Chapter Thirty #3
At the end of a long corridor, I come face to face with the primary suite; a bedroom so large, it could fit three of Dr. Love’s rooms inside of it.
This is The Ivory’s bedroom.
Fuck…
I know I shouldn’t go in. It’s suicide. If he’s in there, I’m dead.
But I can’t help my curiosity. Furthermore, I have to assume he has windows with a great view—like his office in the prison does.
Tiptoeing closer, I peek through the open doorway. I don’t think anyone’s in here…
Stepping inside carefully, I glance around in awe. It truly is the King’s chambers. That’s exactly how it looks. Regal .
Royalty rests its evil head here.
There’s a set of French doors at the far side of the room. Bingo . Jumping into action, I forgo snooping and head straight for them. I can see right away that they lead out to a large balcony.
The winds are so strong, I have to grip the handle tight and pull toward myself to keep the door from flying open. It’s brutal out there… Rain pelting and stinging my face. I can barely see through it, but I manage to gaze out into the storm, at a view that literally steals my breath.
Wow…
Despite Mother Nature’s fury, I’m astonished. From up here, everything looks so picturesque. Stunning in its misery. Skies of dark gray tinted green from the storm oversee a beckoning obsidian ocean. Trees like skeletons performing a ritualistic dance.
It’s so mesmerizing, I almost miss it. But when my eyes focus, they widen, despite the pelting raindrops.
“Holy fuck …” The words gust from my lips.
Alabaster Penitentiary… has a fucking hole in it.
A large structure, what looks to be the guard tower—I remember passing it when I was running from Trevel earlier—has broken off near the middle. And apparently, it fell right onto the prison.
That’s what that sound was…
“Oh my God. What the… shit,” I gasp, wiping rain and disbelief out of my eyes.
The destruction is staggering. I have a bird’s-eye view from way up here, and it doesn’t even look real. Like a photograph taken by a drone for some National Geographic magazine type shit.
I’m just gaping and balking at the damage, unable to move. Nearly half the prison is just… gone . Nothing but rubble. The guard tower clearly hit the East Wing, and the impact took down the rest because of its weak goddamn structure.
“Fuck…” I shiver as time speeds up, panic sweeping through my entire body.
Shit shit shit. Trevel was going there… At least, I think he was. Dammit, why didn’t he tell me where he was going?!
Fuck! Luthor and Ren…
Joy, Rook, Velle…
People were in there! People I care about…
“Shit. Fuck,” I mumble to myself, mind racing, limbs buzzing with a need for action.
I gotta go. Now now right now.
I need to go check on my friends.
Finding Trevel and making sure he’s okay is even more urgent now.
I won’t be able to handle it if he’s… not.
Gulping down the dread crawling up my throat, I dart back inside. But before I can close the door and run, something stops me. Yet another loud bang! It scares shit out of me, and I jump.
But this sound is very different from the others. It’s instantly recognizable.
Fireworks…
I’m back out on the balcony in a flash, catching the tail-end of green fizzling off in the distance. Barely ten seconds later, there’s another thunk , followed by a whoosh , then an explosion of blue, embers falling like a waterfall of color.
Definitely not a flare gun. These are fucking fireworks , like the ones you’d watch on the Fourth of July, coming from the other side of the island.
It dawns on me as a third pops off, a shower of sparkling white…
Luthor and Ren.
They love fireworks. It’s one of their very few shared interests, and they talk about it all the time.
Fireworks over the ocean…
Fuck. That’s them. It has to be.
Either one of them, or both.
Maybe it’s a signal.
I have to go.
Shit, but what about Trevel?
There’s too much going on. This is all so fucked.
Either way, I have to get the hell out of this mansion and go in that direction.
Leaving the Warden’s bedroom, I’m struggling to stay quiet when all I want to do is barrel through this fucking place. The prison is on the other side of the island, but it’s no more than a mile and a half from here. It’s dangerous, but fuck it. I have to go.
I’m on autopilot as I move, leaving the mansion the way we came, through the garden. This place is really something else… It’s almost unfathomable. Ominous, creepy as hell, but somehow beautiful.
Just like Manuel Blanco.
The mansion almost feels like an extension of him, emphasizing the sensation that he’s everywhere , even when you can’t see him.
As soon as I’m in the woods again, I’m on even higher alert.
There are voices coming from all around.
The last thing I want to do is stop, but I can’t risk being spotted by The Ivory’s guys, so I take cover behind a tree, listening while people run around, clearly in distress.
Up ahead, I see that stone house, remembering how Trevel fucked me into the ground just outside of it only about an hour ago.
I swear to God, I’m lucid dreaming…
People are coming in and out of the house, guys rushing off in different directions, yelling at each other in Spanish. I can’t understand much of what they’re saying, but one word stands out above all the others…
Jefe.
They’re looking for The Ivory.
Jesus fuck, was he inside the prison when it fell??
Could The Ivory be… dead?
No time to think about that. As soon as the coast is clear, I take off running once more, zipping in between the trees, sticking to a separate path.
What I wouldn’t give for a compass right now…
Based on where I know the East Wing to be, I’m just heading back in the direction we came.
Since the fireworks came from somewhere along the shore, I’m straying farther east, peering through the trees to get a view of the coast. But the rubble from the fallen guard tower is blocking a direct route.
I’d have to either go all the way around to check the shore for Luthor and Ren, or head more inland to go for Trevel.
I come to a full stop, looking left, then right.
Luthor and Ren are one way. Trevel, the other.
My heart is leaping so hard, I’m dizzy.
Soaking wet, I’m shivering from the cold, and from the uncertainty in my chest. Raindrops tumbling from my hair, running over my trembling lips…
Without thinking, I take a step, my foot crunching on a fallen branch.
“Don’t move!” a voice barks.
My hands fly up when a shadowy figure comes out from around a tree, aiming a gun at my face. Blood is rushing in my ears as I try to make him out… It’s so fucking dark and my vision is obstructed by the rain.
He approaches me slowly, two more people emerging behind him.
“Byron?” Trevel says my name, and I exhale, releasing the breath I’d been holding.
He’s here. He’s… still here.
Thank fuck, he’s alright.
Trevel rushes to me, warmth blooming in my chest the closer he gets, and the more I’m able to verify that he’s actually here and unharmed.
I have just enough time to register who he’s with—Kent, who’s lowering his gun, and Dr. Love, arms still tied behind his back—before Trevel is wrapping himself around me. Hugging me. Holding me.
And suddenly, he’s holding me up ; keeping me upright because I feel like I could collapse. I’m just so glad to see him… I hadn’t even realized how scared I was until right fucking now.
I didn’t allow myself to feel it… The fear of losing him.
But with his arms around me, his firm body pressing into mine and the crook of his neck like the perfect place to rest my weary head, I can’t help it.
I melt against him, locking my arms around his waist as the stress of everything going on falls away.
“I’m so glad you’re alright,” he hums, fingers combing through my wet hair.
“I… I had to come find you.” I shudder the words, my lips brushing the soft flesh of his throat. “I was… worried.”
He pulls back, forcing me to untangle from him, taking my face in his hands. He’s… smiling . “That’s incredible, my sweet perfect fury.”
I’m trying to scowl, but I’m sure it’s not working. No matter how uncertain things are between us, I have to acknowledge how much more right everything feels when we’re together. I’m not sure if it is, but it feels that way, and right now, I need that comfort.
A throat clearing cuts into our moment, and I look up. Kent has his gun on Dr. Love now, who’s glaring at Trevel and me, studiously curious yet full of animosity.
“Where’s Felix?” he hisses at me. “Is he alright?? You better not have—”
“Shut up,” Kent barks at Love, then nods, addressing me and Trevel. “Come on. We can’t stay out here… It’s not safe.”
“What happened?” I ask, hoping to gain some more information on what in the holy hell is going on here. “I heard the tower fall…”
“The walls are down,” Kent says, motioning with his gun for Dr. Love to walk. “We have to keep moving. You’re lucky we found you before the others did. Instructions are shoot on sight.”
I gulp, falling into step beside Trevel as we follow them at a brisk pace. “Shoot… who?”
He doesn’t answer me, but Trevel and I share a look of understanding.
Prisoners.
They’re going to be shooting any prisoner who’s found outside of the Pen. And now that there’s a hole in the side of it, I’d imagine that will be at least a few.
Glancing left, I swallow hard. Luthor and Ren are out here somewhere… I know they are.
“We have to go back,” I whisper to Trevel, who peeks down at me. “I need to find—”
“No one is going anywhere until we reconvene with The Ivory,” Kent barks. “Stay close and quiet. That’s an order, inmates.”
Tension weaves through me once more as I walk with them, back toward the mansion. Away from the prison.
I don’t know what any of this means… For any of us.
I just have to hope with everything in me that they’re okay… My friends.
The fear and concern in me are eased, however, when Trevel slips his fingers through mine.