VI II

When I was young, I was the type of person that could sleep half the day away and it irked my mother to no end. Nowadays, I was lucky if I could make it through half the night before the demons I locked away in my subconsciousness thrashed me awake. In the quiet hours before dawn, my nightmares tortured me and no matter how strong I got, there was no beating them. When my sleeplessness was at its worst, the walls of my cell would threaten to suffocate me and in those moments, I would kindle a comforting childhood memory and its light would keep the darkness at bay.

"I'm a slug monster with venom for ooze!"

"I'm a slug-eating crab with razor spikes!"

But like used matches, they all eventually burned out and I asked myself, how many more nights can I endure before I ran out?

Day 2192. 19:59…

"Are you ready?" asked Geralt.

"Let's do it," I said.

20:00.

BUZZ!

More correction officers were escorting us to chow than usual. They could sense the tension in the air as well. The conflict between the humans and demi-humans has been escalating for weeks and it has finally come to a boiling point. It was quiet as we were herded into the elevator but from the corner of my eye, I saw shivs being passed around on both sides. "Which side are you fighting for, Pink?" a man behind me asked in a whisper. When I didn't give him an answer, he continued, "You think you can keep this lone wolf shit up? We've seen you talking to the toads recently. If you're not with us, then you're against us."

At that threat, I turned around and when he saw the look in my eyes, he shut right up. The elevator ground to a stop at Level 20 and by the time we stepped into the cafeteria, the hall was already split in half. The men joined their respective sides while Geralt and I kept ourselves in as neutral a position as possible. I could feel both sides' gaze on us, eyeing us like we were fresh meat. There was strength in numbers and for those who were looking to earn their ink in this battle, we looked like easy prey. "Leave the fighting to me," said Geralt as he pulled out a shank from his clothes and hid it behind his wrist.

"You're no good to me if you get stabbed," I said as I scanned the guards who were posted on the floor. They were in full riot suppression gear and armed to the teeth. The fighting shouldn't last long but then again, the warden enjoyed his shows. My eyes darted between the shot callers and the clock on the wall and my hands nervously grasped the object in my pants. "We're leaving this place tonight, one way or another." A look of understanding passed between us and he nodded with the same conviction on his face. We will be free – or die trying. "Just wait a little longer, Powder, I'm coming home."

"It's time."

Step one: Unleash the horde.

Prisoners stood up from their seats on both sides and as soon as the first insult was thrown across the room, there was no turning back. The tides of men clashed in the middle and chaos erupted within the dining hall. Tables were broken, chairs were thrown and blood was spilled. The same man that threatened me in the elevator came back with his buddies while demi-humans flanked us on the other side. "Still think you're too good for us, Pink? We can still forgive you if you apologize now. How about we take care of those toads for you and you take care of us tonight?"

I scoffed as I put up my guard, "You talk too much." In the jungle that was Stillwater Prison, you were either the predator or the prey and people here seemed to constantly forget just how sharp my teeth were. The man let out a battlecry and lunged at me with his shiv but a well-placed punch on his chin put him to sleep real quick. None of the other talkers lasted longer than a few seconds and by the time I was done on my end, Geralt was finished gutting the demi-humans on his side too. We were both covered in blood but the important part was that it wasn't our own.

Finally, the enforcers decided that the circus show had gone on long enough and unleashed the tear gas. The canisters soon filled the cafeteria with thick white clouds and inmates began dropping to the ground en masse in a violent coughing fit. Not even Geralt with all his years of military training could endure the harsh chemicals. My skin blistered as the irritant clung to my body like glue and I collapsed onto the ground as well. The gas burned my nose and caused snot to drip ungracefully down my face but looking pretty was the least of my concerns right now.

I focused on taking small, short breaths and listened for the footsteps of the guards. Every second felt like an hour and the more time passed, the more my body begged me to throw in the towel. The lack of oxygen and constant wheezing was making my vision go black but right when I thought I was at my limit, a guard stepped within range. I instantly reached out and grabbed the back of his heel, bringing him down to the ground. "How are yo– Goggles?!" That was the last thing he said before I knocked him out and ripped his face mask off. I pressed the device to my face and breathing had never felt so good.

Step two: Secure the keys.

I riffled through the guard's pockets for his keys and as soon as I got them, I slung Geralt's arm over my shoulder and carried him to the stairs. Thanks to the cover of the smog, we were like ghosts in the snow. The moment we made it into the stairwell, I bared the door shut behind us and gave the oxygen mask to Geralt. "Come on, grumpy, save your tears for when we actually make it out of here."

"Fuck…cough…you."

I chuckled, "That's more like it."

"Good thinking with the goggles."

"Copied the idea from an old friend," I said as I pulled them down to my neck. "Now come on, the backup is going to show up soon, let's move." In order to escape the prison, we needed to be fast while avoiding the cameras. The stairwell fulfilled the latter condition but by the time we made it up to the surface, the place would already be swarmed by enforcers. The fast way out of here was through the elevator but riding it was suicide, at least, if we were on the inside. We took the stairs one level up and waited for the sound of the elevator to pass. Sure enough, the screeching of the gears came to a halt and that was our cue that our ride was here. We manually opened the metal doors to the elevator shaft and the car was parked right below us.

Through the gaps, I saw the guards pass by below us and as soon as the last one stepped off the lift, we hopped on. I held my breath as the elevator doors closed and when the car began to rise, a big smile cracked on my face and Geralt gave me a pat on the back. In the dark, I kept a mental count of which floor we were on as we rapidly ascended through the prison and when the lift stopped on a floor that was close enough to our destination, I motioned for us to get off. We used the railing on the side as holds and once the elevator dropped back down, we started our climb up the cables.

Step three: Ascend from darkness.

It wouldn't have been an easy exercise with the lights on but it was infinitely harder in complete darkness. We were suspended over a bottomless pit and one mistake meant certain death. On top of that, we had to keep our ears open for the elevator car and jump to the railing whenever it passed by us, otherwise, it was game over. "Don't look down," I whispered to myself as I focused on the right movement of my arms and legs. The danger was no different from what I faced when I was jumping from rooftops as a kid and the hours of practice we put into developing the muscle memory was paying off.

Eventually, we made it to our goal – the utility floor. When I peeked through the elevator doors, I spotted the electrical room we were looking for and only one guard was patrolling the hallway. When he turned around, I opened up a small crack and squeezed my body through. By the time he turned around, I was already within striking distance. "What th–" He tried to pull out his pistol but I knocked it out of his hand and gave him a quick jab to the throat so that he couldn't scream for help. As he choked in pain, I followed up with a hard uppercut and he was down for the count.

"Psst." I signaled Geralt that the coast was clear and he hoisted himself up onto the floor. Once we got into the electrical room, he dragged the guard's unconscious body in and we got to work on the switchboards. Beyond escaping the prison itself, we had two additional hurdles to clear. First, the facility was on an island so we needed to secure a boat after getting out. Second, we needed to avoid being detected by the lighthouse, otherwise, we would never escape its gaze. For months, I struggled with the latter until I finally decided to solve it the way I solved most of my other problems in prison: knock it out.

Step four: Blind the angel.

With the power out, the lighthouse would be temporarily disabled, and in that span of time, we would use the cover of the night to slip out. The garbage shoot gave us a way out of the prison and there, a pre-prepared paddle boat would be waiting for us. That was step five: grab the lifeline. However, things rarely went perfectly according to plan. Suddenly, loud sirens started ringing from the intercoms, "Warning. Escaped prisoner alert. Prisoner #514 and Prisoner #516 have escaped from Level 39. Lockdown initiated. All officers, please report to your assigned station. Warning. Escaped prisoner alert. Prisoner #514 and Prisoner #516…"

"Shit!" I swore as I flipped the last few switches and pulled the lever down. The sound of the machines shutting down reverberated throughout the room and we were plunged back into darkness. The sound of the siren stopped but through the window, I could already see the damage that it had done. The garbage container that stored our getaway boat was being taken away. Now, we would be falling straight into rocks if we took the garbage shoot. "Change of plans, there's an electrical line that runs from the infirmary to the wall. We'll crawl across and highjack one of the boats."

"But there are guards everywhere on the docks."

I rushed over to the unconscious enforcer and began undressing him. "I'll dress up in his uniform. Best case scenario I talk our way through it and worst-case scenario…we do some improvising." The infirmary was just a few floors up and at this hour, all the doctors and nurses have gone home already. I wrapped my arm in bedsheets and smashed open the windowpane but then came the hard part – the bars. The last time I tested it, the bars had some give so my only hope was that the metal was so rusted with old age that we could get through it by force. I took a deep breath, raised my leg, and kicked it as hard as I could.

No budge.

I kicked it again. Still nothing. My heart sank into the pits of despair and all I wanted to do was scream and curse the world. Just as I was about to kick it again out of frustration, Geralt put his hand on my shoulder. "Relax. Breathe. Power doesn't only come from your muscles. During the Great Stand at Navori, the Ionian girl who defeated us was barely ten and four yet she fought with the strength of ten thousand men. There is power in one's spirit." I gave him a shaky nod and he smiled at me. "Together. Three. Two. One!" BANG! Deep breaths. "Three. Two. One!" BANG! "Three. Tw–"

"No monster is going to get you when I'm here."

The memory match lit a powder keg within me and before Geralt's countdown even hit zero, I fired a right punch with so much force that I felt the recoil through my entire body. BANG! The bars of the windows were blasted off their hinges and I was left staring at my fist, doubting how that was even possible. "Well done." The surreal feeling was quickly interrupted when I heard the sound of footsteps down the hall. "You first. Hurry!" I immediately got onto the wires, using my feet as hooks, and easily climbed across to the other side. My adrenaline was pumping and the cool night air tasted sweet on my lips.

"Your turn! Come on! Step six, Geralt, freedom!"

"For you Vi…not for me."

"GERALT!"

I called after him but he was gone from my sight before I could say another word. I ducked down as the guards from down the hall passed by the infirmary room, "There he is! Don't let him get away!" I stayed there for a few more seconds, hoping that he would come back, but he never did. Tears welled up in my eyes and I forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat. For six years, he was my only partner in this hellhole. I wanted to repay him by giving him this one gift yet he was the one that ended up paying the price for my freedom. Once again, it was all my fault. I hung my head in shame as I climbed down the wall and headed to the docks.

I stuck to the shadows and watched as the guards on the wharf rushed to the prison entrance in pursuit of Geralt's distraction. A clear path was created to one of the unmanned boats and it was now or never. I came out from hiding and walked at a calm pace to avoid drawing any suspicion. From a distance, I was just another enforcer patrolling the docks and nobody paid attention to me…except one. "Stop." I froze in my tracks as the voice of a young woman called out to me from behind.

My heart was hammering in my chest but I steadied my voice as much as I could before replying, "Yes?"

There was a long moment of silence before she said the words I was dreading the most, "You're the other escaped inmate, aren't you?"

"No, I'm an enforcer, I work here," I tried as a last-ditch effort but she was way too sharp.

"What's your force identification number?" When I had no answer, she pulled out her rifle and aimed it at me. "Turn around slowly."

I let the silence hang in the air for a moment before I gritted my teeth and made my decision. "I'm not going back in there," I said with finality as I turned around and faced her. "I'm either leaving on this boat or you're going to have to kill me."

Her baby blue eyes widened as she saw my face, "Wait…I know you." The barrel of her gun lowered briefly and at that moment, that was all I cared about. I took my opportunity to narrow the distance between us and just as the nuzzle of her gun pointed back up, I tackled her to the ground. Her weapon slid across the pier and I quickly tried to posture up to finish the job. However, to my surprise, the delicate-looking girl had a mean ground game. Without hesitation, she trapped one of my arms, hip thrusted upward, and used her legs to roll me over. All of a sudden, I was the one on my back and she was the one on top.

Unfortunately for her, I've been dealing with this shit for years now against men twice my size and I instantly turned to my side and pressed my shin against her thigh to create the room needed to get out. She tried to regain control but I scrambled to her backside and once I had my arms around her neck, the fight was over. The strength slowly left her and I let out a sigh of relief as she safely passed out. But when I tried to get back up, there was a strange clinking sound and I noticed that her arm was being dragged with me. I looked down at my hand and my jaw dropped as I realized that during our fight, she somehow handcuffed us together.

I searched her person for the key but no matter how hard I looked, I just couldn't find it. More people were coming back from the distance and I was running out of time. If I didn't escape before the power came back on then all of this would have been for nothing. If I was leaving and she was handcuffed to me, then she was leaving with me too. I shook my head in disbelief at the situation I was in; an escaped prisoner bringing an enforcer with her on the getaway boat. I picked up her gun so that there wasn't any evidence left behind and carried her bridal style onto the boat. "Alright cupcake, I guess you're coming with me."

Luke5921: Thanks for taking the time to drop a review, I really appreciate it!

Voraces Lector: Well with Caitlyn hot on his trail, what could he possibly do? Unless the young officer got kidnapped somehow XD

Warlocktoungue: Haha the real reason I take a week to update is that I work 64 hours a week and I only have 2.5 hours each workday night to write. This week's chapter came out a little late since I had to rewrite it not once but twice . Hope the extra effort made it a more enjoyable read for you guys!

Sm0keyPanda: They'll have their happy moment when they meet again :')

PandoNee-chan: No need to apologize for your English! I'm a non-native speaker as well and the only way to get better is to practice, right? Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and hope you enjoyed this week's chapter.