Time Will Tell [Complete]

Chapter Sixteen

  Lizzy was jolted awake by the door being opened into her, and the tile floor made it easy for her to slide so she was moved several feet to the side. With sleepy eyes she looked up at the person who opened the door and, in the darkness, couldn't make out the face.

"Hello," she said nervously, assuming it was a returning guard. "I – well, I thought I'd sleep –"

"Shh," the person muttered, putting his hand over her mouth. "Don't speak."

Lizzy recognized the voice immediately. "Wha–"

"Shh!" he hissed. He was completely still for several minutes, then removed his hand from her mouth and stood. He held out a hand to help her up and she took it, rising unsteadily to her feet.

He peeked out the door and gestured for Lizzy to follow as he stealthily moved out of the room and down the hallway.

"What are you –"

Once again, she was cut off mid-sentence. The person she was following had pushed her against the wall. Lizzy was about to protest when they heard voices farther down the hall. Then there was light from some sort of lamp and Lizzy reached out for her companion's hand.

"Uhh," she whispered. "Are we just going to stand here, or..."

"No, we are not." He said. He was feeling along the wall for... something, Lizzy couldn't tell what. Apparently he found it, because she heard a quiet sound of victory and a small click. A sliver of almost imperceptible light appeared through the crack of a door and she realized he had been feeling for a doorknob. He pulled Lizzy behind him as they entered the room and he shut the door, then moved quickly forward.

"Where are we going?" she asked. He gestured for her to lower her voice.

"We're trying to get out of here." He answered, so quietly she could barely hear him. She looked at her feet and nodded. "Perfect."

They crept through the room, testing each step, prepared to dive for cover at the smallest sign of discovery. Lizzy's muscles were tense and her whole body ached with anticipation; her back was cramping up from the constant tightness of her, well, everything. She tried to relax but couldn't. Something bad was going to happen, she knew it, they would be found and he would be killed and she would be killed and Amanda and Marjorie and Kit and Finn and everyone else, and it would be all her fault. They were going to be caught, she could feel it...

A sudden light from just ahead made her lose her balance and almost fall over in surprise – the sudden apprehension that washed over her was overwhelming. Was this it? Were they going to die?

Then Lizzy realized that the person leading her out had just opened a door and the perfectly round room it led to was lit up; apparently it was empty because he stepped in with no hesitation after glancing around. Lizzy followed him, and once she had closed the door, she turned to him.

"Liam, what on earth are you doing here?" she demanded.

He looked a bit bewildered at her tone of voice. "Uhh," he paused. "Rescuing you?"

"Did I ask to be rescued?" she shot back.

"Well, no, but we couldn't really ask you. You were in the middle of MNT's headquarters. Did you expect us to just waltz right up to the door and see if they would be so kind as to pass on a message? If you hadn't noticed the extensive security."

Lizzy scoffed. "Yeah, the extensive security that just up and left in the middle of the night. I could've left at any moment."

"So why didn't you?" Liam asked, folding his arms over his chest. He was wearing a thick sweater suitable for snow or rainy weather, and the extra material made him appear especially buff. "Why didn't you leave before I came?"