And this where our ladies flee from the place. Wouldn't you if something shocked or horrified you?

I own nothing except my OCs.

Read, leave a review, but no flames allowed.

Chapter 9: Escape

Sure enough, before their very eyes, the four sisters were horrified to find a body sprawled on the floor; and it didn't help when Caroline let out a gasp of pure horror as she scrambled to get back up and return to her sisters for safety. Ahead of them was an eerily dark chamber with too few lighting from the torches, as well as the sickening scent of blood and death hovering within the musty damp air; it was hard to see what was in there, but under what little lighting there was, they could barely make out the shapes of ancient torture devices and more lifeless human bodies lying on the stone floor across wide distances.

At this point, Mary began to dread what might be hiding within the shadows, and continually questioning her own sanity as she scanned the area for any indication of something evil hiding in the darkness. Personally, she didn't want to know what monster lurks within Hollow Bastion, and she would rather not let her sisters get dragged into the hellish nightmare that could scar their minds forever.

"You don't think…this is the dungeon, do you, Mary?" Jane asked shakily.

"Actually…I'm starting to become convinced that it is," Mary doubted as she cautiously peeked within the chamber. "Girls, stay out here. I'll go take a look and see what I can find. If I find something wrong, we're getting out of here."

"Be careful, Mary. There might be a monster inside," Mina warned nervously.

Not wanting to be too reckless, Mary slowly stepped inside the dungeon, grabbed the torch closest to her, and cautiously trekked through the dark chamber to investigate its hidden secrets. She knew that it wasn't exactly the most logical choice to search the place alone, but personally, she didn't want to risk any harm on her sisters, especially since – for all she knew – the place could be rigged with lethal traps or some other device that could ward off any unwanted intruders. As she tread deeper into the dungeon, a strong negative vibe surged through her nerves, giving her the bad feeling that she shouldn't be here at all and she had to get out before it's too late.

However, what ultimately stopped her was when she spotted what appeared to be a stone tomb nestled within the far corner of the dank dungeon; but immediately she detected old stains of red liquid hovering around the edges of the stone, making her dread the idea that it could be blood oozing through the cracks between the lid and the tomb itself.

"I always had a feeling something was out of place with Hollow Bastion…" Mary murmured to herself.

But then, without warning, she heard the sound of grinding as the lid moved over to the side just enough to reveal a casket settled inside the tomb. Dreading what this could mean, Mary slowly approached the tomb and peered over a bit to see what she really didn't want to see: inside the casket was none other than one of the staff members, Saix. He appeared to be asleep, but then she noticed small streams of blood near his mouth, giving her a bad feeling as to what he had been doing when she and her sisters were not around.

Unbeknownst to Mary, the sun had already set, and darkness was approaching the sky. When that happened, she got the scare of her life when she saw his eyes abruptly open and slowly began to move. Not wanting to stick around any longer, she instinctively fled from the dungeon, dropping the torch in the process, and hurried back to her sisters as hastily as she could. She knew that she had to get everyone out before anything worse could happen to them should they stay any longer than they already have.

When she arrived back at the doorway, her sisters were surprised to see Mary nearly out of breath and in a panic, and didn't know what was going on.

"Mary, what's the matter?" Mina asked worriedly.

"We've got to go back, grab our belongings, and get out of here!" Mary ordered, "Don't ask any questions. Let's just go!"

Without asking any more questions for now, all four sisters hurried away from the dungeon, rushed up the entrance hall stairs, and scattered back into their rooms to grab their luggage as fast as they could.

As Mary hastily returned her items into her bag, she couldn't help getting the feeling that she was being watched and feared the notion of who it could be; for all she knew, it could very well be the same man she found in the dungeon since she did see Saix about to wake up in that casket the moment the dark of night crept through the sky.

Unfortunately, her fears were justified when, after a flash of lightning in the midst of the darkness, she saw the familiar shape of the man she saw before; and much to her horror, he seemed far from pleased to see her again. Before she knew, the window flew open from the strong wind, allowing him to enter the room without any trouble; how on earth he was able to stand by the window in the first place was utterly beyond her.

"And where do you think you are going?" he asked icily.

"Isn't it obvious? We're leaving this castle," Mary replied as she grabbed her bag and turned to leave.

Just as she had opened the door, she saw Saix right before her eyes, forcing her to question how on earth he was able to move from one place to the next without her knowing it.

"You are not leaving," Saix answered her coldly, "since you've seen too much."

"You have no right to decide our fate!" Mary yelled as she smacked him with her bag, giving her just enough time to run as far away from him as she could.

Mina had just finished packing up her belongings as quickly as she could, and was just about to leave her room when saw lightning flash through the sky and thunder boom loudly. The next thing she knew was that the windows leading toward the balcony opened violently, and before she knew it, she could barely make out a silhouette of Xemnas, golden eyes glowing in the dark. Not wanting to stay much longer, she hurried out of the room to meet up with her elder sisters.

Thankfully, she was able to meet with Jane, who had just finished up and was heading down the hall right behind Caroline (who was also hurrying as fast as she could despite her leg).

"Jane, are you both okay?" Mina asked quickly.

"We just saw one of the staff members outside – Xaldin, I think," Jane replied as she gasped for breath, "and I'm certain that he is very angry."

"Will you two just hurry up? Mary's not gonna wait all night, you know!" Caroline demanded as though she had no time for chitchat.

Realizing the importance of their situation rather than petty talk, the sisters hurried along down the halls just quick enough to meet up with Mary at the entrance hall, waiting for what she wants them to do.

"Alright, everyone, start running and don't look back," Mary instructed, "Just run and keep running, got it?"

With no need for questions, given their current crisis, the sisters hastily forced the door open and fled out of the castle as fast as they could without even taking a moment to look back out of fear of seeing someone pursuing them. Under the cover of night, the four women fled into the woods – despite the possibility that there's danger in there as well – and kept running further and further down the trail until they couldn't take it; soon, each of them collapsed one by one, too exhausted to continue going…

Inside Hollow Bastion, however, Xemnas observed from the window of the watchtower what was happening outside of the castle; he was able to spot the figures of the four women running for their lives like the devil was giving chase, fleeing into the darkness of the woods before they vanished from his sight. One question came to his mind the moment he lost sight of the 'guests' they took in: did they see something that they weren't supposed to?

He already knew the answer to that question. They did uncover their secret…or rather; they scratched the surface on knowing their secrets. He had hoped that they wouldn't meddle into affairs that do not concern them, and allow him and his followers to have their way with them; they had done it before and succeeded. But those women…oh, no…they weren't as ignorant as the other stranded victims they've taken in before. But why was that? What made them less ignorant and more suspicious? That was when he remembered one of the sisters – Mary, if he recalled right – had been eyeing him and the staff like she doesn't trust them completely, and had been asking questions about Hollow Bastion…too many questions, he was sure about that. Perhaps it was because of her that all of them fled into the night and have subsequently renounced the hospitality they were given.

But there only one way he would know about that: he would have to question the staff and find out what they know about the actions of each sister. What are the chances that someone among them noticed the suspicions against them, or something that he missed altogether? He'll just have to find out, won't he?

"Come, all of you. There is much that must be addressed…at once."

At his call, all of the staff emerged from the shadows within the watchtower; some bearing puzzled looks on their faces while others were angered at the unforeseen turn of events that occurred tonight. When Xemnas turned around to face them, they immediately could tell that he was far from pleased at the unfortunate circumstances that occurred within Hollow Bastion and he wants answers on the matter.

"I am sure that I have instructed all of you to behave yourselves when the Chastain sisters were brought here," Xemnas reminded them with an icy voice, "Did I not stress to all of you that one blunder would arouse a premature fear in anyone we find within our territory, and one mistake could cause the targets to suspect what we really are? If you a reasonable explanation for this…grave error…then kindly tell me what you've done to instigate unease on them."

Marluxia was the first to speak. "Milord, I can assure you that there was no intention on arousing suspicion. We all were doing everything we can to behave around them, as you requested."

"We all are behaving? As if! I've heard from Luxord yesterday that Xaldin tried to hit on the eldest sister – damn it, what was her name again – Caroline," Xigbar scoffed at Marluxia's words, "and she really took rejection to a new level. Hell, I heard that she smacked him in the face for that."

Xaldin growled at that. "You think I enjoyed taking 'no' for an answer? That woman had the gall to fight back."

"Caroline is not the one I'm worried about. The woman who should have been watched closely was the third sister, Mary Chastain," Saix insisted, a low growl barely stirring in him, "She asks too many questions about Hollow Bastion, she's been searching the castle for information, and it was she who saw all that indicated what we are. Don't take me for a fool: she saw those women we took in to sate ourselves, and she discovered the scene within the dungeon. What are the odds she might've found something that could be used against us?"

A few of the staff members murmured to each other in agreement, knowing that what Saix had said was a rather serious issue. But what are they going to do, considering that their targets have successfully escaped from the castle and disappeared under the cover of night?

Xemnas contemplated the possible threat of Mary's nosy actions, and couldn't help agreeing that such a person could very well be a risk to keep alive. However, it still begs the question as to what to do since they've lost their 'guests', and for all they know, they could very well have succeeded on reaching familiar society.

But that was when the master had a thought cross his mind: they know that their destination is Twilight Town, and it has been brought up quite often. Not to mention, as far as Xemnas knew, the town was a good travelling distance from the castle; so perhaps there might be a way to continue pursuit of the four sisters without any further hassle. Slowly, a strategy formed into his mind as he calculated how the matter can be approached…

"Perhaps this blunder could actually turn into an advantage," Xemnas told his followers, "We know about their intended destination, and we know the lay of this land. The only thing we need to do is scout out the area and develop a tactic that could allow us to reach the Chastain sisters without any interference."

This managed to catch their attention, making them all the more eager to proceed with their intended pursuits.

"That would certainly make up for that mishap, indeed. I certainly have a score to settle with the eldest," Xaldin said, eagerly tapping his fingers.

"I certainly don't see a problem with that, milord. After all, given their position in contrast to us, we indeed do have the advantage on knowing the lay of the land," Marluxia agreed as he licked his lips.

"Shall we make plans at once, your lordship?" Luxord asked.

Xemnas gave them a curt nod. "We might as well take advantage of the night while we can, and plan out accordingly. Xigbar, take Xaldin with you and scout out the surrounding area, and be sure to search for another road to Twilight Town we can access. Marluxia, you and Luxord shall search the entirety of the castle and retrace each sister's whereabouts over the past few days until you have found anything out of place." He turned his attention to his last follower. "Saix, track down the Chastain sisters. If you have to hunt them during the day, so be it. But keep yourself out of sight as you follow their movements."

Saix gave a respectful bow as he took his leave. "I'll keep my eyes out for them, my lord. It will be of little trouble when I find them."

The blue-haired man vanished into the darkness without leaving any trace that he was there moments before.

Xigbar gave a disappointed sigh as he scratched his head. "Man, those ladies made quite a fool out of us, and we have to clean up this mess? Ah, well, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. C'mon, Xaldin, let's start combing the area and look for a route we can take."

With that, the two dark-haired men changed their shapes into that of ferocious wolves and began to traverse at high speed into the woods to hunt for an available trail for their use.

"It certainly does make me wonder if there is a particular detail that we missed as they remained with us," Luxord commented as he started to leave, "If anything was taken from us that might expose us, then I'd say that our luck has started to run out."

"Come now, Luxord, don't start thinking that the die is cast just yet," Marluxia reminded him as he followed, "I'm sure the master has a few trump cards up his sleeves, waiting to be used against them. After all, they are only women, and they have not been trained in defense. We have the advantage right now, so why not make the most of it?"

When all of his followers have left to do their job, Xemnas was able to have the rest of the night alone. While he was undoubtedly angered that all four sisters have slipped from them at an inopportune hour, there was also a twinge of disappointment creeping into his stilled heart. The moment he saw Mina fleeing for her life as though she were about to get caught and face punishment; but whatever gave her that idea? Granted, he did spy on her once, and he had spoken to her last night; but he had no intention of harm against her. If anything, ever since he saw her and she brought up Hellene's name, he was slowly becoming convinced that Mina bears a strikingly close resemblance to her. However, now that she had left along with her sisters, how could he know whether his suspicions are true?

As he thought about what potential he had lost, a low growl slowly rose through his throat as his canines extended in expression of his animalistic anger; he clenched his knuckles tightly until his own blood began to seep through the cracks of his hands, and his golden eyes brightly glowed against the darkness surrounding him.

"Those sisters can run and try to hide from us. But one way or another, we will know how to find them," Xemnas said as he stepped out from the watchtower.

It wasn't until he had reached the front gate of his centuries-old abode that he was able to calm his temper; he knew that he still has a chance to pursue what he desires. He only needed to seek an opening on his target, more specifically Mina.

He had to know how closely she connects to that of Hellene Steiner, and if she does have something that would link her to the fragile soul lost once, he would want her returned to his side once more. He wants to fill in the empty hole that he has suffered with for far too long, to regain what belonged to him that slipped out of his fingers because of misfortunes he couldn't drive away.

"After all, there is still an opportunity to come together again," he said quietly to himself, "Of that, I am certain of…Mina."