The Bride

Chapter 27//: She's dead

♕✿~♕✿~Chapter 27//: She's dead♕✿~♕✿~

~~Make sure to read CHAPTER 26 before reading this chapter since I updated twice today!~~

Ahren's POV

I stare in silent shock at the people trapped behind bars. They all looked severely malnourished, their bones showing through. If a wind were to come down here, they would all topple down for sure.

Is Madi here? I wonder as I look into the other cells. My mind conjured up an image of a weak Madi with her bones showing through, and I push the image away. I would get Madi out of here and keep her out of harm's way. I would.

"What should we do about them?" Nick asks me, referring to the prisoners.

"We need to get them out," I immediately answer. We couldn't just leave them here to die. We had to let them out, and it would probably be best if we questioned them back at the palace.

I tell this to Nick, who voices his agreement with my plan. "Nick, can you get a couple of the magnetrons to come down here to help me release the prisoners? And bring a couple other soldiers as well to escort them," I request Nick. He nods and rushes out quickly, leaving me alone with the prisoners.

I move towards the cell closest to me and hold onto the bars tightly. I burn away the metal, creating a large gap for the person to squeeze through. The prisoner is a middle-aged woman who hesitantly walks out, looking scared and confused. I hold onto her gently.

"It's alright, ma'am. We're here to help you. You're free now," I murmur to her, helping her sit down. At my words, she looks at me in slight disbelief like she can't believe that she's now free. It makes me wonder how long she has been down here, but I don't think I want to know.

I leave the woman to her thoughts and move on to the next cell, helping a girl my age out. In the next cell, an old man is let out. I soon hear footsteps and turn around to notice Nick and at least ten soldiers behind him.

We immediately get to work, me and the magnetrons letting the prisoners out and Nick and the rest of the soldiers helping the prisoners understand the situation. As I move through each cell, I look carefully for Madi's golden hair. Once, I see a girl with blonde hair in a cell and rushed to her, only to realize it wasn't Madi.

Where could she be? I wonder as I let out one of the last prisoners. My heart was beating fast from the spike of adrenaline in me, and panic was seeping through me. If Madi wasn't here, where would she be at?

She had to be in this base. She had to. I wouldn't, couldn't, accept the fact that maybe she wasn't here. I didn't want to consider other possibilities.

I went up to Nick. "I didn't find her here," I mutter quietly to him, my eyes darting left and right. Maybe I had just missed her. Maybe she was right here in front of me.

Nick calms me down. "She's probably in another part of the base. We can go question the Rogue Dawn members after we move the prisoners," he tells me. I distractedly agree with him, now anxiously waiting to move the prisoners up to ground level.

We soon gather all of the prisoners in one place and coerce them to move. We lead them down the hallways and up the stairs to outside, where they all promptly fa to the ground, practically kissing the cold grass and crying out in pure bliss. I can't help but feel relief that we had found them and let them out.