Shudders

Chapter 62 - The Heartbreak

Blood and violence warning ⚠️
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"Just get to the theatre... just- get to the theatre..."

    (Y/N) huffed and trudged down the sewer tunnel with her focus on reaching the blockade. The headache was slowly becoming more painful by the second. The random spikes made tears well up in her eyes from the pain. She couldn't feel her arms anymore and was scared to look at them. Her elbows now felt numb, she was sure her skin was cold to the touch, she didn't want to imagine what she looked like overall.

     To keep herself focused and ignore the pain in her head, she repeatedly whispered those words to herself. Once she got to the theatre, she'll find a good place to lie low and check up on herself. For now, she needed to keep moving.

    Whenever she passed a different tunnel, she would peak to make sure no one was in them. Akai is still out there and it's been almost an hour since she left Edith, Ki should be aware of her disappearance by now.

    And for the first time, (Y/N) wanted I9 to appear. If she can stop the virus from getting worse, then she'll be ready to end it.

"Just get to the-" (Y/N) stopped when she felt something cold hit her boot. She looked down and saw water. Following it, the water got deeper and deeper until she couldn't see anymore up ahead from the darkness. She squinted her eyes and noticed that the tunnel seemed to stop there. Was she at the cave in?

'I made it?' Stumbling through the water that began reaching her ankles, (Y/N) reached the cave in and placed her hands on one of the pieces of debris that fell from above. Remembering that there was a sewer gate she was supposed to take, she found it half submerged to her left. (Y/N) cringed at the idea of getting her parka soaked due to the cold but she'll warm up when she reaches the theatre.

    (Y/N) approached the sewer gate and got down onto her knees. When she went to open it up, an echoing thump sounded from somewhere above her. She quickly looked up at the ceiling. The street should be above her so maybe it was an animal or a demon walking by? Thinking back to what Edith said, the theatre is in route of Capturers and should be filled with gas so nothing will be able to smell her. (Y/N) sniffed the air and indeed, she picked up a chemical scent. She got back to work on the gate and crawled through it when she pulled it open.

    When she got through, her entire front, arms, and legs were soaked. She shivered but pressed on.

    And once again, around the same area as the last thump behind her, it echoed again and really started making the girl nervous. A ladder leading high up must've been the one Edith was talking about but (Y/N) began hesitating. She didn't know what those bumps were and if she was going into unfamiliar territory, would she be alright? To ease her nerves, she pulled out her knife and held it close to her while taking the bomb out of her backpack and storing it into her parka's inner pocket. In case I9 was around she can quickly pull it out and use it.

    She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before heading to the ladder. "You got this, (Y/N). You're almost out."

    As she climbed, she thought about everything that has led her up to this. The decisions she's made, the people she's come to know. If she had done something differently, maybe her fate would be different.

    If she'd never pursued demonology in school, where would she be instead?

    If she was never so friendly to Ki and Akai, would they still have fallen for her?

    If she didn't force them to stay in their cells when so many other demons had gotten out due to I9, would they still have chosen to kidnap her?