Cut!

Take 34 - Through The Dark - Part 1

A/N: Please comment as you read. It makes my day. 

I’d never been good at running. Not even close. But as I clenched Harry’s hand hard and dragged him along, I wasn’t just running for my life—I was running for his.

As I guessed the directions at random, we moved through the dusty hallways. The flickering lights confused me.

“Cami,” Harry said.

But I didn’t stop to listen to anything right now. There would be plenty of time to chitchat later when we’d gotten to safety.

Part of me knew that there would be plenty to chitchat about, as well.

We barged through a steel door, reaching a set of stairs. I climbed them two steps at a time, releasing Harry’s hand to better balance myself. At the top of the stairs, I entered a large room, filled with all kinds of junk.

I heard a scream behind me and ushered Harry behind a large container, ducking down beside him. Trying to steady my beating heart, I covered my mouth in an attempt to stop panting.

A menacing laugh echoed throughout the room shortly after.

“Funny thing,” Max said aloud. “This building has unclean water, and the ventilation system doesn’t work at all. It has great cell reception, though.”

I held my breath as footsteps came closer.

“Jamie mentioned your little trick to persuade him.” Max chuckled. “He played along, he said. But neither of us really believed it. But all it took was one simple google search, and all we could see was massive trick of the year, starlet’s sister disappeared.”

I almost gasped. Ludmilla had gone public with everything in an attempt to find me.

“I’m betting everything that she’s here in Milan right now,” Max said. “Once I’ve taken care of you two, I’m going to pay her a visit.”

Oh no.

Max was almost right next to us. I glanced at Harry who was staring at the floor. It broke my heart: he couldn’t even look at me now.

I tried to remember every movie I’ve ever watched. In them, the victim always tries to divert the villain’s attention. Looking around on the ground, I searched for something to throw.

“You’re not getting out of here,” Max said. “This building has an intricate design of hallways. Over half of the exits are permanently closed off.”

I saw a small pebble right next to my hand. Taking it, I clutched it tightly and tried to remember what I saw when I ran in. There’d been so much junk. It was no use. Those things only worked on movies.

Leaning into Harry, I whispered. “Run.” Then I stood up and walked out into a clear space.

“I’m here,” I said.

“Where’s your lover boy?” Max asked.

“We split up.” I kept my eyes firmly on Max, hoping my voice didn’t give me away. “He probably already found a way out, and the police will be here in no time.”

“See…” Max’s mouth curled up in a menacing smile. “Now I know how prone you are to lying, so I know better than to believe you. Very convincing, though.”

“I’m not lying now,” I said. “If you hurt me, you’ll go to prison for a very long time.”

He took a step closer, almost beside Harry now, and I took another step back.

“And I will tell Ludmilla what a disgusting person you really are.” I snorted. “She’ll hate you, forever.”

My attempt to piss off Max worked. He had lunged for me before he got a chance to discover Harry. I hoped it had been enough time, and that Harry had done as I asked. If he got help fast enough, there was still a chance to be saved.

I fell backwards with Max on top of me, his hands around my throat. With my hands and legs, I flailed, trying to hit or kick him anywhere I could, but to no use. He was too strong. I couldn’t breathe.

Closing my eyes, I waited for the inevitable. However, with a surge of power, the weight was lifted off me. My eyes shot open, and I saw Harry wrestle Max on the floor.

“Run!” he yelled.

But I couldn’t. Instead, I grabbed a long iron pipe on the ground and walked over. Using all my strength, I whacked Max over the head, making him release the hold on Harry.

I pulled at Harry’s shirt, starting to run again.

Somehow, I wasn’t worried about running into Jamie since he’d attacked Max for me. Silently, I sent a small prayer that he was okay.

“Come on, Harry,” I yelled.

We headed for the door on the opposite side, only to find more hallways. Though, these were, unlike downstairs, covered with old rugs. The stench of mold and dirt was evident.

“We must be on the ground floor,” I said. “We can’t be far from an exit now.”

It didn’t take long before we were both out of breath, and neither of us had found anything resembling a way out. Max hadn’t been kidding when he said that most were sealed off—every door we encountered was locked.

I tried another one. Groaning, I gave up. “They’re all locked.”

Harry tried, as well. Almost as if he thought I was lying, which I couldn’t really blame him. Though, why would I lie in a situation like this.

“Try the next,” he said.

I ran from door to door, Harry hot on my heels. But I had no luck.

“Cami,” Harry said. “About what you said—“

I jerked around. “I’d love to explain, but honestly, this is so not the time. Let’s focus on getting out of here alive.”

He nodded and ran to another door. We worked in tandem, trying every possible way out. Who had designed this building? Why wasn’t there even one window? This was a health risk, and probably breaking a whole bunch of health codes.

“Cami,” Harry said.

I didn’t answer.

“Cami!” he shouted.

“What?”

“We have to split up.” Harry looked away. “I can hear Max.”

 A/N: Hope you enjoy. Sorry for the wait. Woke up with a bad sinus infection yesterday. Eugh. Winter. 

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