“Get out, you!” He waved me away, but I didn’t move an inch. “Um, Mr. Allen was it?” His eyes blew open in shock. Who told you my name?”
“Your next-door neighbor, Nicholai.”
“That prick?” he said under his breath, his body now going jittery with unease. He didn’t like having a strange woman in his cell and calling Nicholai’s name seemed to have made him even more agitated. I had to win him over. That was the only way to get his help.
“So, I hear you like olives?” His ears instantly perked up at the question but he didn’t look like his stance towards me had softened in the slightest.
“Olives are expensive. Prison doesn’t by them. Best I could get was an olive colored cell,” he mumbled, his head drooping low in disappointment.
I took a step closer to him and his head jerks back up in alarm.
“What if I told you I could get you olives? All the olives you could ever want. A pile of them so high it could touch the sky?”
His head tilted with interest but his eyes were still unbelieving.
“You're no witch!” His tone was suspicious. “How is a Fae going to pull off magic like that?”
“Oh, it's not magic.” I narrowed the gap between us with one large step and he didn't lunge back. He must have at least been interested enough by now to hear me out. I then leaned down to whisper. “What if I told you I planned to break out of here and I needed your help to do it?”
“I didn’t take you for a mad woman,” he said plainly. “Get the fuck out of my cell, girl.”
He turned to walk away from me but he paused the moment I said the words, “Olives and your freedom.” A fire lit up in his eyes just then. He seemed mesmerized by the idea.
“How do I know you're not lying?”
“My word is my bond. I swear on the Gilchrest name.” His eyes blew open and he stumbled, nearly falling on his side.
“You’re the Gilchrest girl!? You defeated Blackwater and you didn’t even have your powers.” He seemed awestruck for a moment before his expression returned to its cold, stoney factory default.
“That’s right.” I raised my head proudly glancing down at him and I folded my arm at my side.
If anyone needed to get the hell out of here, it was me. And I think he knew that. Because for the first time since I’d entered his cell he seemed to believe me.
“If you try any funny business, I’ll….”
“No funny business here. Scout’s honor.” I rested both hands over my heart.
“And just what do you need me for in this little break out scheme of yours?”
“Wait! Are you really going to help me?” My face lit up like fireworks and he gave me a pout.
“Just tell me what you want me to do, already.”
“Don’t worry. You’ll just need your sands.”
“My sands? For what?”
“We’re taking a little trip down to Gold Block tonight.
He rolled his eyes and started mumbling under his breath, his entire dreary disposition contrasted my sunny one to a T.
“Lord, don’t let this Fae be the end of me. I feel it in the pit of my stomach. I’m going to regret this.”
“No, you won’t regret it. Just stick with me, Mr. Allen. I’ll have you swimming in a pool filled with olives in no time.”
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Jessy
I ’d waited till a few minutes after lights out and broken out the Sandman and Jamie from their cells. Jamie practically begged me to take him along this time and I just couldn’t say no to that adorable face of his. He gave the cutest little pout that stole my heart, could you blame me? Besides, now that I thought about it, tonight might be the night of our big escape. There was no telling what state I’d find Michael in, there might be no time to plan a breakout for a later date.
The three of us arrived at the elevator to Gold Block and I reached into my pock to pull free the card. But before I could place it over the sensor a cold calloused hand seized mine.
“Um, yes, Mr. Allen, can I help you with something?” I turned to face the Sandman.
“Listen Missy!” he said in a rough voice. “When we go down there you better not try any funny business, you hear me? If I so much as glimpse you trying to ditch me just know I’ll find out where your cell is. And if I don’t get my olives, you’ll be waking up to something nasty in your bed, you hear me?”
I threw his hand off mine. “Oh, enough already. I promised you your damn olives and you’ll get them once we get my brother and get the hell out of here.”
We paused for a moment, staring each other down as Jamie stared off uncomfortably.
Just then, breaking our standoff, a rattling sound whispered in the dark. It came from a few feet away. What the hell? Was it the soul eaters again?
“Shhhhh,” Jamie commanded as we all turned from the elevator door to face the source of the sound. It was so dark it was almost hard to see the hand in front of my own face let alone whatever laid several feet away.
“Stay back, Jess,” Jamie whispered, raising an arm up, trying to shield me from danger.
Mr. Allen trembled uncontrollably as his eyes shot around the area like a race car.
It didn’t sound like a soul eater but what else would be roaming the halls after dark? I squeezed the key card in my hand readying to ram it over the scanner and get us the hell out of here. But before I could move a single inch, a tall menacing figure emerged from the shadows.
He almost seemed to float through the dark towards us.
“Alexandros? How did you get out of your cell?”
He gave me a fangful grin coming to a stop right in front of us.
“Let’s just say I can be very persuasive. Besides, did you think I was going to just let you walk out the front door without holding up your end of the bargain?” His warm smile was only for me as he seemed to ignore the Sandman and Jamie completely.
Maybe he had a good reason since Jamie was now leering over at Alexandros as if he were an uninvited guest.
“Hey, Jessy,” Jamie leaned down to whisper in my ear. “You sure you want this blood sucker coming along with us? One enemy that bites is plenty in my book. I mean zombie and a vampire?”
“Come on, Jamie, you're just being prejudiced,” I smirked, but he looked caught off guard by my words as he’d never been called prejudiced before. Okay so maybe vampires weren’t known for their trustworthiness, but I happened to like Alexandros. Secrets or not, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t glad to see him here. Everyone I planned to break out with was here. Now all we needed was Michael and we’d be ready to rock.
I gestured for everyone to come closer and we all huddled up in a circle. Jamie didn’t seem thrilled to have Alexandros so close but Alexandros looked cool as a cucumber, happy to be included.
“Well if we’re all going down there, we’d better be on the same page. The plan’s really simple so listen up, boys. Put the zombies to sleep. Find my brother Michael. Get him the hell out of Gold Block and then we all moonwalk out that front door, got it?”
“And the soul eaters? What the hell about them, you know my sands are useless against those nasty little fuckers, right?” Mr. Allen blurted out, sending me a questioning look.
“Don’t worry I’ve got a tasty little snack ready for them. You just focus on the zombies.”
He nodded and just like that we were off, all four of us cramming into the elevator and descending to Gold Block.
Last time we were down here we left the door open and the zombies had come right up to the elevator door. For all I knew, they were still by the door. There was no way of knowing exactly how often the prison staff used the elevator down here. We needed to be careful, Sandman or not, those zombies were still ridiculously dangerous.
The elevator stopped and the sound of zombie growls along with the ‘shifting’ noises of their bodies scraping against the door, came alive in the elevator.
My heart jumped as I pressed my back against the elevator
wall. God, I hated those fuckers! They were so close, the moment the door opened they’d be right on top of us. This Sandman better know what he was doing or we’d be done for.
I gestured for Mr. Allen to take the lead. He shuffled to the front of the group, pressing himself right near the closed door. He then pulled a small brown sack from his back pocket, and stood alert waiting for the doors to open.
The door slowly creeped open and the zombies set their sights on us.
I’d expected Mr. Allen to get to work immediately. You know, before we were eaten alive? But instead he started jumping up and down.
“Sweet Jesus!” Mr. Allen declared excitedly. “You weren’t lying about there being no poison down here little missy, I can feel all my power rushing back all at once!”
“Hello? The zombies?” I whisper yelled at him, which only made him snort.
“Let the fuckers come! I’m Jerry Allen the Great, they're trifling with me now, not some amateur.”
Dozens of zombies stampeded towards us, roaring loudly.
Alexandros and Jamie both took the liberty of thrusting me behind them in the elevator, full well intending to face the hoard head on. But before a single putrid zombie could pass the doorway the Sandman stuck his hand in the pouch. He then scooped up a fist full of black sand. He held the sand in a flat palm and gave a mighty blow, sending the sand flying through the air and into the room filled with zombies.
The black sand disappeared into the darkness of the room, and after a few precarious moments, that seemed to last forever, the room fell silent. Zombie after zombie fell to the ground like trees and soon all I could hear was the sound of my own breathing.
“Was that it? It’s that simple?” I asked and Jerry flung his head around at me in surprise, his lips tugging down in a frown.
“What? Now you're doubting my powers? Go on then. Get in there and take a look for yourself!” He waved a hand, shooing me out the door.
With Alexandros and Jamie sandwiching me between them, the three of us entered the room.
It was incredible! There were more zombies than you could count, some stacked up over each other, all fast asleep on the floor. They didn’t snore, they didn’t make a sound, right now for the first time, they looked exactly what they truly were. Dead.
We passed the doorway into the larger room and the red door to Gold Block stood on the other side of the room, almost seeming to shine in the darkness like a beacon of hope.
I almost couldn’t believe it. The time had finally come. Just on the other side of that door was Michael. My Michael. There could be dozens or even hundreds of cells in there. I had no idea. I only knew one thing for sure. Michael was in there, and I was going to find him and haul his ass the fuck up out of this hell hole.
Jamie strolled up to stand by the red door, while standing on a zombie’s back. He smiled and gave me a gentlemanly bow. “Care to do the honor, Jess?”
I smiled at him giving him a nod as a tear pricked at the edge of my eye. I was finally about to be reunited with Michael after all these months. What would I say to him? What would he say to me? We had so much catching up to do.
I glanced over at Alexandros who stood beside me and back over at Jamie. Suddenly thoughts of Broderick came scattering through my mind along with thoughts of Jamie and Alexandros. I’d done so much with these men and gone through so much during my time here. How much they had all come to mean to me started bubbling up inside of me. I was happy that Alexandros and Jamie were here to see this. I only wished Broderick was here too.
After giving a nod to Jamie, I gripped the doorknob, turning it and pushed it open.
This room must have been ten times bigger than the one with the zombies, with much better lighting.
We entered the room and I scanned the area. Something was wrong here. What was this place? This didn’t look like a prison block at all.
This looked like something out of a science fiction movie. Blank tv like monitors covered all the walls and boxy machines with blinking lights and a ton of wires were tucked in all the corners. On the floor there were microchips and frayed wires scattered far and wide.
Was this the prison surveillance room or something?
On the other end of the room was an enormous tank that stretched from the ceiling to the ground. It was filled with water and I couldn’t make out what it housed. The glass was way too foggy, like it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. It almost looked like a fancy fish tank and it was the centerpiece of the entire room.
What the hell was this place?
For some reason the lighting in here only seemed to cover most of the room. There was a large chunk of space to the left that was still covered in heavy shadow, the bulbs over that side having been savagely smashed by something. That much was obvious by the glass that covered the floor in that direction.
“Jessica, what is this place?” Alexandros said a low rumble to this tone. It was savage and mean, as if he sensed danger.
“Something’s not right, Jessy,” Jamie continued, his back straightening and his eyes falling to the dark patch of the room as if he too sensed something dangerous lying in wait.
“Michael? Where’s my brother, Michael?” I cried my eyes darting around the room as I struggled to comprehend what was going on. I’d come all this way to find him. Now where the fuck was he?
Worry and anxiety began to churn in my stomach as my mind raced with all the dark possibilities. Could he be dead? Could Gold Block have just been a lie to cover up the prison’s illegal killings?
I was so confused, the room seemed to spin out from under me leaving me somewhere strange, new and terrifying.
Breaking my panicked thoughts Alexandros’s yell pierced the fabric of my mind.
“Brace yourself, Jessica! We have company!”
Emerging from the shadows, weighing at least three tons, with a face as ugly as sin and a stare that could frighten even the bravest of warriors, was a horn topped chimera.
It had the face of a lion, with a goat’s head growing out of his back like a science project gone wrong. It’s tail ended with a snake’s head. He had to be bigger than an elephant and trust me when I say this kitty sure as hell was no house pet.
It set its sight on us seeming intrigued. It gave out a Dominion shattering roar and came barreling toward us head on. I leapt back taking a glance at the red door behind us, but before I could even think of leaving, the door slammed shut and I heard the tumble of a lock coming right after that.
What was going on? Why would it just lock like that?
“It’s a trap!” Jerry squealed in panic, eyes wild with fear as he turned tail and ran as far from the beast as possible in the room.
Alexandros, Jamie, and I gritted our teeth and held our ground staring down the beast. Whoever orchestrated this knew what they were doing. Of course, there was no poison down here. There didn’t need to be any.
In all of Dominion there was only one beast strong enough to be completely impervious to magical attack and that was the chimera. We. Were. Fucked.
It continued its charge in our direction, never slowing for a minute.
I planted my feet wide, raising my palms to the beast. A powerful gust of flame came shooting out hitting the chimera square in the face. He gave out a roar, slowing his charge slightly but not by much.
I cut off my flames deciding to conserve my energy in case we needed to run. I clench my jaw. My flames didn’t make a damn difference just as I knew it wouldn’t.
With all the flame I blasted, it didn’t leave a single scratch or so much as singe on its thick brown fur.
Next Alexandros opened his mouth wide before a high pitch screech filled the room, shattering most of the monitors that lined the walls. The ground itself began to shake in the wake of his awesome attack but the creature withstood it all. Sucking up the sound waves as if it didn’t even hurt.
All the while the beast continued charging in our direction and we scattered out of his path and sprang away before it could t
rample us. The three of us ran as far as we could to the other side of the room.
This was insane. A vampire screech done even by a B class vampire had enough power to kill an army of men if hit head on. If Alexandros’ didn’t so much as slow him down for all his power, what could the rest of us do against it?
I’d expected it to chase us as we ran but instead the beast started charging around the room in circles. We stopped our running and turned to watch the beast.
“What in Dominion?”
It was sizing us up, scratching its feet over the floor and shaking its mane about in an instinctive ritual display. This was the dance of death. This was what they did before they decimated entire villages in ancient times. They told horror stories to children about these beasts, but I never thought I’d actually see one in person.
This was hopeless, at this rate we would all be dead within the hour. I had to come up with something. Seemed Jamie was way ahead of me as he left my side sprinting over to where Jerry sat huddled up in a corner.
“What are you doing?” Mr. Allen cried, seeming to tussle with Jamie over something. “This won’t work unless I use it, you don’t even know the spell to activate the sands and it won’t work against a chimera, you fool!”
“Just hand it over, already!” Jamie yelled punching Mr. Allen in the face and snatching his bag of sand away from him.
What was Jamie thinking? He couldn’t possibly be crazy enough to pull off what it looked like he was about to. But he was.
Jamie plunged his hand into the sack of sand, pulling out a handful. Then before I could call out to him, he splatted it directly over his nose covering his face in sand.
Please no. I know we were in trouble but this wasn’t the answer. Jamie was terrified when he told me about his split personality disorder. Just one sneeze was all it would take to summon Zero. What would he make Jamie do?
Jamie’s sneeze echoed off the walls. And the bag fell from his hands spilling onto the floor. His arms fell to his sides then and his head fell back as his mouth gaped open. His eyes went wild and crazed, as if he were on drugs. And then he gave out a throaty cry that made it seem like he was in pain. Terrible pain.
Escape of the Fae: A Fae Fantasy Romance: (Poison Penitentiary Book 1) Page 27
