The End [Completed]

16

-Cattleya

The room is dark, it smells damp and mouldy. I hear a drip, drip, drip close by. Chains rattling and a moan from someone. A grunt and another scream.

“Hey!!” someone shouts “You better keep it down in there before I come in and make your life a living hell!” Bars. I see bars in the direction of the voice that just spoke. Another grunt. “Hey! What did I just say?!” There! The guy with the threats, a tall muscular brute, with what seems to be a spiked ball hanging from thick metallic chains that he’s swinging around.

I realise I’m in a cell. In what looks like a room that must be one of those dungeon places that I’ve always read about in the old-world stories. Chains rattling near me. It’s too dark, I can’t see a thing.

The grunt and moan again. This time the brute decides to unlock the bars. He steps inside still swinging the spiked ball, and in his other hand he has a fire torch. The light draws nearer and nearer to the gruntle sounds coming from a man in chains.

Who is that? I wonder as his darkened hair comes into view. His head hangs as if too heavy to lift, the brute walks in slow motion, this whole scene plays out in slow motion to me as the brute hangs the torch onto the wall nearby. He lifts the man’s head by his long hair which hangs over his face. The mans face comes into view, I can’t quite make out his features. His face is covered in blood and dirt. His eyes are closed, he grunts, and moans and I realise he’s hurt. His whole muscular body is covered in deep slashes, blood seeping from him in every place. His skin is too dirty, and blood filled for me to tell his skin tone.

Who is this man? The brute swings his spiked ball, throws it far over his shoulder, and strikes the man directly on his already ripped back. The man’s eyes open, in shock by the pain that he has endured for hours maybe days, it’s hard to tell. An ice-blue glare. And I immediately know who this man is.

I’m awoken by the same shrill as the night before. My own screams. Panic overwhelms me, and I can’t breathe for what feels like forever, my head feels light and dizzy from the lack of oxygen to my brain. I’m hyperventilating. My father. He’s locked up somewhere. They’ve tortured him. I know for sure now that it must be a vision. Why would I have such brutal dreams of my dad?

I take deep breathes, calming myself down before I jump up and slide on my suit. Slipping my boots on as I run out the door to find Alora, she has to know about this. We must save my dad. Tonight, or I’m afraid he might die.

As I get off the elevator, running through the cafeteria I see Alora’s office door is already open. All types of people are in and out, there is chaos, panic, something must have happened. I have no time to figure out what’s going on, Alora needs to help. We need to save my father.

I spot her pacing in the far-right corner of the room “is there any news so far? Have you heard back from anyone?” she asks the man in front of the computer screen at her desk, I recognise him as the same large guy that was at the entrance when Adam and I arrived. He was typing frantically on the keys of the computer, looking up at Alora with pain in his eyes as he shook his head.

“Crap!” Alora spits, she turns to see me standing there. I can see the panic in her eyes. “Alora, I had a vision. My dad, he’s in- “

“I’m sorry Leya, now’s not the time. We can talk in the morning” she tries to dismiss me, anger flaring up within me “I will NOT let my father die Alora, please? He’s in trouble. Someone has him captured.”

Alora turns her back on me and I see her shoulders visibly slumped. “We’ve sent in our best men, our trained operatives to infiltrate the home of the president.” She says so softly I’m not sure I heard her, she turns toward me with pain and tears in her eyes, “somehow, they knew we were coming.” She continues, “they got to us before we could get to them. Our operatives are either captured or dead. I’m sorry Leya, there is nobody left for me to send to save your father, even if we could figure out where he may be.”

“No!!” I shouted “Even if I must go myself, I need to save my father. You don’t understand! I need him. I can’t just LEAVE him there. They’re torturing him. They’re going to kill him.”

Alora just shook her head slowly, her eyes showed how sorry she was. “I’m going to him. Whether I have your help or not.” I turned to walk out of the door when her voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Cattleya wait! You are not ready. Your training hasn’t even commenced yet and how will you even know where to go? You’re just going to be captured or worse, killed.”

She approached me slowly, putting her hands on my shoulders and turned me to face her. My face full of emotion, pain, anger, I sobbed uncontrollably in her arms as I realised what she was saying was true. How would I be able to save my father? I had no idea where he was nor how to get to him.

“I’ll tell you what Leya, I’ll get some people, we’ll try to decipher your vision. Try to make out where your father could be. We’ll train you and a few other’s that we have left. We’ll put a plan together, and we’ll go and save your father. And hopefully, a few of our operatives who has survived. Does that sound like a good plan?”

I couldn’t speak, I just nodded on her shoulder. My face soaked, my eyes blurry. “Gunner, please get Miss- I mean- Leya, some tea to calm here down?”

Gunner just nodded his head and left the room. Alora sat me down in one of the chairs and pulled another closer to me. She sat down next to me, holding my hand.

Boom! A loud crash not far from us had us up right and running toward the sound. It sounded way too close for it to have come from the surface. Lights go out and its’ so pitch dark that I can barely see where I’m going.

It’s chaos everywhere as we hear shouting and footsteps coming for us. I feel hard, strong arms pull at me and just as I’m about to scream, I feel an equally strong hand covering my mouth.

I’m dragged further away from the chaos in the darkness. I’m thrashing and kicking, my back against the chest of someone taller and much stronger than I am. I hear the ping of the elevator and realise we are stepping in. As the elevator lowers I don’t stop my fighting. I will not go down without a fight.

As soon as the elevator doors open, I will bite this persons’ hand and make a run for it. “Don’t even think about it” A whisper in my ear says. Adam. Relief washes over me as he lets his hand fall from my mouth. “I know of a safe place within the facility Cat.” He says and as the doors fly open, Adam makes a run for it, with my hand in his.