The wink was on Conner's mind as he ran as fast as he could to the fenced area surrounding the Hearthome Psychiatric Hospital. It was true, Penelope could merely have been blinking. Maybe something had gotten into her eye. But no, he knew that was not the case. It was the face of someone whose plan was going the way it needed to:- Conner knew that face, as he himself had worn it often.
There was a pounding in his chest that had nothing to do with the exertion of the run. He remembered what he had thought when he had first ran when he saw the orderlies after Penelope's false warning. If you cannot trust anyone in Hearthome, then where in Hearthome was safe?
The answer was simple. Leave Hearthome. Or at the very least, leave the interior fencing of Hearthome. Conner had scouted out the fences many a time before while there was no way to get out of the thick concrete walls surrounding the entire grounds, there were parts of the fence hidden around Hearthome that were decaying and loose.
Conner headed immediately behind the administration building – he couldn't risk running through the main grounds. He highly doubted it was only those two orderlies looking for him. Yes, running would make him seem guilty, but Conner refused to be captured. His capture was clearly part of whatever plan Penelope was cooking up and he would have no part of it.
He made it to his location, a small rusted shed tucked away in a collection of bushes. He pushed his way through the bushes to the back of the shed, where the fencing was eaten away. He gently pushed it and let it scrape against the mud.
"Shepherd!"
The voice was low, but urgent. Conner reacted before identifying the owner and spun on his heel, immediately tackling into the owner of the voice. He immediately got the upper hand, straddling the man with his knees and pressing an elbow against the chin.
"Alright, alright, I get it," Ollie Cox's face twisted in pain from underneath Conner's grip.
"What the fuck do you want, kid?" Conner hissed. Ollie of course was not a child, but he was fresh-faced enough for Conner to label him as such. "You're in the wrong place, wrong time."
"I don't think so," Ollie gasped. "I'm in the right place and the right time. I'm looking for you, Shepherd."
Conner pushed harder with his forearm, practically choking Ollie. "Why? You with the orderlies? You want to put everything on my shoulders, eh? Well I'm not going to have it! Why are you free? What did they ask of you!?"
"Nothing," Ollie choked. "They let us go. John gave them what they wanted to know."
"You expect me to believe that?" Conner bared his teeth, ready to tear into Ollie if he had to.
"They threatened Oscar, scared him to practically non-action! I had to watch it through his eyes. I was able to regain control. I saw everything that happened in that room, Shephard. You don't have to trust me, but you can use me!"
"Why?"
"Because I can help you get to Pigritia. The woman in the mask."
"Penelope…" Conner whispered. Ollie's eyes immediately widened.
"What?" Ollie gasped from beneath Conner's forearm.
"Penelope is one of those masks. Specifically the one who took John."
"How can you even know that?" Ollie asked with wide eyes. "I've been friends with Penelope ever since she arrived at Hearthome, there's no way she could be—"
"Marks on her neck," Conner hissed. "Marks that match a cord in John's room that he obviously used to fight. Marks that identify her as the suspect." Conner pushed harder on Ollie's throat. "Is that why you're here? It's no secret. So her name is Pigritia?"
Ollie's eyes darted left and right. "…Let me go… please… Let me talk. It's not like I can overpower you anyway."
"No, you can't." Conner lifted his forearm but stayed straddling Ollie. "Tell me what the fuck you want. Convince me why I shouldn't tear your tongue out to stop you from spilling where I am."
"I told you. I witnessed what happened in that room. There was Pigritia… or… or Penelope… if that's…" Ollie groaned. "There were two others. Irae and Invidia. They scared Oscar, like I said. They want Imogen to put you in the crosshairs. They got their answers for John. The things he said, Conner… He talked about a List, a List where we will die one by one. Pigritia is on the List and it's thrown out all her plans."
Conner narrowed her eyes. "She's on the List?"
"Let me help you. Please. You don't have to trust me, you really don't. The others inside me, Oscar and Owen, I've pushed them out. They don't know I'm here. They won't know I'm here. Owen or Oscar will just wake up not knowing where I am. I am willing to do that, I'm willing to cut myself off from them to keep this a secret."
"Why?" Conner repeated.
"Because I want to see Pigritia get what she deserves!" Ollie said firmly. "And if Pigritia is truly Penelope, then I want to confront her, I want answers. I… I have shared a lot with Penelope. Me, Oscar, and Owen. All of us are good friends with her. She understands us. She understands are separate needs. She listens to our concerns. If Penelope is Pigritia… she used that against us, she way she forced her fear into Oscar, the way she used my condition, the way she used that…" Ollie's voice caught in his throat. Conner was surprised to see tears in his eyes. "…It is unforgivable, Shephard. Oscar can't do anything. Owen won't do anything. But I can. I am the primary consciousness. I can help you, Conner, I can be your man on the inside. I can see things through the eyes of Oscar and Owen. I will keep myself separated from them, so they don't know that I am with you. Let me help you, Conner. Let me do that for you!"
Conner took a long moment to think. Finally he stood up. "Fine. I can use you. You will be a good piece that I can use." He offered his hand. "Like you say, you are a tool, and nothing more. I do not trust you, Cox."
Penelope and Charlotte immediately split up, each taking one direction. Charlotte headed off to the shower area while Penelope ran for the exit. Penelope was worried. This wasn't what her Lord wanted. They weren't supposed to be confronted like now, none were to know of Charlotte. After all, it was why Penelope had lent Charlotte her bandages. It was all part of Charlotte's plan and it was the first time in years that Charlotte had even seemed to care for Penelope. Her Lord told her it was okay to trust her lost sister. Told her it was okay to do this.
And then Charlotte was put on the List. Penelope could not help the guilt that coursed through her veins. Charlotte would have been acting as her. It should have been her on the List.
Penelope glanced backwards and saw that she wasn't being followed. That was strange. She supposed they knew it was a dead end. That made Penelope happy, as it was not so much a dead-end as one would have thought.
Penelope stopped in the small underground parking area that made the entrance of these cells for the criminally insane. The big shuttered door would open to allow buses in, and then shut behind again before the bus would let its inhabitants off. These controls were locked inside an orderly room. Penelope quickly walked over to the door and glanced around. They were still not following her. They must have thought she couldn't escape this way. Maybe they were focusing on Charlotte. Either way, Penelope didn't have to worry about trapping herself in. After all, her Lord had given her access to the keys into the security room.
She unlocked the security room, headed in, and paused at the shutter controls.
Run.
That word held weight. Penelope did not want to run. Her Lord did not want her to run. Yet running was the only way that one could save the other. If they were both caught, then it would be over, just like that. Penelope knew that Charlotte would not get caught – Charlotte was the fighter, the member of Purgatory that could go toe-to-toe with the DHP and come out victorious. So it was up to Penelope to escape. That should be easy to do. She was smart. Maybe not so smarter than Charlotte, but smart, nevertheless. The sisters shared wits and looks, if not much else.
It was clear to Penelope that every action that she and Charlotte had taken on this day had been entirely to Conner's plan. She had allowed herself to be overtaken by the fact that she had thought Jason Ryan had died. She had seen the explosion, had heard Conner's words. Why had she not considered that he was lying? It was his face. Conner's face had been so convincing that Penelope had found no need to doubt him, despite his opposition to her and her sister.
That was Penelope's mistake. She would rectify such a thing. There was no guilt that she may have brought Conner and the rest to her sister. No. There was no time for guilt. There was just simply time for action.
Penelope pressed the button.
The shutter hummed and whirred. It started to roll up. She needed to escape first. She needed to find someplace to think. Then she could meet back up with Charlotte. And then Charlotte could finally fulfil her promise of taking Penelope away from this Godsforsaken place. Her Lord did not like her here. Her Lord needed her out there, spreading his word. Hearthome was not the place for it.
They had their pawns. Certainly, the false sins were compromised, but there were others in Hearthome, others that Penelope could go to in order to help.
Penelope made for the shutter when it was only halfway and ducked underneath it.
"Miss Hayes." Warden Theodore Hearthome stood at the entryway where it dipped slightly on the hill. His expression was one of sympathy. The warden beckoned for Penelope. "Come, let us go while they are distracted. I will take you to my office. I will sharpen this out shortly."
Penelope couldn't help but smirk. This was just exactly who she wanted to see. The Warden himself was one of the biggest tools they had, someone who had acted as a conduit for her to convert others, a conversion even Penelope's own Lord would be happy with.
"Do not worry, she will be okay," Theodore started walking side-by-side with Penelope. "Jason Ryan had overstated his bounds, working with Shephard. This is simply not how this should work."
"Any sign of the others? Of Dave and Derrick? Marcus? Rebecca?" Penelope asked. "We fell into their trap."
"No worries, we shall escape any traps laid of us, come quick, Penelope," The warden ushered Penelope around the corner. "Come, quick."
Penelope started forming plans. There were pieces on the board still. Perhaps she could make use of—
There was a sudden wrenching in her arms and they were pulled behind her back. There was a click and Penelope felt something tighten around her wrists, something metallic. She was pushed sharply to the floor and Penelope landed hard on the side. She found herself looking up not only at the Warden, but at Berlin of the DHP as well, dressed all in the black. The expression on the warden's face had now turned into one of anger.
"What do you think you are doing, Theodore!" Penelope snarled. This wasn't supposed to happen. The warden was a pawn on the board, just as the orderlies were, controlled by her power.
"Your plans are done with," The warden said. "I am truly very sorry, but I do not appreciate this group of yours making a mockery of my hospital. You have sullied my direction of healing and recovery."
Penelope closed her eyes. She could feel the guilt now, appearing where it had not been before, gnawing at her. How could she be so foolish? She could only hope that Charlotte would escape. Yes, Charlotte definitely would. She would save her. She had to.
"How is it back there?" Wasp glanced back from the driver's seat of the black SUV.
"Fuckin' terrible," Conner growled back, his hands covered in the blood of John Doe. The back seats of the SUV had been put down and John had been laid awkwardly across them as much as his long and lanky frame allowed. Conner's hands were on John's side where the bullet had penetrated his skin. The blood wasn't stopping and no matter what Conner did to try and staunch the flow nothing was working properly. "Can't you go any faster?"
"We'll be fine. Nearly there." Rhino grunted from his position in the passenger's seat. The SUV was bumping and rolling along the dirt trail that snaked across the entire grounds that made up Hearthome's exterior forest. Rhino himself was carefully holding the blade that was stuck in him, ensuring that it wouldn't fall out by wrapping his large hands around it.
The two other occupants of the black SUV were shoved awkwardly in the small space allowed them. Marcus Morris and Paul Spinner were practically laying on top of each other. Both were gagged roughly, their ankles and wrists tied, hogtied expertly by Wasp.
There was a particularly hard jolt of the SUV and John's eyes suddenly opened wide. He coughed and spat a spray of blood against Conner's face.
"…Shepherd!" John's voice was strong for a moment. He reached up with a hand and grabbed Conner's collar.
"Don't move," Conner gently pushed John's hand away. There was no resistance from the clearly physically weak man. John grimaced, a dribble of blood sliding down the ridges of the burnt side of his face. "You're doing fine, John."
"…I'm dying…" It wasn't said particularly to Conner, but rather as a general statement.
"Nah, not if I can help it. I didn't lug you half way across a forest to die."
John's eyes flickered for a moment and rested on Conner again. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"…Why? You could have left me to die? I wouldn't put it past somebody like you…" John coughed again, an unhealthy rattle rasping from his lips. Conner was impressed at the man even coming back to consciousness at all. "…It's not in your nature."
"…Perhaps it wasn't," Conner shook his head. "Who is to say it isn't now?"
John's one good eye rolled in his socket again before refocusing for a moment. "…Did you find Lily?"
"We're nearly back to Hearthome, John. You'll see her soon." Conner had no clue who this Lily was but it didn't take a genius to know that John said her name with reverence. "John?"
"…Pigritia… Shepherd, you let her go…"
"I did."
"Why?"
The same question. Why? Conner supposed he couldn't blame John for the question. Why indeed? Why would someone like Conner, who was raised on blood and trauma, save someone like John, who he had tussled with in disagreement? People always asked him why. Why did there have to be a particular reason? Couldn't he just make decisions without being judged on them?
"…Because I can always find her again. She won't leave Hearthome. She's desperate."
John smirked painfully, his voice growing faint again. "…So all for a plan?"
"Not all. Maybe I just wanted to save a life of somebody I admired, you know?" Conner chuckled quietly. "The Enigma Bridge. I'm a fan, did you know that?
"…Hah…" John closed his eyes. "You didn't sound like a fan when you were taunting me."
"I often use my words in ways I don't necessarily mean. What can I say, manipulation comes natural to me. Just as I can use the right words to get people to trust me, I can use the right words to get people to hate me. Once I realised who you were, I'll admit to being pissed off at you. 'Cause when I was a kid, your music helped keep some semblance of my sanity. Then one day you dropped off the face of the earth. You were gone for a long time, John. Your music helped an outcast like me believe that maybe he could be something in this world, something more than what he was. And I couldn't help but wonder that if you hadn't fucked off and disappeared for all those years, and that you had kept creating music, that maybe I would have been something different. Maybe I would have picked up a pen or an instrument instead of a knife. Who knows? Who knows… And that's crazy, right? To blame you for something entirely unrelated to you. You didn't make me who I am. You didn't put the knife in my hand. Yeah, I knew a lot about you, John. And it seemed like you knew a lot about me. You knew about my uncle, Freddie. We should talk some time, you hear me, John? Without beating each other into the ground. John?"
John's chest slowly moved but he had slipped right back into unconsciousness. His skin was cold yet clammy to the touch. His breath slow. The blood was finally slowing but Conner suspected that wasn't because he was putting pressure on. He turned back to the front. "How much longer!?"
John clutched his side painfully as he slowly walked into the room with the beds and supplies. He had been told to stay in bed, stay in the hospital, and John had promised Cynthia that he would. She had left to get a drink and John had left. He admittedly felt guilty about that but after Jason's visit, he knew he needed to get out of that room and help. Well, that wasn't the only reason, John supposed. Her remnants were still there, remnants of her words, remnants of her emotions.
"I love you, John."
Love.
What a strange, foreign word. John had often sung about emotions, but they were of anger, and jealousy, and indifference, and fury. He had never sung of happiness and joy. Of love. He could feel something within him bubbling that he hadn't felt since the fire at Epsilon. It was the bubbling of rhythm, the start of creation. There were lyrics slowly seeping into John's mind and he needed to write them down, needed to get them on paper. And he couldn't do that with Pigritia still about. That was why he had agreed to the crazy plan that Conner Shepherd had offered. Playing dress-up, acting, it was out of John's wheelhouse. But he had to admit that it had worked.
He wanted these Sins dealt with. He wanted to write the song. He wanted to honour her, immortalise her, declare his feelings for all the world to hear and be proud of that.
She would have laughed at such an objective. But John felt such a firm conviction that even the painful throbbing in his side that was limiting him to no movement other than a slow limp could be ignored. It was nearly over, Conner's plan was going off without a hitch. John only had a small role to play now.
"Professor," John finally reached the other side of the room where Johann Schneider was chained by his one good arm. "Are you okay?"
"John, my boy. Yes, I am fine, as fine as can be." The professor's eyes darted about. "I need to speak to Jason, immediately."
"Soon. He is helping Shepherd." John looked at where the chain had been attached to a pipe and found it would be extremely hard to get it free. Maybe if he was stronger, he could have broken the pipe, but that wasn't going to happen now.
"No, you don't understand." The professor's eyes widened. "Whatever plan Conner Shepherd has is flawed. That message was false, that picture was false. He is al—" The professor's mouth suddenly stopped as if he had swallowed something. "It—" Again his voice caught in his throat.
"What's wrong?" John looked at the old man.
"I… I…" Professor Johann Schneider looked around the room. "That is rather strange. I am usually so clear-headed." Johann frowned deeply. "No, no, I must remember, I must simply be a little exhausted with all that has happened. John, please, find something to break me out of this, would you kindly?"
"I'll do my best," John peered around the room, looking for a crowbar of some sort. "You just try to remember what that was." John suspected that whatever it was was lost. Something gnawed at him and he heavily suspected that whatever just happened with the professor was not natural. He simply didn't forget. It was like somebody had stopped him from saying the words he wanted to say, like some kind of invisible gag.
Conner sat patiently within the library, staring across the table at Jason Ryan. Jason was slowly wringing his hands, thinking carefully. Finally he placed his palms flat on the table.
"That is an… exotic and risky plan, Conner."
"I am aware."
"You will not only be putting the residents in danger, but also Robyn and Noah. You are close with them, correct, at least closer than others?"
Conner had to stifle the scoff at the way that Jason said those words, as if it were strange Conner to have any kind of friendship with anything. Although, Conner supposed Jason had a point. This… relationship he had with Noah and especially Robyn was something Conner had thought impossible ever since he had first taken up the knife. A man like him, did he deserve such a thing? It was a question Conner had often asked himself especially when he was with Robyn, who was utterly unreserved in believing in the goodness behind Conner. If she believed in the goodness of Conner's heart, then why couldn't Conner himself?
The answer was simple. If there truly was any goodness left within Conner, it had been plagued by the darkness that had been his life choices.
Conner looked back to Jason. "I learned something interesting when confronting Pigritia. The List can be manipulated. It is simply a presence on this Earth, like the wind or gravity. Something that can be harnessed. If we control the List, we control the outcomes. I trust Ollie Cox and I do not say that lightly. He proved himself when he was with me, helping me. He will be there to save Robyn and Noah. He will make sure that they are skipped."
"And you are aware that this means that Ollie would have to put himself on the List?"
Conner sighed. "Yes, again, I am aware. But he will still be alive. I need Pigritia's turn to come when we make our move. She needs to be next on the List. That cannot happen while Robyn and Noah's turns are still up."
"So you are going to force the List's hand. You're going to… explode… the administration building, knowing that Noah and Robyn will be close, knowing that it will entice the List. So not only do you get Pigritia's turn on the List, you can also go ahead with your plan on letting the false Sins seem like they escaped. These two events you believe is going to make Penelope run to tell Pigritia. Do I have that right, Conner, because it sounds an awful lot like you are waiting for certain coincidences to happen."
"I don't believe in coincidences. I believe in logic and plans. This is logical. Risky, yes, but do not tell me that the DHP do not take risks at the potential cost of lives."
"The DSI did that. The DHP do not."
"Bullshit." Conner said simply. "You guys kept yourselves out of helping Noah with the List because you didn't want to get involved, even despite the cost of lives. Perhaps people like Finley Sullivan and Imogen Banks would be alive if you had actually helped."
"Conner…"
"I'm just saying that inaction is just as much a choice."
"And what if it goes wrong? What if this accident you are manufacturing kills Noah? Or Robyn? What if Ollie doesn't do what you think he will?"
"Because I know people. I read people. I can predict people."
"You cannot approach this like you are hunting down one of your innocent victims, Shepherd."
"No. I'm not hunting down an innocent victim. I'm hunting down Pigritia, one of the true Sins who killed one of your men. You killed Paul Spinner over that. I know you want her caught. You will do anything to get her caught. And that includes risking lives. I knew from the start of this conversation that you made that choice, just as I have. This plan relies on that risk. This plan relies on playing to what Pigritia thinks. She needs to think that she has a golden opportunity in her hands. I need to ensure that Noah and Robyn are skipped and this is the only way. I need to ensure that Penelope is there to see it. I need Penelope to hear that you died in such a dreadful accident. I need each of these things to happen so that Penelope will rush to her sister in fear of her life, being next on the List. Now you ought to go, Robyn will be coming soon. If she knows what we are planning, then the entire plan is a moot point."
Charlotte crouched behind the shower wall in the communal showering area of the cellblock, controlling her breathing and rolling her shoulders. She had not expected such a plan but nevertheless panicking would mean nothing good. Every good strategist knew that you cannot plan for every eventuality and would have to adjust on the fly.
Charlotte was okay with splitting up from Penelope. It was safer that way. Penelope would be smart enough to escape out of the entrance and would hopefully bump into one of the puppets. With Penelope gone, Charlotte could focus on fighting if it came to that, although fighting was the last thing Charlotte wanted.
Fighting the DHP and Conner would result in nothing but wasted energy. She needed to regroup, and decide what she wanted to do. She wanted to get access to the weapons, it had been something she had planned for years. Yet she understood what Irae was saying. Could it be true, could she have failed?
No. Despite it all, despite the List, despite Conner, it is not over.
The weapons would change everything. The weapons would mean Purgatory could finally root out the DHP from this world and burn out the parasite that organisation was. Irae didn't understood the importance of that. She didn't understand the purpose of that. Now there was a limit though. Four hours until Irae activated the purge. That was not good news. While Charlotte did care in some fashion for the puppets that were Rebecca, Derek, Dave, and Marcus, if they were to perish she could move on.
Penelope was a different matter.
Under no circumstances could Penelope be a target of the purge, which meant that Charlotte had to unlock the weapons, reunite with Penelope, and get to Irae and Avaritia all in under four hours.
Could it be done?
It had to be done. Charlotte believed she knew how to as well. She could feel the plan formulating in her head already. She would play the same game that Jason Ryan was playing. With the threat that Charlotte had posed invading Hearthome, and the subsequent Lockdown, once the threat was gone, no doubt the DHP would want to move the weapons. Now they knew of the puppets, they had already likely worked out that Charlotte herself was the main threat to Hearthome.
They needed to believe she was dead.
Something big and flashy was needed. Perhaps a fire where she could put her jacket on somebody else to pretend it was her. It didn't have to be a perfect job. Just something to make them think, if but for a moment, that she was dead, just as Jason did to her. She would use their own plans against them.
Then it was just a matter of gambling that it wouldn't take too long for one of the key-holders for the weapons to arrive, and if Charlotte was a betting woman she would wager that they were already close to the walls of Hearthome, ready to come in and move the weapons before Purgatory could act again.
Then all Charlotte would need to do was kill the agents of the DHP that were in Hearthome. Some would laugh at such a statement but for Charlotte it was a certain thing. When she had fought Rhino and Wasp, she hadn't even been close to serious. She hadn't been playing to kill. Now that her sister's life was on the line, now that the deadline of the purge was looming, Charlotte would do what she had to do for her family.
This plan came to Charlotte in an instant. So she needed to escape in order to enact the plan. Two routes. She was not going to go the same route as Penelope, so the elevator route it was. No doubt Jason Ryan and the one known as Wasp would be either coming for her right now or waiting at the entrance to the shower areas, knowing it was a dead end. Charlotte would just need to get past them, get past Conner, and then climb the elevator shaft. She had practiced manually climbing it before just in case and knew that she could do it.
Charlotte closed her eyes for a second.
Penelope, give me strength. Everything will be okay.
Her eyes opened and Charlotte felt adrenaline course through her entire body, from fingertips to toes. She burst straight into a sprint as she rounded the corner and made straight back up the corridor.
Just as expected there they were, Jason Ryan and Wasp. But to her eyes, they were like slow motion. Wasp reached for her again and Charlotte darted to the right, spinning her body like a top to avoid the grasp. As she span, she kicked out with one foot to take out Wasp's injured leg, dropping the DHP agent with expert precision.
Jason was already turning but Charlotte didn't care for him at this moment. Instead she burst forward again, head down, and had passed them just like that.
Sweat was beading on her forehead simply from the tightness of her muscles as she pushed herself to run fast. Even with an injured leg, Wasp was no doubt fast. Jason himself was no slouch, any trained member of the DHP was fast.
And there he was. Conner Shepherd. He was standing at the front of the elevator. He must have predicted that she would come this way but this did not worry Charlotte. If Conner intended to stop her from climbing, then he would have to fight her. In a fight between herself and Conner Shepherd, the results were clear as day.
As she sprinted the full length of the corridor and got closer to Conner, she raised her elbow to jam it into the side of his head in order to knock him down for a moment. As she did so, some instinctual alarm burst off in the back of her neck.
With a grin on his face, Conner darted to the side, leaving the open door of the elevator shaft wide open. The elevator was not there, it must have been sent back up again.
Momentum was against her. In less than a second Charlotte barrelled full speed into the base of the elevator shaft and used her hands against the walls to stop herself from going face-first into the concrete. Thankfully this was the bottom of the elevator. If it had been one of the other floors, Charlotte would have gone straight in.
Panting, Charlotte spun on her heel and saw Conner directly in the doorway. It didn't matter that Jason and Wasp were running down the corridor. She still had time. She just had to—
SQUEEEEEAL!
Charlotte immediately glanced up and saw the elevator high above her suddenly jerk. She glanced back to Conner and in an instant she realised the trap she had been sent into. Fury threatened to overtake her.
Conner Shepherd had manipulated everything. In that single instant, Charlotte realised that Conner had done to her what she had done to him to put him on the List. He had somehow made the elevator unstable and the moment she had gone under it being next on the List, and the unstable Lift realised that it could fall straight towards her.
He had suddenly restricted her choices to two simple ones.
One, she could stay here and let herself be killed by the falling elevator.
Two, she could go forward and tackle into Conner and try to escape. Yet Jason and Wasp were already nearly there.
Even though it was what Conner Shepherd wanted, Charlotte could only choose the second option.
There was a snap and the elevator started to fall down the shaft. Charlotte dived forward, her limbs bracing to take care of Conner. Her ankle suddenly caught something and Charlotte found herself losing balance. As she fell, she realised that when Conner had dived to the side to get her into the shaft, he had picked up a simple piece of wire that he must have laid across the floor and pulled it taut, essentially creating a trip wire.
Charlotte hit the floor hard at the same time as the elevator hit the floor with a CRASH! Dust and stone fragments spat out over her. Charlotte grit her teeth and braced her hands on the floor to pull herself up just as the heel of a shoe dug into her fingers. Charlotte yelped as Conner pressed all his weight into her hand but she refused to yield. As she looked up, there they were. In a skilled manoeuvre, Wasp dived low like a rugby player looking for the ball and grabbed Charlotte's other arm, wrenching it hard behind her back. At the same time Wasp hooked her other arm around Charlotte's throat and used the momentum to flip Charlotte, so that Charlotte was essentially laying on top of her, choking her.
Charlotte tried kicking her feet but Jason was there, expertly tying a cord around her ankles. With the cord tied, Wasp rolled again, pressing Charlotte hard against the concrete. Charlotte felt her arms wrenched hard again and could easily feel another cord wrapped tightly around her wrists. She couldn't believe it.
Fury was rising deep within her. It bubbled and surged and wrapped its claws around her soul.
Conner crouched down in front of her so Charlotte could see that godsforsaken smile on his face. "Just to let you know, Penelope has been caught as well. I think this game is well and truly won, don't you?"
Charlotte Hayes screamed in his face like some kind of monstrous beast, tied as she was, unable to fight. Her screams echoed off the walls and screamed back at her.