A/N: Hey, slight note before we start the chapter, I need to thank guest reviewers! BeeBunny54, Maddie2276, And Peggy, Hi- Thank you so much you guys! It means the world to me when y'all review, either as a guest or signed in. :) Alright, on with it!
"…Hello?" A moderately deep voice softly called out from the front of the house.
We all were braced, ready for anything, hidden in the safety of the shadows. Hercules had stopped taking deep breaths, opting instead for eerily silent breathing through his nose.
Alex was trembling, just the tiniest bit, but enough to have me worry. More about him or the situation, I can't say.
Everything's pretty damn tense right now, if you haven't noticed.
The sound of a footfall caught my attention, and I glanced at the guys to make sure they heard it, too. Hercules had his head angled upwards, directly looking through the ceiling hole. All we could really see was the kitchen ceiling, and a few cabinets, so the intruder would have to lean over the hole a bit before we'd spot him. God, I really hope he isn't strong.
Or tall; Or aggressive.
I tapped Alex on his shoulder, and gave a hopeful smile when he turned around. His eyes were full of dread, but he returned the smile with minor hesitation.
"…I know that somebody is here." The voice spoke again, and I'm assuming he's in the kitchen because his voice just got really clear. If he were in any other room, he'd be bit muffled, but we could hear him perfectly. "I've been watching through the windows."
Hercules whipped around, staring right into my eyes. "Damn, who the hell is this guy?" He mouthed, his face creasing in confusion.
I shook my head; we all knew the exact same amount of information on our new guest. The magic number is… you guessed it, zero.
"Please, just show yourself." The voice grunted, and the footsteps began to inch further into the kitchen. He sounded… pained, almost.
Was he injured? Is that why he's broken in? To find medical assistance, maybe, or to just die in some minimally safe place. No, he said that he'd been watching through the window… the kitchen window? It's been at least an hour, maybe an hour and a half, since I fell and we all ended up down here. Had he seen me fall? No, I wasn't visible to the outside where I had fallen.
Wait, the guys, they had run out of the house to find the cellar entrance. Maybe the intruder had seen them come down and decided it was safe enough to come in upstairs? I don't know, but I really don't want to find out; I just want to make it out of this whole thing alive.
"Should one of us say something?" Alex faintly whispered, eyes flicking between Herc and I. I turned my head to Herc, asking for permission to speak.
He hesitated for a second, before closing his eyes and gave a quick nod of his head.
"What is your name?" I raised my voice, staring through the ceiling and hoping for them to come into sight.
The footsteps ceased, and I could hear the slightest labored breathing. I waited for an answer, but after being silent for nearly an entire minute, I couldn't wait any longer.
"I said, what is your name?" I repeated, louder this time in hopes that they just didn't hear me the first time. "And why are you here?"
A heartbeat passed, the three of us taking deep breaths.
"I am here for Hercules." The voice replied, his low voice suddenly a pitch higher. Had we scared him by answering?
"Why?" I inquired, curious as to what business they had with him. Were they a friend, or a disguised enemy? So many questions, and not nearly enough answers.
"He is important to me." The voice had become deeper again, with a touch of gravel. Why the hell was their voice changing? Unless…
"Are you a man?" Hercules deepened his voice, just in case he knew the person in a bad way. He voiced my thoughts exactly, and I was curious as to the answer.
The speaker said nothing, just stood for a minute in silence.
"I will not repeat my question." Hercules mentioned, pushing his sleeves up to his elbows. He placed his hands on his hips in exasperation. "I need to know."
"… Yes." The voice said, this time sounding suspiciously like a woman disguising her voice.
"Right. One moment while we convene, sir." He held up his hand, pointing across the room to the door. Alexander and I nodded, and began to quietly make our way towards it. Hercules followed behind, keeping an eye on the hole just in case the trespasser looked in.
We snuck out the door, careful to be gentle when we closed it. We hurried around the house, stopping at the porch.
"We're just gonna go straight in, no planning?" Alex questioned, answered with nods from Hercules and I. 'Alright, then one of you goes first."
"I'll do it." Herc offered, already sneaking up the front steps.
Alex and I followed as silently as we could, and the three of us managed to get into the house. Hopefully, without alerting the 'man' in the kitchen. We heard a gasp as we were passing through the living room, and froze.
"Maybe they saw the hole?" Alex suggested under his breath. I nodded in acknowledgement, hoping the hole was the reason, and not something like they heard us come in. I'd be relieved if we entered the kitchen and they had left through the window, but also pissed that we hadn't found out who it was.
My doubts were cast aside as we crouched in the living room, awkwardly crouch-walking towards the kitchen. Reaching the doorway, I almost audibly exhaled when I saw the visitor was still here.
They were standing a foot away from the gap in the floor, peering down into it. I could see that they had a hand covering their mouth, and their other hand was tightly gripping their sleeve. They were dressed in super baggy clothes, a too-big white dress shirt and some soldier-looking pants that had been rolled at the waist. The pant bottoms had been tucked into black boots that fit the wearer perfectly, the only piece of the outfit that looked even remotely like the owner's.
Aside from the ill-fitting attire, they had a droopy hat, made from some brown material. It covered their hair completely, making it impossible for us to see whether it was female or not. It kinda looked like Herc's favorite hat wear… Oh, yeah, that's definitely a beanie. One that looked a hell of a lot like the one that Hercules was wearing right now.
Hercules turned his head back, eyes meeting mine. We both had the same thought; who the hell is this person?
"Hey." Alex started, startling the rest of us, who had grown accustomed to silence in the past few minutes of silence.
I whipped around and smacked him on his shoulder, garnering a yelp from him. The person spun so fast they almost fell into the floor crevasse, and their eyes blew wide open when they saw us. Ours did too, once we realized who we were face to face with.
"E… Elizabeth?" Hercules breathed, tears forming.
A/N: It's an update! YAAYYYY! I'm so happy I could finish this sooner than expected, I really hope you guys liked it. :) Things have been emotionally hectic on my end, but they're steadily beginning to calm down. I want to thank all the readers that have reviewed this story, we're nearing ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS! :D That is incredibly exciting and I can't wait to see where we go with this. Please, please, please review/follow/favorite if you liked it! And if you didn't, that's cool, this story might just not be your cup of tea *shrug* I cannot believe the amount of people that actually like this story and keep up with it, it's insane. I'm working on chapter 14 right now, so that might be out in less than a week or so! :)
Thank you so much guys,
thatwritermadeofpotatoes