Chapter 26: Captured
Alice lead the group through the halls while Tom stayed in the back to keep watch. It was clear that neither of them trusted Linda and her small group, even as she had returned the glass back to Alice. Boris and the Butcher Gang stayed close to Linda as they didn't trust being close to Alice and Tom either.
Hearing something stomping down the hall ahead of them, Alice had them take cover against the wall. Light was soon flickering by them and the crackling sound of a damaged speaker could be heard as the stomping grew louder. Linda and the others pressed themselves against the wall as the Projectionist came into view.
The tall inky creature was still holding his place to keep it from dangling. Linda could see he was leaving behind a trail of large ink blots, making her feel somewhat guilty for dislodging the Projectionist's speaker; she had to do it, he was going to kill her.
Alice waited until the Projectionist was no longer in sight to continue to lead them all through the halls.
"Hopefully he won't come back this way soon." She muttered.
"Where are you taking us?" Linda asked in a hushed voice, not wanting to alert the Projectionist in case he was still an ear shot away.
Despite having a projector for a head, he seemed to have good hearing for the most part.
"To our safe house." The angel replied just as quietly. "We can talk more once we get there."
Linda looked back in time to see Tom give 'Barley' somewhat of a harsh nudge with the end of his axe's handle to press the deformed toon onward. The poor sailor let out a groan and Linda went to pick him up as she frowned at Tom.
Before she could turn around to continue following Alice, the Projectionist came back around the corner and screeched loudly.
"Run!" Alice yelled as she bolted down the hall with the others running as fast as they could to keep up.
Linda held 'Barley' close as she tried to keep up, but the extra weight was slowing her down as her arms grew tired.
"Linda, ol' girl, you're getting out of shape." She scolded herself as she tried to pick up the pace.
'Barley's' head swung about from behind her, garbling loudly as the Projectionist kept on right on their tail. Linda tightened her grip around him before she tripped over a loose board and fell. She watched as 'Barley' tumbled out of her arms and quickly crawled over to him, wrapping her arms around the deformed toon sailor as the Projectionist closed in on them. Linda was instantly reminded of when the same situation happened to her and Henry before the Ink Demon arrived and saved them and separated them.
As if on cue, Linda turned her head as she heard a familiar roar coming from behind and saw the Ink Demon lunge at the Projectionist. Instead of staying to watch like before, Linda stood up and ran in the direction the others went.
A series of roars and shrieks echoed down the hall once she had caught up to the group, who didn't go far as they had stopped to watch what had happened.
It wasn't long before they heard the Projectionist let out one final dying screech before the disturbing sound of his head being torn off.
"We need to keep moving!" Alice urged as she started running again.
No one hesitated in following her as they heard a loud growl coming from behind.
They had somehow escaped the Ink Demon as they had soon reached a dock by a river of ink and Linda looked around to see they were somewhere underground. It reminded her of the cavern as they all crammed on to a boat, similar to the one Henry had used to get to the village of the 'lost ones', and began to travel up the river.
Linda watched the ink below them as she thought she saw movement in it, but soon dismissed her suspicion as it didn't take long for them to reach another dock. There was another boat secured at the higher level of the dock, making her wonder if that was the one Henry had used.
"We're almost not far from the safe house." Alice announced as she was the first to step out. "This way."
Linda and Boris stayed back a bit to help the Butcher Gang out of the boat before Tom huffed at the them impatiently to get going.
Boris appeared to be nervous as he looked around their surrounds, not recognizing anything.
"It's going to be okay, Honey." Linda assured, even though she wasn't sure what was in store for them. She hoped that Alice and Tom didn't have any ill-intentions.
Once they reached the door of what Linda assumed to be the safe house, Alice opened the door and stepped in side to let everyone in before her. As they shuffled into the small space, Linda's attention immediately landed on the boarded cell. She could see someone was in there, but ot was a bit hard to tell who or what they were between the open spaces of the boards. All she knew was that they appeared to be sleeping.
Tom approached the boarded doorway of the cell and grabbed a hammer from the shelf as he started to pull out the nails from the boards.
"I'm sorry, but all of you are going to be staying in there." Alice said. "At least until we can be sure we can trust you."
There was a soft murmur from the cell that caused Linda to freeze in place.
"What's going on?..."
Henry!
Boris rushed over towards the cell, beating Linda to the punch as he was excited to hear from Henry again. If he had a tail, it would be wagging so fast he would propel himself into the air.
"Boris! You're alive!" Henry exclaimed with joy, getting choked up with tears.
"Henry..." Linda squeaked out as Boris moved to the side so he could see her once she approached.
"Linda! My god, Linda. I'm so sorry!" He apologized.
"I-I thought you were dead!" Linda whimpered as she reached through the space of the boards to hold his hand.
"I know, I'm sorry." Henry went on. "I'm here now."
As soon as Tom got all of the boards down, he motioned for Linda and her group of toons to enter the cell. Linda thought against arguing with Tom as she didn't want to cause any trouble and stepped inside the cell. She approached Henry and hugged him tightly as she sobbed into his shoulder. Boris soon joined them, nuzzling against them as he whimpered in joy.
Henry returned the hug with her and the toon wolf, and he kissed Linda's cheek. Linda looked back as she noticed Henry's gaze look past her at the Butcher Gang; who were getting their weapons taken away as they made a ruckus, except for 'Edgar'. His arm was his weapon.
Tom went to work nailing the boards back up, giving a glare of warning to anyone who dared to try to get too close.
No one was leaving this cell.
Linda felt anxiety as reality began to set in.
Just how long would it take to gain Alice and Tom's trust? How were they going to get it by being locked up?
"What's going to happen to us now?" Linda asked as she looked back at Henry.
"We're going to be fine." Henry assured.
Alice soon approached the cell.
"How do you two know each other?" She asked.
"He's my husband." Linda replied as she looked at her.
Alice looked between the two before stopping her gaze at Henry.
"The Harbinger's your wife?"
Tom, who was keeping a close eye on them, tapped his axe against his mechanical hand in a threatening manner.
"She is, but she isn't the harbinger." Henry answered. "Linda wouldn't bring harm to anyone on purpose."
The angel seemed skeptical, but her features softened a bit before she turned to walk away.
"You should all get some rest. It's been a long day for everyone."
A/N: The poor Projectionist is forced to go through the same fate like before, unfortunately.
Also, I edited the previous chapter to try to make the transition smoother after receiving and taking portgas d ace forever's criticism to heart. I hope I did alright.
I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter.
