Chapter 7: Escape from Hell
NOTE: Sorry that this has taken me so long, but other important things have come between me and this story over the last few months. As a result, I've had some difficulty picking up where I had left off so forgive me if this chapter isn't up to the standard of the previous ones. In fact the writers block has probably effected the length of this chapter too, more to come soon. I promise.
A dim light penetrated the darkness for a moment, then it got brighter and clearer until the main features of the ceiling were visible. Shego sat up slowly, wincing at the bruises that riddled her body and bones. She looked over to a chair next to her bed, Kim had her head down and eyes closed, clearly asleep. Shego kicked the leg of the chair, jerking it slightly across the floor and waking Kim up in an instant.
"Wake up, Kimmie." the villain said in a condescending tone, looking down at Kim as she stood over her. Shego certainly seemed to be feeling much better by the sudden attitude she'd regained. 'Well at least she's back to normal, if that's even a good thing.' Kim frowned to herself knowing this was going to be a very difficult partnership.
"I'm guessing you're sudden enthusiasm means you're ready to get out of here" Kim snapped back sarcastically. Shego's face darkened,
"I told you, there's no way out of here" before she relaxed once more "But if you want to try, go ahead. In fact, I'll even join you, it's getting boring in here and there's a whole lot of people out there I should be pounding." as she finished the sentence Shego ignited her hands with the green plasma flames. Usually Kim would object to violence, but unusual circumstances called for unusual actions.
- - - - - - - - - -
Harry and Ron stood crouching to see through the small door at the base of the tower, they looked out over a large area with metal flooring. Shining his flashlight around, Harry noticed there was nothing supporting the floor, just darkness. Harry took his time stepping out into the open, if it was possible the sky was actually darker than it was a few moments ago. There were no stars in the sky, no moon, no clouds, just darkness and now rain had replaced the snow. Harry was lost in his thoughts when Ron bumped into him, looking around at the teen he noticed Ron was staring in exactly the opposite direction, the floor.
"Uh, Harry, this was NOT here before." the blonde said pointing down at a now obvious symbol in the middle of the transformed courtyard. The circular symbol had all sorts of shapes and images inside it, made from rusting metal just like the grid flooring. Whatever it was, just looking at it was making both men very uncomfortable.
"Lets check inside, Ron, we may as well search the rest of town." Harry said quickly walking over to a set of doors, only unlike a few minutes ago, these doors had fingernail marks down them. Harry forced his fears to the back of his mind and reached for the doorknob, turning it and opening the door. A low groan from the old battered door suddenly gave way to a harassing snarl as four of the claw-handed creatures poured out of the hallway towards them. Where the others seemed slow and dozy, these seemed a new, more dangerous breed. Their tiny beady eyes glistened with hatred, the group paired off against both Ron and Harry. These creatures now had emotion, which made them all the more terrifying as they closed in on their prey.
A creature launched a vicious attack on Ron swiping several times at his legs, thankfully he was quick and agile enough to dodge the attack and managed to pair back up with Harry, who was struggling to avoid swipes with his bloody and cut leg. The man grabbed the gun from his belt and pointed at one of 'them', pulling the trigger repeatedly. One creature went down under gunfire, then another, and another until there was suddenly a new chilling sound. A click, the click of an empty clip.
Ron ran off to the other side of the remaining creature to distract it from the defenceless Harry. It swung several times, each time Ron backed off and backed off until he went to retreat from another lash and was met with a solid brick wall. Ron had cornered himself. He clung to the wall, a cold rusty drainpipe digging into his back. The creature raised it's claw and struck with all of it's might as it went tearing through the nearest object. Somehow, it wasn't Ron, he had managed to leap up and get a foothold on a section of the wall which had eroded. Ron dropped down and grabbed the severed drainpipe, now he had a weapon. He smashed the metal pipe over the beasts head, repeatedly until there was visible blood coming from the wound in it's head. Panting, out of breath, exhausted physically and mentally, Ron lumbered over to help Harry up and walk into the dark, menacing building.
- - - - - - - - - -
Kim and Shego stepped out into the dark, damp, eroded and bloody hospital corridor. Shego's wounds had healed very quickly, but Kim dismissed it as being another perk of having superpowers. Where Kim crept slowly down the corridor, Shego strode forward without a hint of fear, breezing past Kim to the end where there were a number of doors.
"Pick a door, Kimmie." Shego teased in the way a host of a game show would. The red head approached the heavy double doors slowly, grabbing the handle tightly and gently pulling, but the door didn't budge. She pulled harder, still no give. A perplexed look shot across her face.
"I don't get it, this door was open when I came here before." Irritated, Kim looked around and looked around the corner back up the corridor. "I think there's an elevator up there." she motioned Shego to follow as the heroine walked back in the other direction.
The battered elevator looked as though it had seen better days, the flashlight made the bronze plating of the call button shimmer, but it was dull and worn. Kim pressed the button and waited patiently, after a moment the doors opened to a splintered and jaded interior. The doors closed once Kim had pressed the ground floor button and the elevator began to move, both of the young women remained silent. But when the doors opened Kim was greeted with a bizarre sight. Daylight poured into elevator, which Kim quickly realised wasn't even there anymore. An intense pain filled her head as she became disorientated and stumbled around drunkenly on the road, falling over for what seemed like a second. She got back to her feet to see herself surrounded by buildings she'd never seen before, and it was snowing. Kim looked around and saw the best sight she could imagine, a police station.