Taken Away

Finding Ash

A/N:
Date 6-13-17

Hey everyone! This chapter is longer than usual, which is funny because chapter 29 of my other story The Secrets of Cain was also longer.

Word Count: 3199

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Chapter 29: Finding Ash

The door closed behind me with a click. Zane was turning right and hurrying down the hall. I hadn't been this way before, but it didn't surprise me. We're underground in a huge facility that's like a labyrinth. I kept up with Zane easily, staying close behind him. I couldn't see anyone, but when I listened closely I could hear them. As if reading my thoughts, Zane started talking. "Mostly everyone is in a meeting right now." I wondered why. But it didn't really matter, so I didn't ask. We turned corner after corner, so I couldn't possibly remember how to to get back to my room. Not that I'd want to.

There was a tense silence as we fast walked down the endless halls. We came to a stop in front of a dead end. I turned my head and saw that there were two ways to go, left or right. So it wasn't the end it appeared to be. I looked at Zane, expecting him to practically jog down one hall with me hurrying to catch up. But he didn't move. "What is it?" I whispered so only Zane would hear. "Which way?" I added softly. "Right will get us out of here." Zane said with the same whisper that I used. "Then let's go." I said hurriedly as I took a step towards the right.

Zane grabbed my arm in a tight grip and pulled me back a step. He had caught me off guard. I turned to Zane, but he didn't let go of my arm. His right hand held my left arm above my wrist. "The other way leads to where Ash is being kept." Zane whispered so quietly that I almost didn't hear him. "Why didn't you say so? Let's go!" I knew I sounded annoyed, but I'm sure Zane deserved it. When I tried to go left, Zane gripped my arm tighter and held me in place. I gave him a sharp look of protest, knowing we were wasting precious time.

Zane pulled me a step closer to him so I would understand that whatever point he was going to make was serious. "We have a higher chance of getting caught if we go left." I looked Zane right in the eye and said, "I'm not leaving Ash." Zane started to sigh, but clamped his mouth shut. He'd gone completely still , and his eyes were more alert. I listened closely to my surroundings. Someone was coming down the right hall. Without another word I grabbed Zane's hand and pulled him to the left. It seemed like we would save Ash just as planned.

I smiled to myself as my feet moved faster, but my worry pulled my smile into a frown. Whoever was coming down the right hall could be coming our way. I could hear footsteps, but I didn't know how close they were to us. So I opened the nearest door and pulled Zane inside. I shut the door as slowly as I could so it wouldn't make noise. I held my breath and waited. I realized that I still held Zane's hand tightly, but I didn't let go. He was my anchor, the only thing keeping me in place. The footsteps came closer, so I knew they would pass the door in a moment. Or if they had discovered us missing, they'd come in this room.

I turned and looked around to figure out where we were. We were in what looked like a classroom. There were around 20 desks in neat rows, which all faced a SmartBoard. There were two doors, one at the other end of the room and the other next to me. There was glass in the top half of the door, like any ordinary classroom door. I could see out the door, so I moved silently out of the way, bringing Zane with me. He didn't let go of my hand. We stood between the  doorframe and a bookcase, with our backs against the wall. I still didn't breathe. The footsteps paused in front of our door. The knob started to turn, and I felt my shock settling in. This was it, our plan was ruined.