A/N: ***Trigger warning: this chapter contains violence***
Chapter 10
After a lot of careful thought and consideration, Emma decided that the best course of action was to accept the new position, using her time at work to gather intel and gain access to the prisoners. After a lengthy orientation process, she was eventually brought up to speed on all the experiments The Agency was doing in the basement research department. But it wasn't until her first official day on the job did the severity of the situation hit her. Most of her job would entail guarding the scientists as well as escorting the Vampire prisoners in and out of their cells. She had to watch as the scientists chained the starving and weak Vampires to tables, all of them begging for their lives each and every single time. She had to look away as the scientists performed diabolical experiments on them, their screams haunting her dreams every night. After about a month, Emma could no longer endure the torture. She had to do something, and she had to do it soon. She knew the scientists were always off on the weekends, and she knew The Agency had minimal security at that time. Hopefully, that would give her enough time to follow through on her plan.
She spent the next week collecting as much O- blood as she could, hopefully collecting enough for all the imprisoned Vampires. She knew there were at least fifty Vampires trapped down there, but she feared there might be more, since she had only seen the first half of the facility in the month she worked there. She estimated another twenty Vampires trapped in the wings that she had not visited yet, bringing the estimated total up to at least seventy Vampires.
She grabbed her collection of knives and strapped them to her belt, hoping she didn't have to use them. She made one final check before she made her way out of her apartment, a large backpack filled with blood packets on her back. She nervously made her way to The Agency, easily swiping into the building. She made a quick beeline to the armory room, knowing that no one would question someone of her clearance level carrying a gun to the basement. Grabbing two handguns and extra ammo, strapping the guns to her belt along with the knives, she made her way to the basement door, swiping her badge to gain access easily once again.
As soon as she reached the bottom level, she made her way to the front office, straight to the locked box attached to the wall. The box where the keys to the cells were kept and locked up every day. She quickly picked the lock thanks to the YouTube video she had watched and pulled a large keyring off the wall. Just as she turned around to leave the office, she heard the main door open, indicating the guard on duty was doing his hourly rounds to make sure everything was as it should be. Perfect timing, she thought to herself as she quickly ducked under the desk, completely out of sight when the guard walked by. She listened patiently for him to leave, noting the time. She knew she had about fifteen minutes before another guard made their rounds though there again. Fifteen minutes to free seventy hungry Vampires before they knew she was there. That was, unless her card swipes triggered an alarm, since only the weekend guards should be down there on a Saturday night.
She took a deep breath and left the office, making her way to the first room, swiping the door open. The room was filled with five cells, each containing a Vampire.
"No, please. No more," one of the Vampires cried when he saw Emma walk in.
"No, no. I'm not here for that," Emma said, approaching the cell, her hands in the air to show she wasn't holding any weapons.
"But you're one of them. I saw you here yesterday. You're one of them," he cried again.
"I'm not like those people. I was only working with them to gain access so I could help. I'm here to rescue you," she said, unlocking the cell, opening the door wide. "You're free to go." She smiled.
"Really? You mean it?" he asked.
"I do." She reached into her backpack, handing the Vampire a bag of blood through the wide open doorway. "I'm Emma," she said, offering him the blood.
"I'm August. Thank you," he said, taking the blood and biting the bag, ripping the plastic as he began to drink. Emma moved to free the other four Vampires, handing them each a bag of O-.
"You guys are free to go. I am going to free everyone imprisoned here, and I would like your help, but I understand if you want to leave as soon as possible. There are guards patrolling the building but otherwise it's empty, so be careful," Emma said, leaving the room. Three of the Vampires ran toward the exit immediately, tossing the empty bag of blood on the floor. Two Vampires remained next to Emma, August, and a woman with platinum blonde hair.
"I'm Elsa. Let's go save my friends," she said as they made their way across the hall, Emma swiping their entrance.
They continued to free Vampires room by room, giving each one a bag of blood to eat before they left. Emma's entourage soon grew to a group of ten, each new member introducing themselves to the blonde woman risking it all for them. Unfortunately, Emma's estimations were incorrect, and they barely had ten minutes before her cover was blown and the basement was infiltrated by guards. More Vampires joined and protected their group as they continued to make their way through the rooms, hell bent on freeing each and every single Vampire imprisoned down there. The fighting grew louder as Emma made her way farther down the hallway, where she knew they kept the older prisoners that Emma had yet to encounter since most of their torture is done in their cells and not the lab. Until she came to the final two rooms.
"Is there anyone in the room next to you?" she asked the young woman who introduced herself as Kathryn as she handed her a packet of blood.
"There used to be another woman next door, but I haven't heard her screaming in a few days. I don't know if she's still alive," Kathryn cried, a single bloody tear running down her face as she drank her blood packet.
"It's okay. I'll go check. It's bad out there so be careful. I wouldn't advise staying in here though, just in case someone comes and locks you back in. Good luck," Emma said, rushing out of the room toward the final room in the hallway. "Last one!" she yelled to August and Elsa and their ever growing group.
"Go! We'll wait for you," Elsa yelled, punching a guard in the face and knocking him out instantly.
Emma quickly swiped her card and rushed into the room, coming to a dead stop. Before her was a young woman with long dark hair, chained to the ceiling in the middle of the room, her head hanging low, all of her body weight being held up by her bloody wrists, her legs clearly too weak to stand up any longer as her body hung unmoving.
"REGINA!" she screamed, rushing toward her former lover, lifting her up slightly to take some of the pressure off her raw and possibly broken wrists.
"Emma…" Regina whispered, her voice wincing slightly as the pressure moved off her sore and bloody wrists. Her clothes were covered in blood, both fresh and long dried. "…what are you doing here?" Regina managed to say, looking up at Emma for the first time. Dried blood from days of crying stained Regina's overly pale face.
"I'm here to rescue all the Vampires down here. How long have you been here?" she asked, shifting Regina's dead weight slightly, their skin touching slightly causing a small whimper from Regina.
"When I was last at your apartment. They grabbed me when I was walking home," Regina struggled to say.
"Regina, that was almost six months ago! If I had known you were here, I would have come sooner, I'm so sorry! I thought you had moved on, that's why you stopped trying to talk to me," Emma said, tears rolling down her face.
"I will never get over you, Emma. You're it for me. I love you so much," Regina struggled to say, fresh tears of blood running down her pale face. "You are the love of my life, Emma," she added, tears dripping onto her already stained shirt.
"I'm going to get you down." Emma inspected the padlock that held the chains around Regina's wrists together, realizing that none of the keys on her ring would fit the lock. "Do you know where the keys are?" she asked. Regina shook her head.
"I don't think there is one. They haven't unchained me since they put me here. You should just leave me here, Emma," Regina said, her voice sounding so weak as fresh tears dripped onto the floor.
"You know I'm not going to do that. I'll be right back. I promise," she said, kissing Regina's dry lips lightly to avoid hurting her even more, slowly lowering her back down before rushing out of the door to find the key.
Regina's wrists were on fire with the weight of her body as it hung from the ceiling, her legs losing the ability to stand days ago. Or was it weeks ago? She couldn't remember. She was starving, not entirely sure when last she had eaten, and the wounds littering her body had long since stopped healing. She knew she didn't have much longer before there was nothing left of her but a pile of ash. Each night was the same thing. Beating. Torture. Stabbing. Electrocution. Then nothing. Just darkness. She begged for death every night, and every night it didn't come. She had given up hope a long time ago. She was just waiting to die.
She could hear the commotion down the hall but had no idea what was going on, nor did she care. She was focusing on dying. She whimpered softly when she heard the beep of the keypad, indicating that someone was entering the room. Which meant one thing—more pain. But what she saw was something she never thought she would. Emma Swan, the love of her life, walked into the room, and rushed toward her. Her skin burned when Emma's hand grabbed her, holding her up slightly to relieve the pressure from her wrists. She thought she was dreaming as she spoke to the woman who will always hold her heart. She cried when her body weight was lowered once again on her injured wrists as her love ran out of the room, promising to return with the key to release her from her metal shackles. She didn't think she would ever see Emma again.
There was silence for a long time until the sound of more fighting could be heard outside the door, and a loud gunshot that reverberated off the concrete walls in Regina's room, causing her to be startled. She cried more tears of blood after the gunshot, knowing Emma was most likely laying just outside the door, dead because she decided to come back for her, even after she had told her not to. The keypad beeped once again and Regina's heart sank. They were coming for her after all.
"I couldn't find the keys, and it's getting bad out there. I don't want to wait any longer to free you just in case," Emma said, rushing toward Regina, pulling a chair over to them. "So we're going to have to do this the hard way." She pulled out her lock-picking tools from her bag and gently helped Regina stand up on the chair, once again relieving the pressure on her wrists before carefully climbing onto the chair herself, pulling out her tools.
"I'm going to pick the lock. I'll try to be as quick as I can and as gentle as possible. I'll try not to hurt you," Emma said, looking at Regina's painful expression. Regina just nodded as Emma carefully stood on the corner of the chair, balancing on one foot as she quickly and carefully began to pick the lock that held Regina's left hand. A few minutes later, the lock popped open and Emma unwrapped Regina's bloody hand, carefully letting her hand fall to her side. She shifted slightly and began working on Regina's right wrist, popping the lock a few seconds faster the second time, frantically unwrapping Regina wrist. As soon as Regina was free, she wrapped her arms around Regina's frail body, basking in the feeling of having Regina in her arms once more, before carefully helping her step down, her legs collapsing the moment her bare feet touched the floor. Emma scrambled over to her bag, grabbing the last bag of blood she had, bringing it over to Regina who laid in a heap on the floor.
"Regina, you need to eat something or you're not going to make it," Emma said, holding the packet of blood to Regina.
"You should just leave me here, Emma," Regina said, her head not even lifting off the floor. "I'm too weak, even with the blood I don't think I'll make it."
"I'm not going to do that," Emma said, scooping Regina into her arms, cradling her like a child with Regina's head on her shoulder. She reached behind her back and grabbed one of her knives, stabbing a large hole in the top of the blood bag, lifting it to Regina's lips.
"Regina, please drink. I can't lose you. Please," Emma begged. Regina looked up at her with thick red tears in her eyes as her eyes locked with Emma's. She nodded and turned back toward the bag, wrapping her lips around the hole, gulping the blood as fast as she could.
"Hey, how are you doing in here?" Regina heard a voice from the doorway. She recognized it but couldn't quite place it, her mind still fuzzy.
"She's in really bad shape. Do you have any more blood? I don't think this is going to be enough," Emma said, her warm arms still wrapped around Regina. She could see fresh blood drip down Regina's arms from the gashes around her wrists.
"No. Everyone ate what you gave us."
"Okay. We'll get you more as soon as we get out of here. But we need to get going if we plan on getting out of here alive. Do you think you can walk?" Emma asked as Regina sucked the last drop of blood out of the bag.
"I'll try," Regina said, tossing the bag aside.
Emma jumped to her feet and reached down to gently help Regina up, her bare feet standing on the cold floor for the first time in a long time. She wrapped her arm around Emma's shoulder while Emma wrapped her arm around her waist to help support Regina's weight as they slowly walked out of Regina's torture chamber. They joined Elsa and August as they led the way out, quickly being joined by the rest of their group, instinctually circling around their hurt comrade as she limped her way toward the exit. They walked slowly down the long hallways, making sure to not push Regina too much. It appeared that all the Human guards were either dead or had retreated, leaving most of the hallways empty, giving them a clear path to the exit.
They turned the final corner slowly, the door to the stairwell in sight when they encountered one last guard, a man Emma had worked with the day before.
"Swan? What the FUCK do you think you're doing?" he asked, spitting as he spoke.
"I'm doing the right thing, Jones. These people don't deserve to be tortured and experimented on," Emma answered, clutching Regina even tighter.
"These aren't people, Swan. They're Vampires. Scum. They deserve what we give them, and then some," Jones screamed back, tightening his grasp on his gun.
"You are disgusting," Emma yelled, causing him to laugh. "This place, what The Agency is doing to these people, it's disgusting."
"You're the disgusting one, Swan. And you're a traitor, both to The Agency and your fellow Humans," he yelled back. The group of Vampires that had helped and protected Emma from the beginning started to close in on him, waiting for Emma's signal to attack. Jones saw this and smiled a villainous smile, pulling something off the back of his utility belt.
"EVERYONE GET OUT OF HERE! NOW! FIND COVER!" Emma screamed when she saw what he held in his hand. The Vampires scattered, slamming the doors shut around them. "Regina, you need to go too. Get away from here. Go now," Emma said, pulling her arm away from Regina's body and pushing her away slightly. Regina grabbed her hand and placed it back on her waist.
"Not a chance," she whispered.
"Regina, that's a UV bomb. If it goes off, it'll kill you instantly."
"I'm not leaving you," Regina said again, clutching the side of Emma's shirt with what little strength she had left.
"You should have listened to her, you disgusting bitch." He laughed, pressing the activation button.
Emma sprang to action as soon as his finger hit the button, throwing Regina to the ground, covering her with her entire body to protect her from the incoming UV light.
They heard an explosion but there was no flash of light, which made Emma laugh hysterically.
"Well, that's ironic." Emma laughed as she started to climb off Regina. Just as she was helping Regina up, her right arm suddenly went limp. Regina could smell the blood as it started to drip down Emma's right arm as the man pulled the knife out of Emma's back.
Emma forgot the first rule of combat. Never turn your back on your enemy. But when the love of her life was in danger, all rules went out the window. She threw her body over Regina's, protecting her from the UV light, forgetting about the man who stood behind her. The sharp burning pain in her right shoulder reminded her that he was still there. She turned around to face him, her left arm reaching to the side to find her gun, but she wasn't fast enough.
The knife cut through the flesh of her abdomen like warm butter. By the time her brain registered the pain, he had already pulled the knife out and was stabbing her a third time, this time catching her right under the ribs, most likely puncturing her lung in the process. By the fourth and fifth stab, Emma's body lost the ability to stand, falling to the ground in a heap at Regina's feet. Jones laughed as he kicked her in the stomach, his boot now covered with Emma's blood.
Regina started screaming, pleading with any Vampire around to come to their aide. A group of ten Vampires came rushing into the hallway, grabbing Jones immediately. He swung his knife frantically, attempting to slash at his attackers, but he missed every time. Ten sets of fangs plunged deep into his flesh, draining him all at once until there wasn't a drop left inside him. Elsa plunged his own knife deep into his chest, just to make sure he was dead before turning her attention over to Regina and Emma.
Regina crawled over to Emma, a pool of blood already gathering underneath her.
"Regina…" Emma whispered, reaching out for Regina. "Regina…drink from…me…" Emma struggled to say.
"No, are you crazy? We need to get you out of here," Regina said, her body running on pure adrenaline at this point.
"I'm…not…going to…make it…" Emma struggled. "You need…to eat…Regina…don't…let my blood…go to waste…" Emma said, choking on the blood that had begun to creep up her throat.
"No, Emma. I promised you that I would never feed on you."
"Regina…I'm dying…drink…from me…so you…can live…" Emma said, the blood that she was choking on now began to seep out of the corner of her mouth. "I…love you…Regina…I…will always…love…you…" Emma choked, her lungs struggling to fill with air.
"I love you too, Emma," Regina cried, her blood tears dripping down her cheeks, falling onto Emma's chest. "Never, in all the hundred years of my existence, have I ever loved anyone the way I love you, Emma Swan." Regina pressed her forehead against Emma's. She could feel Emma's skin getting colder, a sign that Emma didn't have much more time. "I love you," Regina whispered once more, before placing one final kiss on Emma's blue lips. She gently pushed Emma's head to the side, quickly biting her neck, drawing what was left of Emma's blood into her mouth, swallowing as fast as she could. Emma grasped onto Regina's shirt, holding her love as close as she could as her eyes slowly closed.
The last thing Emma felt was Regina's lips against her neck, the same way she used to when they made love, as her body went completely limp and she stopped breathing.
A/N: Ouch. Ok, that one hurt. I'm so sorry. But keep reading, I PROMISE it will all be ok. Keep reading.
What are your thoughts so far? Do you hate me? Please don't hate me.