JEROME'S POV
So close. So fucking close to getting her back! And those stupid squids took her again. I swear I'm going to kill every squid until they're fucking extinct!
All of us sit at the meeting table, two empty chairs that haunt our minds. But more importantly our hearts. I think Jason was still in the small prison under the castle, I hadn't personally been there, mostly because all of its occupants are either squid players or squid spy's.
The three players are seated in extra chairs near Bri and Mitch, awkward looks plastered on their faces.
"Tell us what happened." Sky ordered, ever since Hanza had been taken he had been lacking all emotion, like they'd been taken down with her. The Sam girl spoke up.
"We all seemed curious when at least 10 squids guarded one of the cells, and even more so when she was taken to the room every day-"
"What's the room?" Ty asked.
"Interrogation room. And since she comes back bleeding with the king pissed of I doubt she's been saying anything." Nathan explains.
"She's getting tortured down there?!" I shout, scaring both of the girls. My face doesn't soften, but I calm down a bit. "Sorry. Go on."
"Anyway." Claudia picks it up. "Our friend Harrison thought that she'd probably be a danger and she'd know some things if the squids took so much caution around her. So at the time when we all get let out of our cells for an hour, Nathan and I got her and took her to our table to get her to help."
"And help she did." Nathan but in. "She took out all the guards at the door, must've been 20 of them. But anyway we got our air tanks on and got outside the castle. That's when things went bad, there must've been another exit for the squids because they came up and grabbed both her and Harrison, and she was telling us to save ourselves."
"That's Hanza for you." Ian smiled sadly.
"And that's how we got here." Sam said.
"She's probably trying to persuade the king to let go of Harrison too, I heard her whisper it when she was going back down." Nathan added.
"But won't that get her in more pain?" Quentin asked.
"She would want everyone to be safe." I muttered. "Even if it risked her chance of survival."
Mitch nodded solemnly. Sky cleared his throat.
"So how do we get her out?" He asked.
"I have an idea."
I was going to do everything to get her out, to see her again.
Even if it meant going down there myself.
HANZA'S POV
It was the day after the escape, Nathan, Claudia and Sam haven't come back yet, which either means that they're dead, being tortured or safe. Preferably the latter.
After the hour out of the cells I have to go to the room, but I couldn't think straight because of all commotion downstairs, new prisoners? Or another failed escape...
Ever since our half successful one, the hopes of every prisoner had gone up quite a bit. Two people have already tried, the first one even succeeded, this might be the second.
All the doors opened for our daily outing, might as well go and see what was going on.
I picked myself up, stumbling a bit but getting there in the end. I walked out the door, holding my bleeding right side. The tight shirt had been changed to stop at the bottom of my chest, showing my stomach scars as well as the stab wound on my side.
I limped down the stairs, clinging to the rail all the way down. A few people gave me apologetic smiles or approving nods. But I kept looking at the crowd of players surrounding something.
I had always had some street cred here, apparently from being tortured ever day. So it was normal that the crowd parted as I passed. When I finally got to what they were looking at, I nearly broke down.
"J-Jerome?... Mitch?" I asked, they instantly tackled me in a hug. I winced and they instantly backed up.
"What did they do to you?!" Jerome barked, glaring at passing squid guards. "They're going to pay!"
"Calm down." I said sternly, Mitch seemed surprised at my seriousness. "I've been keeping the army safe from them. What are you doing here?!"
Mitch grabbed my hand gently and lead me to a small table where guards somehow didn't go to.
"We came here to help you get out." Jerome explained. "And to keep you safe."
"The second part you can't do Jerome. It's not like you can stop him from taking me from my cell when you're trapped in yours."
"Well then we can start in an escape plan to get you out of here earlier." Mitch stated. I sighed and put my head in my hands.
"You should've stayed back there." I said emotionlessly.
"So you want me to stay back there and let you be tortured-" I cut Jerome off, looking up at him with anger in my eyes.
"You don't understand Jerome! They'll keep interrogating me, but they could do whatever they want with you! Even kill you! Your actions could cause my, Mitch's or your deaths, okay? Now do you understand why I don't want you here?!" I half yelled, trying to keep my voice down to not draw attention to us.
"I understand Hannah. But I couldn't live without you." Jerome pleaded, my eyes softened, I knew he was telling the truth because he used my actual name. "I couldn't sleep, eat or even go outside when you left, can you please just know that I did this because I love you?"
"All prisoners return to their cells." A squid guard called out. I recognise the same two guards walking towards us. This time there were six... Were they taking them too?
"Listen to me." I said, my voice so serious it got Jerome to straighten up. "They're going to take us to a room on the other side of the compound, if they ask for you name say it, any other question I'll tell you if you can answer. Whatever you do don't give them any useful information."
They nodded before I was forcefully grabbed my my arms, the tenticals wrapping around my pale skin. I winced as they pushed down forcefully on my cuts.
"Hey! Don't touch her!" Jerome hissed, but before he could get close he was captured and shoved forward with me, Mitch followed a bit behind us. I mouthed 'don't try anything' to Jerome before we entered the hallway that I almost knew off by heart.
