Hello everyone and welcome back to Hidden Secrets and Shared Lies!
Unfortunately, this is going to be a pretty short update just because it'd be way too much if I continued it further. So this one is gonna be short so the next one can be a long one. :)
Ganabranth and Makayla disappeared in a flash of red.
Leo, Jakob, and Percy stared in shock where their sister, lover, and friend had stood moments before.
"Where-! Where'd they go?!" Leo exclaimed, brown eyes wide.
"I don't know," Percy shook his head in response.
Leo stepped forward, sweeping his hands through the air where his sister had stood moments before. He fell to his knees as he felt nothing, his shaking hands turning to fists in frustration as he muttered Spanish curses.
"Leo, I'm sorry but we gotta go," Percy said after a moment. "He gave us a chance to get out of here and we gotta take it while we can."
"Where the hell will we go, Percy?!" Leo's muffled voice demanded sarcastically. He looked up, eyes red but no trace of tears. "There is nowhere on this earth we can go that he can't!"
"That may be true, but we have to plan what to do next and we won't figure that out here." His friend pressed. Leo sighed, nodding as he stood.
"You're right. You're right, we have to get her back."
"And to do that we're gonna need help," Jakob announced. Both Leo and Percy gave him a look.
"What do you mean?" Percy frowned.
"Camp is way too far away," Leo added.
"Not help from camp, that'd take too long." Jake agreed with a wince, holding his arm where a large and ugly bruise had formed. "There's someone closer that can help us. Someone who knows these people, this place, and Makayla even better than we do."
"Who?" Percy wondered confusedly. Jakob couldn't stop the small smile from tugging on his lips.
"Someone who can give us a hand. But just one." He said with a grin. He gestured for his friends to follow and rushed out the door. Going off half-faded memory, Jakob raced through the halls of The Serpent's base.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Leo asked as the blond looked through several rooms.
"Yes and no." He confessed. A guard rounded a corner but had no time to even draw their weapon before Jakob's fist knocked him to the ground with a broken nose. "I'm really just going off memory. Gana-b**ch dragged me here after he saw me in New York. A couple of his guards had a big argument about where to put me so I was dragged all over this place." Jakob explained as he tried another door, frowning as it was locked. "Then I caught sight of someone else who was being dragged away too. They were crying Makayla's name so I managed to knock out our guards, which is how I got my black eye."
"Who were they?" Percy asked after he pressure-pointed a guard they snuck up behind. She collapsed to the ground without a sound.
"They didn't say their name but they told me that they knew Kayla while she was captive here," Jakob explained. "We were overwhelmed pretty fast but I managed to see where the guards locked them up before I was dragged off."
He suddenly seemed to find the hall was looking for and hurried down it. He was extremely suspicious of the little number of guards but tried the door's handle, unsurprised to find it locked. Pulling a few tools from his belt, Leo managed to pick the lock and the heavy metal door swung open.
"Now what?! Wait a sec. Who-Who are you?" A weak and tired voice asked from the dark as the three boys entered the barred room.
"It's me, Jakob. I met you a few days ago when I asked you about Makayla, remember? These are some friends of mine." Jakob answered, keeping his voice soft. He winced as the dark caused him to bump into the bars, jostling his heavily-bruised and bandaged arm.
"Jakob?" The voice repeated. "Wha- how did you get in here?"
There was the sound of the person stood from their position on the floor and so, not wanting to stay in the dark, Leo raised a hand and lit a small flame on the tip of his finger as they neared.
"Hey, I know you." He narrowed his brown eyes as the stranger came into the light. "You're the girl who helped Kayla escape with us."
"You gave yourself up to Ganabranth just to protect her," Percy remembered.
Wait, you guys know her?" Jakob asked his friends, surprised.
"Kinda. We snuck our way in here and ran into a… I dunno what was going on really, but we met her while looking for Kayla." Leo told him.
"Hold up, what are you doing here?" The three boys turned their attention back to the captive. "And why isn't Makayla with you? Where is she? What's going on-?!"
"Shh!" Jake immediately hushed. "Calm down, there are still guards on patrol."
"Look, Makayla's not with us right now so we need your help." Percy explained.
"Where is she?" The captive asked worriedly.
"We don't know. We can get you out of here but you'll have to promise to help us get her back. Can you find her?"
"Of course I will. And yes, I can."
Nodding, Leo crouched down to study the lock. Biting his lip in frustration as he fiddled, it took several minutes but he managed to outsmart the piece of metal and the lock opened with a satisfying *click*.
"I forgot to ask last time, what's your name?" Jakob wondered. The stranger extended a single hand.
"Thank you. My name is Lauren."
And that concludes the forty-fourth chapter of Hidden Secrets and Shared Lies!
Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue. Please leave a review because criticism, advice, complaints, and/or compliments are all welcome.
Have a good one and I'll see you later!