Chapter 20: The Iron Maiden part 3
The sun had now begun to set on Naples. Noel, Bronny and Jolyne walked down the street, the light casted by the sky shining on them. "Are we close Noel?" Jolyne asked, "my legs are killing me!" Noel chuckled, "why don't you ask your boyfriend to carry you if you're so tired." Jolyne's face turned bright red, "y-you…" Bronny rolled his eyes, "now's not the best time for teasing," he said, "the faster we get to Noel's house, the better." As the three continued down the street, Noel stopped them, "guys, look!" She said. The car that the hooded man owned was parked in front of a large castle. "A castle?" Jolyne said, "I've never seen one here in Naples." "It used to be an old art museum, but it closed a couple years ago," replied Noel, "maybe that man is using it as a hideout." The three stood in front of the castle, "I don't like this, this looks like a huge trap," said Bronny. "Maybe, but there's only one way to find out," replied Jolyne. The three began to walk into the castle, in one of the windows, Laura sat, watching. "So, now they have arrived," she said, "I'll have to isolate Noel from them, once that is done, it will take little time to kill them."
As the three entered the castle, they found themselves in the main foyer. "Damn, this place is huge!" Exclaimed Bronny, "if this guy is in here, it may take us a few days to find him." The three moved around the massive room, "I have a bad feeling about this Bronny," said Jolyne, "I think we should leave." "No, this is our one chance to stop this guy," replied Bronny, "Noel, do you know what this guy looks like?" Noel didn't answer, "Noel?" Bronny asked, but when he turned to look at her, she was gone. "W-where is she?" Jolyne asked, "I don't know, she's gone!" The two stood back to back, Noel had suddenly vanished, this wasn't normal, this was an attack!
"Could this be the man?" Jolyne asked, "I don't know," replied Bronny, "but we need to find her, and fast, she knows more about the man then we do." The two moved slowly across the room, "we should move deeper inside, if we stay in the open, we're easy pickings," Bronny said. Jolyne nodded as the two began to walk further into the castle. "Yes," Laura muttered, sitting in a room above, "just as I thought, things are all going to plan." She stood up and began walking towards the door, as she did, she turned around. "You should be happy Noel," she muttered, "once these two are killed, we will have enough money to move out of this shithole and live the good life." Noel sat, wrapped in a metal like substance in the corner. Blood trickled down her body as she glared at Laura, "w-why are you doing this?" She asked, "this I-isn't you, please Laura…" The blood on her mouth began to solidify, turning into metal. It covered her mouth, leaving her unable to speak. "I'm doing this for you, to give you a better life," Laura spat, "if you can't see that, then maybe you don't deserve this life." She walked out of the room and slammed the door shut, the door became caressed in metal, sealing it shut. "There are few things worse than death," Laura muttered, "unfortunately for these two, my Iron Maiden is one of these things, I will make them regret ever stepping foot in here!"
Bronny and Jolyne walked down the long hallways of the castle. "We're gonna lost in here," Jolyne said, "we should leave, I can call my uncle to come here and let him do this." Bronny shook his head, "we can't abandon Noel," he said, "she brought us here, we won't give up on her." As the two continued down the hallway, they could hear clanging noises in the distance, both of their nerves were at their peaks, but they continued anyway. In the shadows, Laura stalked the two. Her eyes glazed blankly at them, a sly smile spreading across her face. "This is just too easy," she said to herself, "it's almost so easy that I'm the one being trapped, this must be how predatory animals feel when they are stalking their prey!"
"It's a dead end," Bronny said. The two had walked down the entire hallway, only to be stopped by this dead end. "This doesn't make sense," Jolyne said, "why would they put as wall here in this long hallway?" Suddenly, a loud bang caught both of their attention. "That didn't sound good," Jolyne muttered. Bronny looked around, if there was someone coming for them, they were now trapped between a rock and a hard place. Jolyne began to feel around the walls, if she could find a hollow point, she could break through it with her Stone Free. "I think a retreat would be best right now Bronny," Jolyne said, "yeah," replied Bronny, "but we're kinda stuck right now." "Not if I have anything to say about that," Jolyne said, she summoned her Stone Free and smashed its fist at the wall. Debris flew from the impact, creating a cloud of dust. "We can get through this way!" Exclaimed Jolyne, Bronny smiled and nodded, following Jolyne through the hole. As they moved through however, Bronny noticed something, the rock debris that flew off the wall had begun to morph in the air. "The hell? He muttered, the rocks had turned into knives, and they were now flying right towards them! "Jolyne, get down!" Bronny yelled, he tackled her to the ground, nearly avoiding the knives. Bronny could feel a growing pain in his side, he looked to see one of the knives dug deep in his body, blood leaking out. "S-shit," he muttered, he turned to Jolyne, "are you alright?" Jolyne nodded, "I'm fine, but you side…" Bronny shook his head, "I'll be fine," he said. As the two began to stand, they could hear footsteps coming towards them.
"L-look," Bronny said. Out of the cloud of dust, stood Laura. Laura's crimson red eyes starred daggers into the two, "well well, isn't this a surprise?" Jolyne moved behind Bronny, "y-you must be Laura, Noel's sister! You're the one who attacked Bronny's parents!" Laura raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "I don't have a clue what you're talking about, I was only assigned to kill you two, and that's what I plan on doing." Bronny stood fully up, he ripped the knife out of his side and pointed it at Laura, "I'm gonna give you chance," he said, "you know how killed my mom, and you're gonna tell me who it is, or else!" Laura smirked at Bronny, "please, show me what else means." Bronny snarled and threw the knife at Laura. A red aura formed around her, the knife struck her in the face, but just bounced off. "Bad choice kid," she said, a figure emerged from behind her, its body was entirely silver, as if it was clad in armor. Its face was fixed in a frowning state, this figure was Laura's Stand! Iron Maiden! The small pool of blood that had formed from began to glow, it had solidified and turned into spikes, digging straight into Bronny's leg. Bronny gagged and tried to pull his leg out, but to no use. "Unfortunately for you, you will now die!" Yelled Laura. As she lunged towards Bronny, a fist suddenly slammed into her face, it was Jolyne's Stone Free. "ORAORAORAORA!" Yelled Stone Free as it slammed it's fists Laura. "This power…" Laura muttered, "it's not enough!" Iron Maiden grabbed Stone Free's fists, crushing them, Jolyne winced in pain, he hands beginning to bleed from the pressure. Bronny could see Jolyne struggling, he tried to summon his Stand, but he couldn't concentrate enough, the pain in his leg was making him lose focus. "The Iron Maiden was created as the ultimate torture device," Laura said, "I was given this Stand to carry out that torture." Laura grabbed Jolyne by the neck, "the pain I put you through will be like no other," she said, "by its end, you'll beg me for death!" Bronny finally dragged his leg from the spikes, blood gushed out of the wounds, but he didn't let it falter his movements.
"Come on, you fucking bitch!" Bronny yelled. Laura scoffed and tossed Jolyne to the side, "Iron Maiden!" Iron Maiden swung its fist at Bronny, just missing him. Bronny tackled Laura and pushed her against a wall. He tried to punch her, but his hand was caught by her, "man, you are extremely naïve," she said. She struck Bronny off and to the floor next to Jolyne. Laura lifted her hand in the air, dozens of knives began to levitate above her. "You two were foolish to think you could stop me," spoke Laura, "oh well, I guess you will be meeting your mother soon." Laura pointed her finger at the two, the knives shot at the two on the floor. Before they could hit them, however, the floor beneath them opened up, sucking the two inside. Laura gasped, "how the…" She paused, the floor opened up, it was if the shadows had. Her eyes widened, "shadows…" She muttered, "Noel…"