The Blood Legion (#4 to 'Motionless in Wonderland')

Chapter 2: Life on the Surface

CHAPTER 2: LIFE ON THE SURFACE

"How long ago did you check on her?" Ash asked as she shut the door, the chill still there.

The guard shrugged as the little cat shook himself out a bit, trying to get rid of the cold.

"Less than half an hour," the guard said, Ash nodding and looking to the little cat.

She picked the cat up, hearing him meow at her as she held him, trying to warm him up a bit.

"I know Alex and I'm sorry," she said; the guard didn't understand what was so special about that cat. "I know you hate the cold, but we're inside now so we don't have to put up with it."

Alex purred, rubbing against her a bit; a lot happier now. Ash smiled, looking to the guard as she kept a hold onto the cat.

"I'll go down to the dungeons and see her," she said, the guard nodding. She looked to the cat again, a smile on her face. "I'm sure Alex wants to come down there too, don't you?"

The cat meowed at her again, the smile staying on Ash's face as she walked off, heading to the dungeons. She kept a hold of Alex who seemed happy with it, feeling a lot warmer than he had been minutes earlier. He hated the cold and spent most of his time indoors since the weather had turned bad; since Ash had made it cold outside.

Reaching the door that led to the dungeons, Ash placed Alex on the floor, grabbing her keys and unlocking the door. She pushed it open, Alex dashing in and disappearing to the end of the steps, waiting for the next door to be open.

Ash followed, leaving the door open and walking down the steps; it was quiet which was nice. She reached the end, unlocking the next door and pushing it open. Alex ran in, disappearing into the dark and making Ash sigh; he was so impatient sometimes.

Once again, she followed, seeing Alex standing at the front of the cell Ronnie was being kept in; Alex wasn't a cat anymore and he had a frown on his face.

"Alex?" Ash called, his focus remaining on the cell. "You alright?"

"Ronnie's not in here," Alex said, the confusion in his tone making Ash frown as she came over. "He was here and now he's not; he was here earlier on when I followed the guard down here."

Ash stopped next to him, looking into the cell and seeing that it was indeed empty. Realising that he might not be the only one that was gone, Ash ran over to the next door, the one that led down to the cell Maria was being kept in. She'd been put in Alice's old cell, as it was more reinforced and less likely for people to see her if they came down to the dungeons.

Ash hurriedly unlocked the door, dashing down the steps with Alex close behind. Unlocking one more door, Ash swung it open, hoping that Maria was still there.

All she saw was an empty cell.

Alex came to an abrupt stop behind her, seeing the issue. He looked to Ash who put her keys back onto her belt.

"What do we do? She can't have gotten far, right?"

Ash shook her head.

"She'd be long gone by now," she said. "We have to find her, but we're not gonna be able to do it by ourselves."

'~'~'~'~'~

It was a cold and miserable day in Scranton. Chris sighed as he looked out the kitchen window; looked like he was trapped inside for the day, most likely the remainder of the week at this rate and it was only Thursday, so it wasn't that bad.

A knock on the door snapped him out of his trance; a frown crossed his face. Who in their right minds would be outside in this kind of weather, and for that matter, why were they knocking on his door?