, I used to always shudder at them. The thought that you might accidently pull the trigger and shoot yourself was always a fear of mine. Even when I ran away and met Jasper and Max, the guns still made me feel weird, even more so after Jasper got shot in the leg at the station. Now though, the cool metal feels like a comfort blanket against my hand. It almost sooths me, knowing it is there if I need it. I really hope that I do not need it.

Eventually, I reach the end of the corridor with still no signs of an attack. This all seems to easy so far. What is happening? I turn right once again and this time I am presented with a staircase. There is one flight of stairs going up and the other going down. Up feels like the more obvious choice, I already feel like I am underground but hopefully, there are less people down stairs. I imagine there to be Crow's office upstairs and things like it. Hopefully, downstairs, there will be some kind of fire exit. I run down the stairs, which soon turns into two flights of stairs, and I find myself in front of more cells. What surprises me once again is the lack of guards.

There is a door between me and the cells, with a glass panel in it so I can see right through to the other side. What I can see is one guard at the other end of the corridor who is not paying any attention to the prisoners in the cell.

Ducking back down away from the panel, I sit and think about that I should do next. I need to go through there, even though I do not know where it will lead, it will be better than staying here though. If I go through, I need to make sure I do it when the guard has his back against the door so that way, I have more time to act.

Feeling the cool metal of the gun against my hand, I take a deep breath in and look through the panel again. The guard is close to the door but his back is against it. He is also walking away from the door which is perfect timing for me. One last deep intake of breath before I open the door, clutching hold of the gun.

The door creeks open by I do not think the guard hears it. Taking a couple of steps forward, I raise the gun and aim it at the guard, level to his chest. Quickly, I pull the trigger and let the bullet fly out but at the last minute, I change my aim to the back of his knee.

"'Oo did that?" He grumbles as he falls onto the floor.

I watch in fright as he lifts his walking talkie to his mouth, I assume to alert people of what has happened. Suddenly I come back to my senses and run towards him and swing the gun around his head, knocking him completely out.

"Oh no, oh no..." I mutter out loud to myself. Who am I tuning into? This whole trip has turned me toxic, already since escaping the cell I have shot two people and I will do it again if I have to.

Hopefully I have a good head start before he wakes up and gets in touch with more guards who will then come after me. I need to try and find a way out first of all. Some of the prisoners in the cell begin to look at me and start shouting for their release, screaming hat they have done no wrong. A part of me really wants to help these people but the other part knows there is nothing I can do. Once I get out of here properly, I should be able to give the official orders of release for them.