Chapter Twelve
Fly
If I left her behind, would her father kill her? I'd been asking myself the same question for the last few hours. It was creeping towards the time I needed to be at the front entrance to the wing, and every hour, I battled with my conscience.
Brit was a product of her environment; there was no doubting that.
However, I could never trust these people and she was one of them.
I'd grieved Melody when I'd left, knowing what her fate would be.
Well, I thought I knew. Seeing that photo of her, trapped and abused by the man who was supposed to protect her, a much older man too, sickened me to the stomach.
It made it extremely hard to separate the daughter from the father.
And yet, the daughter was about to be abused too.
If I left her behind - assuming my plan worked - her punishment would be beyond anything Chad had previously enacted.
He'd made me and my friends watch him fucking numerous women, all day long, just to try and brainwash us.
It hadn't worked. We'd kept our minds in the real world, we knew right from wrong, which was why we'd escaped all those years ago.
“If I leave her here, maybe he'll have mercy on her,” I pondered, edging towards the door and listening.
I'd heard her come quietly back to her room, her footsteps soft and hesitant. There was no crying, no nothing. I was softening to her plight, even enjoying her company occasionally. The pretend sex had riled me up in ways I hadn't wanted to admit.
Checking the clock on the wall, I inhaled sharply and left the bedroom, carrying only the clothes on my back. They were the ones that Brit had found for me and were well overdue a proper clean. I'd been rinsing them since we arrived at the mansion, but it wasn't quite good enough.
My leg was aching today, more than usual. Maybe it was preparing itself for what was about to come. I'd been hiding my pain from Brit, too proud to show her that it was still sore, even if the wound was healing nicely.
My boots were silent on the carpet as I passed Brit's bedroom door, pausing just for a second before pushing on.
Her shocked expression, when she'd found the photo, had played in my mind since I'd left her in the evil office.
She hadn't known about what was happening to Melody.
And yet, she'd stopped her from escaping with me for her own selfish reasons. Because of that, Melody had died.
I couldn't bring her with me. I shouldn’t bring her with me. And yet...
My breathing was even as I descended the stairs and tucked myself to the very edge of the corridor, heading towards the main entrance. It was cast in shadow, and Chad would've been asleep still, so my cover was as good as I could make it.
The entryway was almost pitch black as I entered and waited. I had twenty minutes to bide my time until I had my only chance.
My palms sweated as I waited, the time dragging and my conscience battling. I'd promised the take Brit with me, to keep her safe from the fucking lunatic running this place. I hated her for what she'd done, swearing to leave her to her fate. Except… fuck!
Stepping away from the door, I rushed back down the corridor and up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
We had hardly any time and I hadn't wanted to move around too much, just in case it woke Chad up.
We had no idea if he had the cameras on all night, volume up, so he could be woken.
I doubted very much his security was watching us, he was too private for that.
We'd persuaded ourselves that he didn't listen out, purely because he'd made it clear to everybody that his sleep time was sacred.
I reached Brit's door, my breathing uneven. If she put up a fight after what I’d said, I'd just pick her up and drag her. I had no time to fuck around.
Opening her door, I froze. She was curled in a ball, one arm under the pillow and a serene sleepy expression on her face. The beauty of her, without her scowl, hit me in the chest. Shit, no wonder her father- no, I couldn't go there.
Shoving the thought from my mind, I crept towards her and bent beside the bed, tapping her arm gently. She reared up and I forced my hand over her mouth, silencing her in case Chad was listening.
“It's me,” I hissed, “Don't make a sound, we're going to escape.”
She relaxed, leaning towards me until I took my hand off her face. Her forehead creased and she stared at me, waiting for me to explain.
“There's no time, you have two minutes to get your shoes on and follow me silently.” I grabbed up her sweatshirt and went to the door, looking out while she quickly shoved clothes on over her nightwear. She was beside me, her shoes on, before I could blink. Good, I needed that type of obedience.
“Listen to everything I say,” I whispered, “and do everything I tell you to do.”
Her throat bobbed and she nodded, indicating that I go.
Well, I wasn't used to her actually listening to me, it was a nice change.
Leaving her to follow me, I left the room and hurried down the corridor, not even checking whether she was behind me.
Her hand brushed my butt cheek as we neared the top of the stairs and I stifled a smirk.
We both crept down the stairs, going slow this time to avoid any creaking. Once at the bottom, I led her to the exit and turned, grabbing the tops of her arms and putting my mouth against her ear to talk.
“Stay in the shadows but be careful not to get too close to me and the door.”
She hummed an affirmative and nodded. I released her and went closer to the door to wait.
At five in the morning, the main guard always came in to drop off our food.
Although I had never been up at that time before, I had heard him a few times before seeing the food on the floor in carrier bags.
I’d not previously been ready to try and attack him, but today, the motherfucker was going to get what he deserved for being party to our captivity.
Within minutes, the door buzzed and slowly started to open. As soon as the gap was big enough, I surged through, throwing a punch straight at the guard. He gasped in surprise when my fist connected to his and dropped the bags, sending the food items flying everywhere.
The guard fought me, but I hit him hard, straight into his nose. He whimpered, but I didn't give him time to raise the alarm, jumping on him and wrestling to place a hand over his mouth.
“Go!” I hissed, managing to get my hand around the guard's throat as he spluttered.
He’d been oblivious to any potential threat, which helped me massively. Brit was able to push past us, disappearing out into the hall. I stared at my enemy and shook my head.
“Please,” he whined, “I didn't have a choice, I had to do–”
My fist swung into his face again, silencing his pathetic excuse. I didn't even give him time to recover before I shoved him into the private wing, throwing him as hard as I could. As he hit the ground, I swung the door closed behind me, smiling when it automatically locked.
“Son of a bitch.”
Turning, I spotted Brit near the double doors, waiting for me. I charged after her, holding my breath until I reached her and took her arm.
“You know the layout of this place better than me,” I whispered, “What's the quickest escape route?”
Tying her hair up, she pointed at the double doors. “We have to hurry, security will check these cameras. The kitchen.”
She wasted no time in opening one of the doors a fraction and sticking her head out. The guards would be on high alert for her and Chad may have even kept his sick game a secret from them. How would they react knowing that the almighty was holding his daughter captive with a traitor?
I snapped out of my whirling mind when she motioned for us to go.
I followed her, keeping right behind her.
She headed across the lobby and straight to a glass paneled door, which swung open with the press of her hand.
The smells of baking hit my nose and my traitor stomach rumbled loudly, jolting us both.
We paused, looking at one another before checking the room.
A baker hummed off over to the left, behind shelves filled with pastries. Fuck, it smelt good.
We tiptoed across the kitchen, keeping as low as we could go until we reached a small corridor that stretched to a back entrance, which conveniently stood open. Dawn was lifting and the sun rising, leaving us minimal time to get to the trees before we would be in full view of everyone.
“Come,” Brit said breaking into a run.
I went with her, trying to keep my boots from clomping on the hard slabbed floor. If the baker heard us, he would probably raise the alarm. This was our one and only chance and I wasn't going to fuck up.
“Slow,” I ordered Brit, grabbing her back when she made to run out of the building. “We need to be sure it's clear.”
The small smile that had been on her face dropped. “Of course.”
I kept her behind me as I stuck my head out this time, checking the surrounding area for any presence. There was no one around and the woods were not that far ahead.
Taking Brit's hand, I walked out, one step, two.
It was still clear. Without saying anything, I tugged her once and then set off, holding her palm tightly so she had to run with me, a limping run with my broken leg.
The breeze was strong, whipping around our heads as we ran and my heart was in my throat, waiting for guards to intervene, but they didn't come.
We kept going, running until we were in the woods, hidden by the leaves and undergrowth.
“What's the quickest way out of here,” I asked, breathless as we slowed to a swift walk.
Brit's chest was heaving, but she clung to me, urging me to go faster. I ignored the pain radiating down my leg and sped up again, following her lead.
“There's a secret hole in the fence not far from here,” she said through her breaths. “We used to use it as teens, to escape to the river.”