Lie in Ruin

Chapter Seven

Vernon came back for her not too long after. Raven had gone completely silent, staying in the shadows of her cage. Every now and then she'd twitch, scratching at the cement floor, as if she were reliving something. Optic tried to ignore it, sitting with her legs crossed on the ground. She was thinking, thinking over everything that had happened. She'd tried to make sense of all the man-made halls that were in this parking garage as far as she could see, but she didn't trust herself to get back to the door if she needed to. She sighed quietly to herself, looking up as Vernon stopped in front of her cage.

"Hello again, Optic. I've come back to grab you for your assessment," He told her calmly, his lips still twisted in that shark smile he had. It still chilled her blood. Without another word, he opened the door to her cage, gesturing for her to follow him. She slowly stood, following him out of the cage carefully. She glanced over her shoulder down the long hallway, memorizing as much of it as she could. One branch looked like it might lead off into the main room where the stairwell was. She tucked away the information as she slowly trailed Vernon. He had his back to her, and she paused her steps. Vernon glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

"You do know I'm fully ready to administer an electric shock to your entire body right now, correct? I wouldn't try escaping. It won't do you much, I have a few guards placed here and there," He informed her, that smile that twisted his scarred cheek ever present.

"Worth a shot," Optic murmured to herself, before turning on her heel and bolting. She heard a chuckle behind her, and flew down the corridor as fast as she could, trying to get as far as she could. Just as she was about to reach the section where the walls opened to lead off into what she hoped was the exit room, a bolt of pain and heat shot up her spine. She stumbled on her weak legs, slamming into the cage on her right. The electric shock shook through her body, and she shut her eyes as she waited for it to pass. When she opened them, Vernon was standing in front of her, gazing down at her.

"I told you I wouldn't try that. Really, what did you think would happen? You knew about the collar's electric shock, and you still tried running." He stared at her in what looked like confusion, but she glanced behind him. She had been right about one thing- the main hall where the exit was, was behind that bend. He didn't notice, and she looked up at him blankly. "You tried it, even though you knew it wouldn't work. Why?"

"Worth a shot," she answered, slowly getting to her feet. Suddenly, she slammed her foot into Vernon's stomach. It sent him stumbling back, and she quickly retracted her foot, so he couldn't catch it. She ran past him, but after thinking for a moment, paused, and grabbed the remote from his hands. When he resisted at first, she sank her teeth into his wrist. He cried out and immediately released the remote, and she bolted. She ran down the hallway, her feet pounding against the floor as she made for the door. She searched the remote for some sort of deactivation, ignoring the big red button that would send a current spiking down her spine. She clicked a blue button, and the collar dropped from her neck. She heard collars dropping from the necks of others, and glanced around in surprise. It must be programmed to deactivate all collars if the need applied. She supposed the green button next to it only deactivated her own. She looked at all the children in cages, some already ripping their way out. Literally ripping through steel bars, then helping the other children out. A glance behind her told her Vernon had vanished, and she frowned in confusion, but let it go. All she had seen when she had bit him was a simmering, cold rage in his eyes. She wouldn't be getting away so easily, they had told her.

A body slammed into her, and there was Raven's dark face and matching set of dark eyes staring back into her grey ones. Slowly, she grinned. Her canines were more pointed now, and she truly was something else now. But nothing seemed different in her when she breathed, "You made it." Then, Raven grabbed Optic by the arm and ran.