Andley: I Love You More Than I Can Ever Scream
Chapter Eighteen: We Stand Tall, United
"That's all very well," I began, hesitant to speak; I still wasn't entirely sure I could trust them "but how exactly would we get out?"
"We have a plan, but it won't happen straight away. We need to wait for Jonatha to return, in aboot 2 days, maybe?" Aboot? James' accent was strong! He looked over to Ben, who nodded in agreement. "We haven't got much, but it's better than nothing, yeah?" I just nodded slowly, Ashley doing the same.
"What do you mean by 'when Jonathan returns'? Is he not here, then?" Ashley spoke up. He hadn't said an awful lot since we got here, not even to me.
Ben looked at him confused, and then with sympathy. "You didn't think you'd stay locked in here forever, right? Jonathan doesn't like holding prisoners. And trust me, this is the nicest it gets..." I felt a chill run down my spine. I hadn't thought about what might happen, I guess we'd just assumed we stay here? To be honest, I didn't really want to think about it, so I'd distracted myself with focussing on trivial things. Or at least trivial compared to the situation. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Ashley begin to shake a little, tears forming in his eyes. Within a second I had pulled him into my arms and was soothing him, playing with his hair and making quiet shushing noises. Even if I wasn't sure how genuine Ben and James were, I had to trust them. There was no other way, and we had to get out of here. For Ashley's sake if not for mine.
Turning to face them, looking at James directly in the eyes, all fear and hesitation leaving my voice and mind, I asked "what do we have to do?"
~Time Lapse: 2 days~
The sound of panic and commotion echoed through the hallways, people rushing about last minute tasks in preparation. Even without James poking his head in to confirm, I had already figured that Jonathan was back. A sudden sense of nausea overtook me, and I felt sick to the bone. Panic, paranoia and anxiety began to set it. We'd done exactly what we had to, everything. Taken the special pills Ben had given us (although he refused to tell us what they were for), kept to ourselves, we knew the entire escape route by heart and knew exactly what we had to do. But I was still petrified. Anything could go wrong. We could get caught, Ben and James could be fraudes, the escape route might be blocked, someone could find us. Our chances of a success weren't great, but they were the only chance we had.
"You ready?" Ashes asked me. He looked fairly blazé about all of this, but I knew he was just hiding it. We didn't have time to panic, to worry and to start doubting. I just nodded and without thinking pulled him into my arms, crashing my lips to his. The tears pouring down my cheek mixed with his, as we embraced in what could be our last kiss. It was passionate, loving but at the same time hungry and desperate. It was short and simple, but still the most perfect kiss of my life. Nothing could go wrong, I wouldn't allow it. I couldn't lose Ash and I would do whatever it takes to save him.
The kiss was interrupted by the door being thrown open. I jumped, and pulled away, turning to see Jonathan standing before us. Somehow, he managed to look even more menacing than usual. "I'm very sorry to...interrupt, but we have business to deal with. Follow me." He turned around and walked away, Ash and I slowly following after. As we stepped out the room, two men came and stood either side of us: Ben and James. I had to hide the smile that started pulling at the corners of my lips. They'd managed to get on guard duty for us, which meant the plan was at least beginning to work. We walked down a long corridor, and I noticed the quality gradually increasing. The walls had less paint peeling off, the floor had less holes, there was no damp and the weird sewage-smell that always lingered seemed to have all but gone. Jonathan lead us into a small room, decorated simply. The walls were a plain cream colour, there was no carpet on the floor - just a plain laminate, a few pot plants decorated the corners. In the centre was a desk and chair facing the door, and to the right of the entrance was a small, black leather couch. Jonathan pointed at it, indicating for us to sit. We did.
I began awkwardly twiddling my thumbs, and noticed Ashley tapping his foot on the ground. Ben had warned us not to speak unless necessary, not to question what was going on and never to trust Jonathan. He walked over to us and handed us drinks. It looked like water, but seemed thicker, more velous and gloopy. I began to sip, not sure if it was safe. But then, we had been told not to question anything. I quickly drunk up, keep to find out what was going on. Ash was staring at his glass, and I nudged him lightly to encourage him to drink. Jonathan began talking, but I didn't know what he was saying. The words were a blur, a haze. Maybe I shouldn't have drunk that liquid, maybe James and Ben really weren't on our side. I felt my head spinning, a sense of lightheadedness take over me. The room began to swirl and I felt dizzy. Soon, light headedness turned to disorientation, which turned to nausea. Next thing I knew, my entire stomach contents was on the floor. I felt weak, too weak to move. Painfully, I turned my head to Ashley, who was now doubled over, hurling up just as I had been. Jonathan began to shout and exclaim, and Ben and James came rushing in. He shouted at them to take us to the bathroom, sort us out and then return us tomorrow. I felt like a toy, being passed around. He spoke as if we weren't in the room, as if we were just toys or objects that had no minds of our own. Ben grabbed my arm and threw it over his shoulder to support me, James doing the same to Ashley. They began to awkwardly walk us out of the room and down the the bathroom. Past us ran a young, weak looking female with a mop. I gave her an apologetic smile as she ran past, the sound of Jonathans cussing and insults echoing down the corridor.
James pushed open the bathroom door and him and ben practically dropped us on the floor. "Good job, mates!" James exclaimed, and I looked up at him. I attempted a sarcastic/inquisitive look, but it probably came across more gormless.
"You look a state." Ben commented and I rolled my eyes. I was beginning to feel better, but I still felt like absolute shit. "At least it worked."
"Wha..." Ashley began, but his voice was weak and broke off.
"What worked? The pills, of course." Now I was confused, what was James going on about?
Ben cut in. "You know the drink Jonathan gave you?" I nodded "It contained very a weak form of poison. Not enough to kill you, but enough to make you weak, enough to make you sleepy. He'd then have you transferred to, well, we don't know where. No-one ever returns to tell us..." He trailed off, so James took over.
"That was the point in the tablets. They're like an antidote, almost. 'Cause your body don't like the liquid and the tablets together, so it makes you throw up, get the liquid out of your system. Simple." So that was what that was all about. I was almost back to my old self now, and began to stand, helping Ashley up as well.
"So what, do we just make a break for it?" I asked. It seemed too simple.
"No, there's camera's all down the corridor. Surprised you didn't see them. Anyway, if it were that simple, you could've escaped ages ago." Ben explained.
"So how do we get out?"
"Like this..." Ben turned and started heading down the row of toilet stalls. There was only 3, and when he reached the last one he opened the door and stepped inside. Ashes and I began to follow, and as I reached the stool noticed an "out of order" sign, and water spilling all over the floor. The water was definitely not clean. Ashley reached one hand forward and slowly pushed the door so we could see inside. Ben was stood pressed against the wall, avoiding the spurt of disgusting liquid from within the toilet. "You see, turns out that even in a place like this, sewage is enough to stop people discovering secrets." He placed on foot on the toilet seat, deliberately finding a clean area, and hoisted himself up. He then climbed onto the back of the toilet, balancing awkwardly.
"What are you doing...?" Ashley asked curiously, but Ben just ignored him. He started pushing at the bricks on the wall in no form of pattern, until he pushed on and a whole chunk of the wall that rated sliding forward.
"Here comes the awkward bit." He muttered, more to himself than anyone else. He started pushing it in different places, trying to open it so it didn't just fall outside, I presumed. He eventually managed it, and there was a giant 1.5x1.5 doorway in the wall. I just stood there, gaping at it.
"But...but...if you knew about this, why-" Ben cut me off.
"Why didn't I use it? Well, I only really found about it when we first came here, and didn't have the guts to try and escape. Then I all but forgot about it until recently." I wasn't sure how believable that was, but then none of what happened really seemed real in the first place.
"Why didn't you tell any of us?" James queried. Clearly he didn't know about the hole either.
"Didn't want to get you in trouble." He replied bluntly. "Now, are we busting out of here or farting around until we get caught..."
"We have a plan, but it won't happen straight away. We need to wait for Jonatha to return, in aboot 2 days, maybe?" Aboot? James' accent was strong! He looked over to Ben, who nodded in agreement. "We haven't got much, but it's better than nothing, yeah?" I just nodded slowly, Ashley doing the same.
"What do you mean by 'when Jonathan returns'? Is he not here, then?" Ashley spoke up. He hadn't said an awful lot since we got here, not even to me.
Ben looked at him confused, and then with sympathy. "You didn't think you'd stay locked in here forever, right? Jonathan doesn't like holding prisoners. And trust me, this is the nicest it gets..." I felt a chill run down my spine. I hadn't thought about what might happen, I guess we'd just assumed we stay here? To be honest, I didn't really want to think about it, so I'd distracted myself with focussing on trivial things. Or at least trivial compared to the situation. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Ashley begin to shake a little, tears forming in his eyes. Within a second I had pulled him into my arms and was soothing him, playing with his hair and making quiet shushing noises. Even if I wasn't sure how genuine Ben and James were, I had to trust them. There was no other way, and we had to get out of here. For Ashley's sake if not for mine.
Turning to face them, looking at James directly in the eyes, all fear and hesitation leaving my voice and mind, I asked "what do we have to do?"
~Time Lapse: 2 days~
The sound of panic and commotion echoed through the hallways, people rushing about last minute tasks in preparation. Even without James poking his head in to confirm, I had already figured that Jonathan was back. A sudden sense of nausea overtook me, and I felt sick to the bone. Panic, paranoia and anxiety began to set it. We'd done exactly what we had to, everything. Taken the special pills Ben had given us (although he refused to tell us what they were for), kept to ourselves, we knew the entire escape route by heart and knew exactly what we had to do. But I was still petrified. Anything could go wrong. We could get caught, Ben and James could be fraudes, the escape route might be blocked, someone could find us. Our chances of a success weren't great, but they were the only chance we had.
"You ready?" Ashes asked me. He looked fairly blazé about all of this, but I knew he was just hiding it. We didn't have time to panic, to worry and to start doubting. I just nodded and without thinking pulled him into my arms, crashing my lips to his. The tears pouring down my cheek mixed with his, as we embraced in what could be our last kiss. It was passionate, loving but at the same time hungry and desperate. It was short and simple, but still the most perfect kiss of my life. Nothing could go wrong, I wouldn't allow it. I couldn't lose Ash and I would do whatever it takes to save him.
The kiss was interrupted by the door being thrown open. I jumped, and pulled away, turning to see Jonathan standing before us. Somehow, he managed to look even more menacing than usual. "I'm very sorry to...interrupt, but we have business to deal with. Follow me." He turned around and walked away, Ash and I slowly following after. As we stepped out the room, two men came and stood either side of us: Ben and James. I had to hide the smile that started pulling at the corners of my lips. They'd managed to get on guard duty for us, which meant the plan was at least beginning to work. We walked down a long corridor, and I noticed the quality gradually increasing. The walls had less paint peeling off, the floor had less holes, there was no damp and the weird sewage-smell that always lingered seemed to have all but gone. Jonathan lead us into a small room, decorated simply. The walls were a plain cream colour, there was no carpet on the floor - just a plain laminate, a few pot plants decorated the corners. In the centre was a desk and chair facing the door, and to the right of the entrance was a small, black leather couch. Jonathan pointed at it, indicating for us to sit. We did.
I began awkwardly twiddling my thumbs, and noticed Ashley tapping his foot on the ground. Ben had warned us not to speak unless necessary, not to question what was going on and never to trust Jonathan. He walked over to us and handed us drinks. It looked like water, but seemed thicker, more velous and gloopy. I began to sip, not sure if it was safe. But then, we had been told not to question anything. I quickly drunk up, keep to find out what was going on. Ash was staring at his glass, and I nudged him lightly to encourage him to drink. Jonathan began talking, but I didn't know what he was saying. The words were a blur, a haze. Maybe I shouldn't have drunk that liquid, maybe James and Ben really weren't on our side. I felt my head spinning, a sense of lightheadedness take over me. The room began to swirl and I felt dizzy. Soon, light headedness turned to disorientation, which turned to nausea. Next thing I knew, my entire stomach contents was on the floor. I felt weak, too weak to move. Painfully, I turned my head to Ashley, who was now doubled over, hurling up just as I had been. Jonathan began to shout and exclaim, and Ben and James came rushing in. He shouted at them to take us to the bathroom, sort us out and then return us tomorrow. I felt like a toy, being passed around. He spoke as if we weren't in the room, as if we were just toys or objects that had no minds of our own. Ben grabbed my arm and threw it over his shoulder to support me, James doing the same to Ashley. They began to awkwardly walk us out of the room and down the the bathroom. Past us ran a young, weak looking female with a mop. I gave her an apologetic smile as she ran past, the sound of Jonathans cussing and insults echoing down the corridor.
James pushed open the bathroom door and him and ben practically dropped us on the floor. "Good job, mates!" James exclaimed, and I looked up at him. I attempted a sarcastic/inquisitive look, but it probably came across more gormless.
"You look a state." Ben commented and I rolled my eyes. I was beginning to feel better, but I still felt like absolute shit. "At least it worked."
"Wha..." Ashley began, but his voice was weak and broke off.
"What worked? The pills, of course." Now I was confused, what was James going on about?
Ben cut in. "You know the drink Jonathan gave you?" I nodded "It contained very a weak form of poison. Not enough to kill you, but enough to make you weak, enough to make you sleepy. He'd then have you transferred to, well, we don't know where. No-one ever returns to tell us..." He trailed off, so James took over.
"That was the point in the tablets. They're like an antidote, almost. 'Cause your body don't like the liquid and the tablets together, so it makes you throw up, get the liquid out of your system. Simple." So that was what that was all about. I was almost back to my old self now, and began to stand, helping Ashley up as well.
"So what, do we just make a break for it?" I asked. It seemed too simple.
"No, there's camera's all down the corridor. Surprised you didn't see them. Anyway, if it were that simple, you could've escaped ages ago." Ben explained.
"So how do we get out?"
"Like this..." Ben turned and started heading down the row of toilet stalls. There was only 3, and when he reached the last one he opened the door and stepped inside. Ashes and I began to follow, and as I reached the stool noticed an "out of order" sign, and water spilling all over the floor. The water was definitely not clean. Ashley reached one hand forward and slowly pushed the door so we could see inside. Ben was stood pressed against the wall, avoiding the spurt of disgusting liquid from within the toilet. "You see, turns out that even in a place like this, sewage is enough to stop people discovering secrets." He placed on foot on the toilet seat, deliberately finding a clean area, and hoisted himself up. He then climbed onto the back of the toilet, balancing awkwardly.
"What are you doing...?" Ashley asked curiously, but Ben just ignored him. He started pushing at the bricks on the wall in no form of pattern, until he pushed on and a whole chunk of the wall that rated sliding forward.
"Here comes the awkward bit." He muttered, more to himself than anyone else. He started pushing it in different places, trying to open it so it didn't just fall outside, I presumed. He eventually managed it, and there was a giant 1.5x1.5 doorway in the wall. I just stood there, gaping at it.
"But...but...if you knew about this, why-" Ben cut me off.
"Why didn't I use it? Well, I only really found about it when we first came here, and didn't have the guts to try and escape. Then I all but forgot about it until recently." I wasn't sure how believable that was, but then none of what happened really seemed real in the first place.
"Why didn't you tell any of us?" James queried. Clearly he didn't know about the hole either.
"Didn't want to get you in trouble." He replied bluntly. "Now, are we busting out of here or farting around until we get caught..."
I love this story! :D
4/1/15