In my Blood

CHAPTER 25 - Friends?

The girl with short brown hair leads us down a narrow hallway, my heart pounding against my chest the entire time. Abruptly, a loud, grainy song booms around us, projected by speakers that line the hallway. I feel as though I've heard the song, in which a woman sings in a beautifully tragic voice that she'll be walking in the moonlight, although I cannot predict the next lyric. It's a wonderfully frustrating feeling and it makes me want to listen to more music. 

"What is that?!" Aris asks the girl, to no response. She takes into a small room, where Jorge waits for us.

"Brenda!" he calls to the girl. "Come on, we don't have much time! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Jorge runs along to a large window. He quickly opens it wide, and I see a deep, pitch-black gorge below. A large rope hangs from the top of the window, stretching out above the gorge to a building sitting precariously at the other side of a cliff.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Fry mutters, shaking his head.

"It's Plan B, hermano. You kids want to get to the Right Arm? I'll lead you to them. But you're gonna owe me," Jorge explains, pointing a finger to us. He pulls down some sort of rope harness and attaches it to the zipline. Jorge grips the rope firmly, not bothering to attach it to his body, and takes one massive leap out of the window. He swings down the zipline while we all gape at him in shock.

"Alright," Brenda - the short haired girl - commands, "let's go!"

She pulls down some more harnesses, and Minho is the first to grab one. Seemingly fearlessly, he grips onto it and follows Jorge out of the window, swinging through the air at a rapid pace. It's then Fry and Aris. I feel my heart rate increasing just thinking about dangling above that deep gorge, but take a step forward anyway. It's this or WICKED.

"Be careful, (y/n)," Newt urges. He looks just as fearful as I am. I nod back at him in what I hope is reassuring.

"Always am."

Closing my eyes and squeezing onto the rope, I step off the window ledge. My body free falls for a split second, before the harness tightens and I'm forced to hold on even harder as I jerk forward. I let out a terrified yell as I quicken, flying through the air.

I look down, and all I see is black. My hands feel as if they could slip any moment, the rope is burning into my already agonised palms. I grit my teeth together and yell, closing my eyes once more.

I'm twenty metres away from a hole in the wall of the building. I feel my fingers sliding off the rope ever so slightly, my palms slippery with blood and sweat. I fall a bit more, holding on by just my fingertips. I'm ten metres away now. Eight, five, three...

My legs crumple as I hit the floor, my body whacking against the concrete. Everyone else is at the side, and Frypan offers out a hand to help me up.

"Thanks, Fry," I groan, rubbing my knees as I stand. I notice my trousers are ripped at the knees, revealing my scratched and bloodied skin. A few seconds later, Newt appears through the hole, and manages to swiftly land on his feet, only stumbling slightly. He rushes to where we stand, and sees the rips in my trousers.

"(y/n), are you okay?!" he asks, his brown eyes wide in worry. I open my mouth before Jorge cuts me off.

"Your little girlfriend is fine, hermano," he says, rolling his eyes. "She's alive, isn't she? Where are the other three?"

As if on cue, Teresa emerges from the hole, hitting the ground forcefully. I rush over to where she lands, helping her up.

"You okay?" I ask, holding onto her shaking arms.