Thanks, MaziMe, for correcting me on the last chapter! I fixed it^^
And thanks to everybody who's reading and reviewing!
Chapter Fifteen: Which Way?
"Oh crap!"
Hikaru skidded to a halt, and the two bladers behind her did the same, the echo of their pattering footsteps fading into the darkness of the corridors. There, the hall branched off two ways - one to the left and one to the right. No light offered any sign that either route would be the wiser choice, and silence stretched on, with the exception of their heavy breathing as they looked frantically this way and that.
"Which way?" demanded Hikaru urgently, jerking her head back so she could look at Shuske with a piercing gaze that searched his fiercely.
"How should I know?" Shuske asked, throwing up his hands in frustration.
"Umm...Hikaru..." Alice interjected, tugging on the sleeve of Hikaru's red jacket like a frightened kid. Her voice was a low whisper. "Do you hear that?"
The other two bladers turned to follow Alice's gaze back the way they'd come, their breathing as still and quiet as they could manage. Straining to listen down the long, dim corridors for the sound that had worried Alice, they looked at each other through sidelong glances, exchanging unspoken words that expressed their fear. Sure enough, echoing on the metal walls, was the sound of rushed footsteps and heavy panting.
There was no doubt that it was the guards coming to retrieve the escaped prisoners.
"We need to go," Alice whispered, jerking her head to look at Hikaru with wide eyes. Her midnight blue hair flowed around her, unkempt and clinging to her cheeks with sweat.
"Yea..." Hikaru stared in the direction the noise was coming from, half-heartedly and clumsily shoving Alice and Shuske toward the hall to the right. "Let's go."
Alice and Shuske cast each other concerned glances and backed away into the shadows.
But Hikaru stayed in her spot, squinting and taking a few steps forward to try and make out the shapes that were slowly getting closer. She could tell that there was a tall, thin man who looked an awful lot like the Doji guy who'd been in the helicopter with her and Kyoya. There was also the stuck-up girl that Hikaru met before she was put in the cell. Those two together, Hikaru imagined, would not be an easy pair to get away from.
"Go, go!" Hikaru spun around and bounded down the dark hallway, pushing the other two ahead of her. "Hurry!"
Their feet pounded on the metal floor, drumming loud enough to send an echo that was undoubtedly an obvious giveaway of their position. They ran as fast as they could, their legs feeling like jelly as they tried not to stumble over each other through the blackness.
Shuske skidded to a halt, his hands slapping against a steel wall. "It's a dead end," he announced, turning to face them, even though his blue eyes couldn't see far enough to read their expressions.
"What?" Alice whimpered, reaching out to touch the cold silver walls. She slid her palm along the length of it frantically as the enemies got closer, bumping forcefully into Shuske and drawing an 'oof' from him. "Oh, sorry."
"Never mind." Shuske shuffled around, looking for an opening.
"Oh, I can't believe this." The ice-blue haired blader clapped her hands down on her head, running her fingers through her mess of hair. Hikaru smacked the wall, a deep drone filling the air around them.
"Wait, wait!" Shuske gasped, then beckoned the two girls, a slight movement that they could barely distinguish in the shadows.
Hikaru inched forward, feeling for his hand. "What?"
"Here! This way!" He snatched her wrist and pulled her forward. "Alice!"
"Coming," she whispered, with a final glance over her ahoulder.
Aimlessly, the three bounded along the next hall, Shuske in the lead with one hand dragging along the walls to get a feel for where they were at. Alice and Hikaru followed him, hand-in-hand as friends, so they wouldn't get separated.
Shuske led them down the hall, turning to the left when it gave way to dim light that glistened from the dirty panel clinging to the ceiling. That darkened the corners and patched over the steel, and the empty corridors twisted this way and that, exhausting the trio as they tried to navigate through the 'castle.'
"Is that a door?" Hikaru called, panting in between her words. She lifted a weak hand to wipe the sweat dripping from her forehead.
They all came to a halt in front of a metal sliding door, similar to the ones that had closed them in their cells. However, it didn't have the collection of locks; it was covered in grime and rust.
"Yea!" Shuske gripped the edge of the door and pulled at it as hard as he could. Knuckles turning white and grunting with the effort, he managed to utter, "I wonder where it leads."
Hikaru grasped it, too, and started to tug, and Alice did the same.
"Ugh, this is impossible," groaned Alice.
"No, no, we got it. It's moving," Hikaru gasped as the door creaked with life.
"And...they're getting closer." The dark haired girl leaped away from the two as they labored to open the route that would hopefully lead to the outside world. She pointed at their two approaching enemies.
"Help us!" Hikaru growled in frustration.
"No-wait! Get out of the way!" Alice shoved her friend aside, pushing Shuske back in the process. Hikaru stumbled and collapsed, with the teenage boy doing the same. Just as Alice staggered around them so she wouldn't fall on top them, a booming voice erupted around them.
"Let it rip!"
Hikaru shrieked and shielded her face with her arms, while Alice turned her head the other way and Shuske watched with wide eyes.
A little beyblade whizzed past them, slamming into the spot where Hikaru and Shuske had been only a moment before. The collision sent a cloud of dust around them, and the metal door fell to the floor. The trio of escapees barely had time to realize what was going on before Doji and the other girls scurried over to them.
"Quick!" Alice whispered. She placed a foot on the fallen door and it, dented from the impact of Doji's bey, shifted under her weight. She hesitated to pass through the doorway at first, but Hikaru and Shuske nudged her over.
They had expected to be outside, maybe see a flight of stairs to take them to the real exit.
"Oh God!" Hikaru groaned. There were stairs alright...that stretched down for what looked like hundreds of feet. But there were landings that separated thirty concrete steps front the next, that, unfortunately, didn't make it seem any less intimidating.
"Can't we take the other way?" Alice fretted, taking a few steps back. "We'll never make it down in time."
"They'll catch us if we turn around." Hikaru took the girl's hand. "Come on." She led Alice down the stairs as quickly as she could, her feet moving in a flurry so fast that she thought she would trip before reaching the first landing.
"You guys are such girls," Shuske laughed.
Hikaru and Alice froze and turned just in time to see the mischievous boy hop on the metal rail - one hand behind him to keep himself steady - and slide right past them, landing carefully on both feet, while the two girls were only halfway down.
"C'mon!" he urged. "We don't have much time!" Shuske pointed behind them, at the shadowy shapes making their way through the smoke and dust that hung in a thick cloud.
"Guess we've no choice." Alice shrugged and hesitantly situated herself on the rail the way Shuske had done.
"And we don't have all day, either!" he growled at Alice just heartbeats before she slid down to meet him.
Hikaru followed their lead, but when she landed, she stumbled clumsily before regaining her balance, rounding the corner, and doing the same thing over again.
Their unusual method of escape worked well, buying them plenty of time to get well away from their pursuers by the time they reached the heavy door at the end of the stairwell. Hikaru was the first to reach it, and with a fierce yank on the knob, the door came open and let in a hot, dry burst of air. The change in scenery was nice, but the cracking earth at Hikaru's feet reminded her too much of her short time in Wolf Canyon. Ahead of the trio was a tall, chain link fence, but there was no gate within their sight.
"Let's go over there." Alice grabbed Hikaru by the wrist and pointed at an overgrown hedge a few yards away.
Hikaru shrugged. "I guess it'll have to do." She glanced at Shuske, who nodded agreement, and then followed Alice to their make-shift hiding place. She pushed her way through the gnarled branches after Alice, going deep enough into the thick hedge that she was sure they wouldn't be visible to Doji when he made it outside.
Shuske shifted his weight to the left as he pushed back the branches to look toward the silver fence. "Hey, what's that?"
Hikaru peered through the mass of leaves to see someone wandering around, head jerking back and forth.
"Ryuga! Come and face me!"
A chill ran through Hikaru's body. There, only a couple of yards away, was her ex-lover, Kyoya.
Credit.
Alice Hara belongs to Destened-star-girl.
Shuske Masamori belongs to Arttailfox021.
Ayumi Sang belongs to primed-pandemonium.
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(:Mizune