Spy School King's Cage (Completed)

At last...Escape

Triple update, like I promised. ENJOY!!!!

"Erica!" I practically yelled. "Oh my god, are you okay?"

She looked horrible. Her hair was a mess, and so were her clothes. She was obviously keeping it together, but barely.

"Yeah, you could call me okay," she replied. I walked up to her and knelt down by her side. Her hand was cold, and I shivered.

"Have...have you eaten?" I asked.

"No," she responded. "They're trying to starve me with nothing but water and a grape."

I handed her the chocolate granola bar in my pocket. "Here."

"Thanks," she said, taking a bite out of it. "Dang, this feels so good."

"Yeah, you deserve it," I said. "Everyone's so worried about you, especially your mom."

The mention of Catherine made Erica tense up. Her brows creased with worry.

I laced my fingers around hers. "Don't worry. I'll get you out of these handcuffs. We've uncovered quite some info on the bad guys."

"Cool," she said. "Tell me all about it, but before that, I just wanted to say thanks for being able to decipher where I was. Those notes really worked."

"It wasn't just me. Piper showed me the basement. Anyways, how did you slip the note to me if you're handcuffed? And why did they not lock this door?"

Erica smiled. "They thought that if they starved me, I wouldn't be able to move around. And they also had a cuff tying my leg to this pole." She gestured to the pole in the corner. "I broke free, and I was free to move around. No one comes down here anyways. On the first day, I was flipping through that book, and I found the last line. It reminded me of us, so I ripped it off. It was in my pocket the whole time."

"Dang, Erica, sometimes you're just so good at all this stuff," I said, then proceeded to tell her about our adventures, even telling her about the Queen's death threats. I could trust Erica.

"Mr.E?!" she gasped. I should have known. That woman didn't sound so much like the leader of SPYDER." The granola bar I had given her had definitely boosted her energy.

"Yes, he's out there, and before he finds out that I'm here, we've gotta get out," I said.

"Not so fast," came a voice. I spun around to find Mr. E glaring at us. "I know you know who I am." Then he turned to two men. "Lock them in."

The door slammed shut behind us, and a lock twisted before the footsteps grew faint.

I turned to Erica. She met my gaze, then gestured to the hairpin on the floor. I quickly undid her cuffs, and she wrung her hands for a moment, then met my gaze again.

She pulled me into a hug.

I wrapped my own arms around her, and she clung on. I wanted to smooth her hair and cry and tell her everything was going to be fine, but instead I found myself resisting the urge to do all that.

"I'm so sorry," she said as I tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "I shouldn't have let my guard down that night. They...they chloroformed me."

"It's fine. We're going to find a way out of this together," I said. "We will."

"But you're stuck in here too," she said. "How are we going to escape?"

I pulled out the handgun in my hoodie pocket. "I brought a gun, if that helps."
Erica smacked her forehead. "You could have shot Mr. E."

"Oh. Yeah."

"Anyways, hand it over," she said, and when I did, she began dismantling it.

"Are you crazy? You're dismantling it!" I gasped.

"Of course I am," she shot back. "I'm the original owner of it."

She pulled out a tiny gum-like substance from inside and gave a smirk of satisfaction.

"Is that...?" I began. She nodded.

"Nitroglycerine," she said. "Yes. I stuffed a bit in here, for emergencies like this. It will bust us out."

"Wait," I said. "Do you hear the footsteps?"

She froze. Then she turned back and gave a slight nod.

The guard who operated the washing machines had arrived. I motioned for Erica to walk over and stay low with me.

"Now that we have to wait for the guard to go, I wanted to tell you that I think Piper's evil."

I stared at her in shock. "Piper? No way!"

"Yes," she said. "Think about it. How did Mr. E know you were down here. He hasn't ever checked on me."

"I still don't believe it," I said.

She shrugged. "Think about it again, Ben. She led you down here. I mean, I'm saying it's just a possibility. It doesn't have to be true."

"So she fooled me, and I blindly believed her?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Maybe I'm wrong."

You can never be wrong, I thought. Erica seemed to read my mind.

"Ben," she said, her mood darkening. "You don't even know how many times I've been wrong."

I placed my hand on hers. "We all make mistakes, Erica," I said. "In fact, if Piper hadn't led me here, how would I have found you? I'm so relieved that you're alive and safe. I was so worried."

For a moment there was silence between us.

She met my gaze and held it. I stared right back into her eyes.

Then she touched my lips with hers for a brief second.

"I'm glad you were able to find me," she said slowly. "Thanks."

"I'm just glad you're safe," I responded.

"But won't everyone be worried as to where you are?" she asked.

I nodded. "Which is why we're going to break out of here."

She calmly walked over to the door and squished the nitro into the door's keyhole. There was no handle on the inside, so our only way out was if the nitro burst the lock and the door swung open.

"Assemble the gun," she ordered as she slipped the last bits in there.

I avoided her gaze, because I didn't want to tell her that I had no clue how to assemble a gun. Her emotional openness had closed up, and she was all business.

Erica gave an exasperated sigh. "You don't know how to assemble a basic handgun?" she asked.

"Er...no."

She sighed again. "Remind me to teach you how to use a gun next time we're free."

"Okay," I muttered as she gathered the parts and quickly reassembled them. Then she positioned her hand correctly so that the gun would shoot straight into the keyhole.

She didn't fire; she only waited. The footsteps slowly decreased until the basement door slammed shut.

She fired, nailing the shot.
There was a pop, then a hiss, and the door swung open.

"Okay, now let's get the heck out of here," she said, dusting her hands and tossing the gun to the floor. "We have some work to do."

"What now?' I asked.

There was a glint in her eye as she walked out. "We go, find my mom, find our friends, maybe have a thirty second reunion, then we go kick the bad guys' butts."

Thanks for all the views, positive comments, support and votes! I quickly reached 100+ votes and that makes me sooo happy. There will probably be four more chapters, and then an epilogue, and then this book will be over.

But fear not, because I have a really exciting book coming up in the beginning of May. Have a wonderful day!