Once again, sorry about the wait. Life is... life. I have a feeling I'll be saying the same when I post the next chapter. One more chapter to go after this, plus (probably) a short epilogue. I'll try to get this finished before Christmas, but we'll see what happens.

Chapter 10

Hikaru could only stare as Molly slowly sat up on her mattress. The girl grimaced a little, stretched her right shoulder.

"Ngh." She shot a frowning look across the room. "What… where are we?"

"…I… don't know," Hikaru said, still blinking. One moment the girl was fast asleep, the next just opened her eyes without any warning. He shook his head. How or why it happened didn't matter, not to mention he would hardly even understand the explanation, if she were to give him one. Enough that she was awake now. "There is… woman," he said. "The woman." He made wiggly gestures with his fingers, mimicking magic. "Two days..."

He paused, frustrated. There were so many things he wanted to tell Molly, but he didn't have words. But the most important… "Sai. Sai… is… not. Not here."

Molly looked at him slowly, eyes still bleary. "Two days? What happens… huh? What do you mean, not here?" She looked at him a moment, then closed her eyes. When she opened them again she gave the room a searching look. Her eyes widened. "What? Where is he?"

"Sai?" Hikaru asked. "I don't know. You… know?" he added, hoping she had some idea what had happened, but that hope crumbled away when Molly turned her confused look at him.

"Okay." The girl took a deep breath. "You said the woman is here? You mean the one Harry told you about? The sorceress?"

Hikaru nodded hesitantly, unsure if he had understood correctly. "The woman… Dresden… telled?"

"What did she say?"

Hikaru grimaced, ran his fingers through his hair. "We… here… two days." He showed the number with his fingers, just in case. "Two days, we go."

"Go? You mean, after two days? Go where?"

Hikaru shrugged. Waved with his hand. "Anywhere we want, I guess." He gave a sigh, swearing in his mind to start paying more attention during English classes if he ever got back home again. "Out. Away. …free?"

Molly was frowning. "We can go after two days? So… does that mean…"

Steps approached behind the door. They froze for a moment, staring at each other. Then Hikaru glanced at his dinner tray. Were they coming to take it away? He gestured fervently to Molly to lie down again, and after a short moment of confusion the girl understood and fell back on the mattress, her eyes closed.

A key clicked in the lock and the door opened. Two men entered the room, as usual. Hikaru kept on crouching next to the girl, trying to look convincingly hopeless, heart beating so hard he was sure they had to hear it. True enough, one of them picked up the tray with the half-eaten food, but the other gestured at Hikaru to get up.

The boy turned to stare at the men, shock on his face. "Come," the man said in English, gesturing again commandingly. Hikaru glanced at Molly, panicking. Had they noticed she was awake? But she looked just like she was fast asleep, eyelids unmoving, chest rising softly in the rhythm of her breath.

"No," he said, swearing quietly in his mind. Now they came to take him out of this room. "I don't want to. No."

"Come," the man repeated, grasped his arm, and pulled him up. Hikaru had little choice but to follow as the man started pulling him toward the door. He shot one more glance at the girl over his shoulder. Molly was lying on her mattress completely unmoving. If he didn't know better, he would have thought she was sleeping. He could just hope she hadn't somehow fallen asleep again.

The men locked the door behind them, and started leading him down a dark corridor. It seemed they were in some kind of an institute, or perhaps an office building – but whatever the place had once been, it was clearly abandoned long ago. Dust and trashes covered the floor, the paint on the walls had cracked away, there were holes in the ceiling from which hang pieces of wire and pipes. Outside the flashlight's sphere of light there was complete darkness. Most of the doors in the corridor were standing ajar, but the rooms behind them were completely dark, too.

They passed a glass door with unreadable graffiti on it, walked by dead elevators and a sign saying, white on red, "stairs". "Doctors on-call," Hikaru read in passing on yet another door, and he blinked. He didn't know what the rest of it meant, but he did know doctor. Was this an abandoned hospital? He shuddered a little, peering into the dark. The fact that he was well aware that ghosts really did exist didn't help to make the place any less creepy.

Light shone from the crack of a door ahead, and the men led him to it. The office room had been somewhat cleaned up – or at least most of the junk was piled in one corner, leaving the desk clear. The woman was sitting by the desk, reading something in the light of a small orb of light that was floating above the desk. She looked up as they entered. Hikaru straightened his spine instinctively, clammed his jaws shut, and refused to gawk at the orb.

"Shindou-kun. Please sit down." She gestured toward a free chair, and after a short hesitation the boy obeyed.

He gave the woman a long look as he sat down. When they first met he had been too rattled to really pay attention at her. Now he realized she probably was older than he had thought. Her hair was completely black, true, but the lines on her face spoke of age. Her eyes were so dark he had trouble extinguishing the pupil from the iris, her expression completely blank. She was dressed quite nondescript in black shirt and trousers. Hikaru's eyes stopped on a tattoo of a stingray on the back of her left hand, its tail disappearing underneath the sleeve of her shirt.

"I was thinking about the things you told me," she said, and Hikaru paused from examining her. Things he told her? He didn't remember telling her anything. "The ghouls," she went on. "Tell me more about them. When did the attack happen – and how did you survive it?"

Hikaru said nothing, thinking frantically. What was the best approach? Should he just say he wouldn't be telling her anything as long as she held his parents captive? Or would it better to talk, and maybe get her to talk too? If he was careful with what he said, staying to the truth but not to the whole truth, not telling her too much and leading her on…

He swallowed. This was a game. A game with extremely high stakes and without rules he'd know – but it was better not to think of that now. "I…" he started in a feeble voice and coughed. "I'd gone to have hamburgers with this guy who'd… been assigned, like… to guarding me, a cop, that is, and those ghouls came there. And we… fled them, run to our car and managed to shake them off. That was… yesterday? Afternoon."

"Ghouls coming to a hamburger restaurant," she said in musing tone, dark eyes nailed to him. "They must have been disguised. How did you know that they were ghouls?"

Hikaru opened his mouth, and closed it. What could he say to that?

As he hesitated, the woman nodded. "The 'cop' guarding you was no cop, was he? A wizard. Most likely the only one in the country – if not in the world – who advertises in a phonebook." Her tone held wry amusement, though her face was still quite impassive. "And who quite recently got a new apprentice, a girl who got herself in trouble with the White Council." Hikaru said nothing, but she nodded again. "Yes, I thought so. Harry Dresden."

The boy stayed quiet, staring at her glumly. Why was she asking him things if she knew the answers anyway?

"What about," she went on, "this Sai you mentioned? Who is he?"

"A friend," Hikaru said. "Who also disappeared. So I thought you got him too. Just like we thought you sent the ghouls," he went on, not wanting to talk about Sai with her. "If it wasn't you, who was it?"

"I think I know, but his name would tell you nothing. Suffice to say he is someone who is trying to meddle in my affairs – which doesn't mean he'd have your best interests in his mind."

"As you've got, I bet," Hikaru snorted.

"I told you before, child," she said quietly. "I am sorry for your loss, but this cannot be helped."

Hikaru opened his mouth for an angry retort, but paused. A game. Think of a game. You don't have enough stones yet. Can't attack. So… distract. Make a trap. She thinks you're just a kid. Be just a kid, then.

He closed his mouth with sniffle. "What… what are you going to do to them?" he asked in a small voice, willing tears to his eyes. That happened almost too easily. He felt one rolling down his cheek, and took a shaky breath.

Okay. Don't start crying for real now.

"I need them," the woman said with a sigh of her own. "You will understand when everything is over. Perhaps with time you might even forgive. Though I doubt that. Few human beings are capable of putting aside their own wants and needs, and seeing what the world needs."

"And… what does the world need?" Hikaru asked slowly, with a frown. He had no idea what the woman was talking about.

"Help," she said. "Against the plague we are."

Hikaru's frown deepened, but she didn't clarify. Instead she nodded at the guards. "Take him back."

"Wait!" Hikaru exclaimed, when one of the men moved to him and placed a demanding hand on his shoulder. "Can't I… can't I please see my parents? If they are here? One last time? Please?"

The woman was shaking her head. "That would do you no good. Besides, I am already preparing…" She paused and frowned. Hikaru kept his eyes on her face, trying his best to look as small and harmless and wretched as he possibly could. That was easy, he was feeling rather small and harmless and wretched. He didn't know what he could do even if she let him see his parents… but at least he'd know then where they were kept, and maybe he'd be able to let them know help was coming.

He at least hoped help was coming.

The woman remained quiet, considering something. "I might as well," she said then, though Hikaru had no idea what she meant. "It might be safer for me – though certainly not in any way less traumatizing for you, I'm afraid." She nodded and stood up. "Let's go then."

Heartbeat speeding up again Hikaru followed her out of the room, escorted by the guards, back into those long, dark, silent corridors.

...

They stepped out of Nevernever, wary, Dresden grasping his staff with a spell ready in his mind, Michael with his hand on the hilt, Mouse ears pricked alertly, muscles ready for a jump – and Sai staying in the back, as unobtrusive and small and quiet as he possibly could be. There was no one facing them as they returned to the real world, and after a moment everyone relaxed slightly.

They were standing in the yard of a large building complex. The building was dark, no light visible in a single window, and so was the yard, thrashes and dead leaves spread across it. The pavement was cracked, a few weeds pushing their way through it. If ever, Sai thought, remembering Dresden's words, he had seen an abandoned place, this was it. An abandoned, dead place.

Dresden frowned, looking around. "Why does this place seem kinda familiar?"

"I don't know of you," Michael said quietly, coming to stand next to him, "but I know very well why it is familiar to me. This is the Edgewater hospital. Molly was born here, shortly before they closed the place."

"Really?" Dresden turned to stare at him, astonished. "That… is an interesting coincidence."

"Perhaps," Michael said in that same quiet tone, eyeing the place thoughtfully. "Mouse," he said then. "Do you still have the scent?"

The dog made a confirming noise.

So they were still on the right track. Sai gave a relieved breath. Then he realized something a little belatedly, and frowned. Wait… why is it so dark? Isn't it still morning?

We lost some time in Nevernever, Dresden replied. Time doesn't always flow there similarly to our world. He frowned. "I hope we didn't lose more than this day, though," he said aloud. "Though as it is, those we're tracking probably lost some time too." He kept on frowning, staring into the distance deep in thought, and Sai remained quiet although he had a bunch of questions swarming in his mind.

Michael nodded. "Harry," he said quietly. "if you learned anything at all during your... misadventures, now might be a good time to share it."

The wizard sighed. "Nothing much, I'm afraid. That there are even more kidnapped couples than we knew about, that the main culprit really is a sorceress of Samoan origin, that she has a stingray tattoo which might not be significant, but her henchman called her the Stingray because of it. That's it, really."

Michael nodded again, looking grim. "Shall we go?" he asked.

"I'm thinking," Dresden muttered, and Michael and Mouse glanced at him, both of them seeming to smile a little. He gave a snort. "Shut up, you two. That's been known to happen time to time. I was just thinking if we should give Murph a call or not. I mean, she's going to be seriously pissed off if we don't, but on the other hand, I don't know if I want to have cops running into a situation they won't comprehend."

"It might not be a bad idea to keep her informed," Michael stated. "Just in case." He took out his cell phone. "I'll ask her not to move in yet. And… could you keep your distance?" he added turning the phone on.

Dresden grunted and gestured to Mouse. "Show the way, boy." The dog led him to a locked side door. After a while Michael came after them.

"She promised to wait half an hour before taking action."

Dresden snorted. "That's actually really generous of her." He frowned. "It's too quiet here," he muttered.

Michael nodded. "Do you think they're not here anymore? Maybe we should have confirmed they're here before calling her."

"No…" Dresden looked down at the dog, who was eyeing the door with pricked ears. "I think they're here."

"In that case, I would have thought this place to be better guarded."

"Maybe they thought the thingy in Nevernever's guard enough," Dresden replied, but didn't feel quite convinced about that. In fact, Sai noted with worry that he seemed nearly certain something was about to go wrong. "Well, we're still far from finding them." Do you feel anything? he asked Sai.

Sai blinked. True. If Hikaru was somewhere near – perhaps even in this very building – shouldn't he feel it? He closed his eyes and concentrated.

What was he supposed to feel? The boy's presence? Some kind of a pull toward him? After a while he shook his head. No, he admitted sadly. I don't think I feel anything like him.

"It never can be too easy, can it?" Dresden muttered. "Well, let's get going." He pointed his staff at the door, it flung open, and they entered the building.

...

They were climbing up a stairway, floor by floor, higher and higher, the woman leading the way, Hikaru following her, escorted by the two guards. By the sixth floor Hikaru was shooting daggers at the woman's back. Sure, the elevators probably hadn't been working for years, but even so. Magic that wasn't compatible with technology? Ridiculous.

Finally the stairs ended, they had reached the top of the building. One of the guards opened a door and Hikaru followed the woman in, on the edge. Was this where she was planning to do whatever dark ritual it was she had in mind?

As he saw the room they had entered, he paused and blinked. Whatever he had been expecting, a swimming hall wasn't it. The room had windows on three sides, and he could see city lights shining on each side over rooftops. That in itself was reassuring; if they only got out, there would be people around. But then his eyes fell on the pool, and he couldn't help walking to its edge and just staring at it, for a moment forgetting everything. It was filled with water so clear at first he didn't even realize there was any. He could see the bottom of the pool clearly through it – and beyond the bottom, he thought suddenly. There was something hovering in the emerald water, shapes with faint echoes of colors… coral-like shapes, he realized. And more swiftly moving things, like fish, among them.

He blinked again and the sight was gone, no corals, no fish, not even water. He could only see the cracked dirty bottom of the pool. After a moment he realized the woman was standing next to him, looking as well into the pool. She glanced at him, as if sensing his look, and started to turn away.

"What… what was that water?" he whispered, and she paused, looking at him as if surprised by his question.

"Waters of the Great Barrier Reef," she said quietly.

"How…" Hikaru started to ask, but then he noticed something else, a row of people lying on the other side of the pool. And among them, near the middle…

"Mom!" he shrieked and rushed away, not even noticing how the guards twitched and grasped their weapons. He fell to his knees by the woman who, just like Molly before, seemed to be sleeping peacefully. "Mom!" he shouted again, grasped her shoulder and shook her strongly. "C'mon, wake up! It's me, mom, please, wake up!"

"She won't," he heard the woman's quiet voice. "And that's for the better, really."

"Better!" Hikaru exclaimed, looking up at her. "What the hell you talking about?! All these people…" He fell silent, only now taking in how many people there really were. His father was lying next to his mother, and they were about in the middle of the row. Disbelieving, as his gaze wandered across the sleepers, Hikaru counted altogether sixteen people. Eight couples of all ages, the youngest barely older than he was.

"What?" he breathed, suddenly scared again. "Why… what are you doing with all these…"

"Go sit there," she said, ignoring his question and nodding toward an old white plastic chair standing by the window.

Hikaru stood up slowly, looking at the chair. His eyes moved from it back to the people lying at his feet, traveled across the length of their row. He looked at the guards who were watching him, faces impassive, poses at the same time relaxed but alert – keeping an eye on him, but not finding him a threat of any kind. Finally he looked at the pool, thinking of that crystal clear water he had seen, and slit his eyes, attempting again to see it again. Nothing.

He looked at the woman standing at the pool's edge, and for a short moment met her eyes. He paused, heart skipping a beat. Something stirred within him, something cold and bright and ancient, and he shuddered, breath suddenly caught in his throat, but the moment he thought it would swallow him whole, the woman turned away and the feeling disappeared.

"The chair," she said quietly, looking into the pool – into the water, he was sure. "Now."

Hikaru swallowed, licked his lips, and backed off to the chair without a word. As he sat down one of the guards slipped a handcuff round his wrist and attached it to the armrest of the chair. Hikaru grimaced at it. The chair was light and it'd be no trouble for him to carry the whole thing, but it certainly made it difficult for him to run. Which was the point, of course.

...

The door had led the rescuers to a stairway, and Mouse started leading them downward. Sai felt his excitement growing. The dog seemed so sure of himself. They had to be drawing near the kids – and he had had barely time to think that, when Mouse stopped and hesitated. They had left the stairway and were standing in a barren, trashy corridor, but the dog seemed unsure of which direction to continue. He sniffed first one way and then the other, making noises deep in his throat that sounded quite grumbling.

"What is it, boy?" Dresden whispered. "Did you lose the trail?"

Mouse ignored him, still sniffing meticulously the corridor, a little bit in both directions.

"Were they separated?" Michael asked quietly. Mouse gave a shake of his head that seemed denying. "Have they been in both directions?"

The dog lowered his head in what might have been a nod.

"Well." Dresden leaned on his staff and looked in both ways in its shimmering light. Not that he could see far in the dark corridor. "Any idea which way is more recent?"

The dog looked left and right, and gave a grunting sigh. Dresden echoed the sound. "Fine. Ghost. Anything?"

I, umm… Sai as well looked left and right and tried again, at his hardest, to feel for Hikaru. Nothing. But… he paused to look right. The corridor that way felt somehow… warmer. Not quite as dark. He blinked, not quite understanding. Was that somehow connected to Hikaru? How? What if he now said they should go right, and that was wrong?

He fidgeted, hesitated, and after a while Dresden nodded. "Right it is, then," the man said, and they headed that way.

"Michael, you said you know this place?" he whispered as they walked on. "Do you remember anything useful? Where'd she be most likely to keep them?"

Michael gave a somewhat uncharacteristic snort. "I was here for the birth of my firstborn child 18 years ago. I wasn't exactly making notes of the place, thinking where to keep kidnapped people."

"How sloppy of you," Dresden muttered.

Michael smiled a bit. "To tell you the truth, I barely remember anything from that time except the wrinkly pale pink creature the nurses placed in my arms," he went on in a distant voice. "How tiny it was. And how… absolutely perfect. Harry," he said suddenly more decisively and Dresden glanced back. "You really should get children."

Dresden made a chortling sound. "Yeah, right. So they could inherit the enemies I've made. Not to mention some of my goddamned allies."

"Don't blaspheme," Michael said softly. "That is not…"

"Is this the best time for this discussion?" Dresden snapped. "Besides, I wasn't blaspheming, that was a literal description." He paused and raised a hand, cutting off what Michael had been about to say. "Now, what's that?"

Mouse had stopped behind a door, sniffing at it.

"They here?" Dresden whispered. Mouse gave a shake of his head and pawed at the door, which gave a squeak and opened a crack.

A short moment they waited, then Dresden gave the door a push. There was a dark room behind it. He muttered a word and soft light appeared at the end of his staff. Not much to see there, though: just an empty desk and a pile of boxes in the corner.

Dresden walked to the desk and ran a finger across it. "No dust," he remarked. He checked the drawers which turned out to be empty, and shot a glance across the room, looking thoughtfully at the boxes. 'Deceased 1995', Sai read with him on one of them, and shuddered.

Afraid of ghosts? he heard the man's amused voice. You're deceased too, remember.

Sai didn't dignify that with an answer.

"Maybe she's been using this room," Michael said, voice was sharp with impatience. "But there's nothing here. We have to go on."

Dresden gave him a sideward glance, but nodded then. "Lead on, boy," he said to Mouse.

...

It was so utterly frustrating. Right after Molly had woken up and he wasn't alone anymore, they dragged him here and once again he was on his own. Perhaps Molly would find a way to slip out… but even if she did, would she find them? Could she do those tracking spells Dresden had used? He had no idea. Once again, he couldn't count on getting any help.

Hikaru slumped gloomily in his chair, watching the scene in front of him. Not that there was much to be seen. The sleepers slept, the guards guarded, and the woman… he wasn't sure what she was doing. Mainly she just stood staring into the pool, at times making short gestures with her hand. If anything was happening, he couldn't see it from where he sat.

Two more guards arrived into the room, walking briskly. They hesitated a moment, seeing the woman standing by the pool, but approached her then. Hikaru couldn't hear what they said to her, but the words had an immediate effect. Her eyes snapped to him for a moment, then she turned and headed to the door, leaving all the guards behind to watch the boy.

Hikaru bit his lip. Something was going on. Perhaps help was finally arriving? If only he could get free. He looked at the handcuff that tied him to the chair. It wasn't too tight… He twisted his wrist just a little, as stealthily as he could. Not too tight, but still tight enough… it wouldn't be easy to get free. He had some vague memories of some manga that he had read that if you dislocated your thumb, it would make it possible to escape handcuffs. That sounded painful. Not to mention he didn't have a clue how to do it in practice.

He forced himself to sit quietly. It would be just stupid to try anything right away, now that the guards were alert. He should think it through first – but then again, if he was going to do something, it would be best to do it before the woman returned. He gave his thumb a frowning look. Maybe he'd be able to figure this out…

"Be quiet now," a voice whispered to his ear and he gave a start. "Quiet!"

He looked over his shoulder. It was Molly's voice, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. A hand touched his wrist, very lightly, but he saw nothing.

"Let me," he heard the voice again, and as he watched, wide-eyed, the handcuff moved a little, there came slight rustling noise from it, and suddenly it opened. "There!" Molly sounded quite self-satisfied. "Okay, now. When I say, stand up. Understand?"

Hikaru nodded slowly. He was beginning to catch on. Molly was there, under a veil. How she would get him out he didn't know, but at least he was now free of the handcuff. So far no one had noticed anything.

"Stand!" Molly whispered sharply, and he did, adrenaline rushing through his body as he was ready to make a run for it. Still, although he saw the guards looking straight at him, they didn't pay any attention to him getting up. He blinked, surprised.

"We need to go," Molly said, and now he saw her as he looked over his shoulder, standing right next to him. He saw also himself, sitting on the white chair, properly handcuffed. He blinked again and stared. The boy with yellow bangs looked glumly straight ahead, shifted his feet a little, fingered discreetly his handcuff – though not nearly discreetly enough, Hikaru thought with a grimace. Every inch of him looked so real Hikaru could have sworn that was himself sitting there. As if he had become a ghost, leaving his own body behind.

"Maboroshi," Molly whispered to him. Illusion.

"Wow," he breathed. It looked so real. All the little movements, blinking eyes, quiet breathing, a finger stroking the handcuff. "That's…!"

"Shh." The girl raised her finger to her lips and nodded toward the door. "Go," she mouthed and started walking that way, pushing Hikaru gently on. He followed her for a few steps but paused then to look at his parents.

"Wait," he whispered as quietly as he could. Molly glanced at him, and he nodded toward the sleeping people.

"I can't wake them," she whispered. "We need to go. Come! We go and get help."

Hikaru licked his lips nervously. She had a point, if he understood her correctly. But… they didn't even know where they were. Perhaps still in Chicago… but even so, how soon would they be able to get help? He had a feeling they were already out of time.

"Come!" Molly repeated fervently, pulled his arm. "This is hard! I can't keep both the illusion and the veil up for long!" Hikaru looked at her, not understanding, and she grimaced. "She knows I've escaped. We have to go. Now."

Still the boy didn't move. If they couldn't wake the kidnapped people, perhaps they'd be able to mess up what the woman was doing in some other way. The pool with its phantom water had to be a part of it. Could the pool be emptied somehow… of water that didn't really be there? Or maybe just throwing something in there would be enough? He walked to the pool's edge, and heard Molly making an exasperated noise.

"No time!" This time she pulled his arm much harder. "Come! We…"

The balcony's door opened again, and they both froze as the woman entered the room again. Molly made a little move, as if to head to the door herself, but hesitated as the woman gave a single glance at the image of the boy sitting on the white chair and shook her head slightly.

The illusion disappeared, and all the guards gave a start, which would have been quite satisfying if the woman hadn't been staring straight at the wide-eyed pair standing by the pool. "There you are. It seems I underestimated you."

"You should know we've got help coming," Molly said quickly. "It'd be best for you just to surrender."

She smiled a little. "Really? Even if you could have somehow contacted someone, they would not have arrived here yet. And I doubt you've been able to do that – though you shouldn't have been able to wake up, either. Perhaps the Council are not as great fools as I thought, being worried about you. No more chances, I'm afraid."

She raised her hand.

...

"Are they climbing up and down this building just for fun?" Dresden muttered irritably under his breath. Mouse had led them through the corridors to another staircase and headed upward. It was beginning to feel like they were climbing to the roof. "How high is this…" He almost stumbled on the dog that had suddenly stopped and stood facing upward, ears pricked.

"What is it?" Michael whispered.

"Shh!" Dresden was listening too, to something Sai couldn't hear. "There is someone up there, nearby. A woman. I think…" He frowned. "She's… talking to herself? …is that a tracking spell?"

They stood in complete silence, waiting. "She's moving," Dresden murmured then, very quietly, and they started climbing again, stepping as softly as they could.

The stairs ended to a small hall. One of the doors stood half open, and Mouse stopped behind it, giving the men a meaningful glance. A very familiar voice carried to their ears through it.

"…best for you to surrender."

Sai could swear he felt his heart skipping. Molly was there. And so perhaps Hikaru too was behind that door? He would have wanted to rush in, but Dresden was holding him back. Michael as well took a sharp breath and started onward, but Dresden placed a hand on his arm, stopping him.

"Wait. Let's check what's going on first."

Michael shook his hand off and took a careful peek into the room. "Just her and a few guards?" he muttered. "That's not too bad."

Dresden winced. "Don't give the universe lines like that, Michael. Now, we have to…"

"No more chances, I'm afraid," they heard the woman saying, and Michael flung the door open.

Notes:

Aaannndd… cut. Sorry. Had to cut this somewhere to get something finally up.

Edgewater hospital is a real abandoned hospital in Chicago. If you google photos Edgewater hospital, the first result should be an article with a lots of pics. Creepy enough, indeed. (I'll put the link in my bio too, as usual.)