Above

14

Estelle
Luca ties the deep blue bandanna around his face so his face was unidentifiable to the bare eye.
I had already tied my black bandanna around my face, now I was just waiting for Luca.
He turns to me, wisps of blonde hair making themselves known from beneath his hood. "Ready?"
I nod, standing. "Ready as I'll ever be."
We step out of the side of the helecopter, sneaking toward the wall.
We both climb the wall, leaping down once we reach the top. 
"Same entrance." I say, walking over to the door, which slides open because of the soldiers' badges we have.
Felicity is waiting on the other side, smiling at Luca.
He smiles with his eyes. "Where to?"
She turns around and gestures that we follow.
The hallways and corridors of the base were eerie and covered in tinsil and Christmas lights.
"Where is everybody?" I ask.
Fizz pulls out a microscopic device and types something into it. "They're all gathered in the cafeteria for Christmas."
I glance over. "Did you make that device?"
She nods, smiling.
"Let's just get Annaliesee and get out of here." Luca says. "This place gives me flashbacks."
***
Long twisty corridors are everywhere. Fizzy seems used to it, but everytime there's another labyrinth-style hallway, Luca and I sigh.
"Not much further." Fizzy's device says.
I nod, this was going surprisingly well.
Luca was on-alert though, his bow strung and his stance ready.
We stop at a final door and Felicity puts in a code.
The door slides open slowly, almost taunting us.
Inside, were greeted with seemingly endless cells, only a few with people inside.
We start walking, glancing into some of the cells.
"Luca!" One yells.
Luca turns.
"Luca the Lizard! I found him! Let me go!" A woman screeches, you can hear her voice crack. "Let me go!"
"Shh." I hush. "You're dreaming."
She continues screaming, pounding on the door.
"She's making too much noise." Luca says, looking at me.
"Luca!" She screams.
"She's going to get us caught." I whisper.
Felicity whips out a small gun, opens the door, and presses it to the woman's forehead.
The woman whimpers. "Please."
Felicity takes a deep breath, and pulls the trigger.
Blood smatters on the wall, and she falls backward, her back contorting at an awkward angle, blood also fanning out across the floor.
Luca looks away, buring his face in my shoulder, but I can't look away.
It's like a car accident, you know you shouldn't watch, but you can't look away.
Felicity turns around and types something. "She was going to compromise the mission, it had to be done." Then, she turns around and places the gun in front of the woman.
"Why are you doing that?" I ask.
She types. "To make it look like a suicide."
I nod.
"Can we just get Annaliesee?" Luca asks, his voice slightly muffled.
I nod. "Yeah, lets go."
***
Annaliesee
I jump awake once I hear the gunshot.
I wince as I try and sit up, as the new lashes on my back reopened with the harsh movement.
My back was covered with whip lashes, which were slathered with some weird ointment so they wouldn't heal as quick.
My outfit was tattered and my hands were scraped.
Footsteps echo through the almost-empty prison.
"Where is she?" Estelle's voice asks softly.
Great, I'm hallucinating again.
I yank at my marionette-style chains, which wrapped around my ankles and wrists.
"Is she close?" Luca's voice asks.
I look up at the door, sigh, then look back down.
Footsteps get closer, and I slink back further.
"Here." Felicity's monotone robo-voice says.
I look up.
Estelle was standing wide-eyed at the door.
"Estelle?" I croak.
Felicity types a code into the number pad next to the door.
Estelle runs toward me, dropping to her knees in front of me.
"I hate hallucinating." I murmur.
"Annaliesee, I'm real." She says softly.
"That's what they all say." I retaliate.
She reaches out and cups my cheek. "We're going to get you out of here."
Her hand is cold, and her stare is warm.
"Let me get her chains." Felicity's robo-voice says.
Nimble fingers work against my wrists, freeing them, then my ankles.
Once completely free, I fall forward into Estelle.
"What happened?" She asks, combing her fingers through my hair.
My mother's fingers braid through my hair, my sister, Roselette, watching her closely.
"Mom?" I ask softly as I'm lifted to my feet by two pairs of hands.
Luca speaks. "It's just us, we're going to get you home."
Roselette sings softly in my ear, her breath moving my hair. The sound of my parents talking lulling us both to sleep.
My eyes widen when everything goes cold.
I'm out of the building, my bare feet dragging in an inch of snow.
"Where are we going?" I ask, my voice cracking.
"Willowdale." Estelle says. "We're bringing you back to all your friends."
Tears stroll down my cheeks as I hold my knee, blood rubbing down my shin.
Roselette left to get our parents, because she was terrified I would get hurt more if I moved.
A wet something touches my forehead and my eyes widen.
Felicity holds a wet piece of cloth to my forehead.
Estelle and Luca talk panickedly behind Felicity.
"She's safe now, you can calm down." Luca says.
Estelle exhales. "Okay, lets just focus on getting home."
Hands wrap around my wrist. This is when I said I wanted to leave, and Roselette's heart broke. My mother had just been buried and Roselette got married and was then nursing twins at the age of eighteen.
She grew up fast and I was jealous, so I left.
We land awfully, the momentum forcing me up, and making me land harshly on my wounds.
Arms lift me again, more effortlessly this time.
I open my eyes and see Nigel.
"Papa?" I ask, my eyes blurring his sharp features with my own father's.
He shushes me. "It's okay, we're going to get you better. I promise."