Our Sanctuary

Chapter 18

Each bang of our boots slamming against the ground resonated through my body as we sprinted down the hallway toward the staircase. Zack and I stopped next to the dead body I had seen when we had gotten to the level and watched while everyone raced through the open stairwell door and up the stairs.

My eyes found themselves on Achlys as she half-ran half-flew towards us and while fighting off a few of the faster Feymon who had caught up to us faster than the others. It was now just Zack, Achlys, and I on this level. The rest of the teens had left up the staircase.

I could feel Zack trying to be gentle as he pushed me toward the staircase door, but my attention was on Achlys who seemed to be struggling with one of the Feymon that she was unable to kill straight away.

Without Achlys our effort to get to the roof would have been wasted. We needed her to be able to escape.

I took the knife in my hand and brought it up in the air before chucking it as hard as I could in the direction of the Feymon. I watched it sail through the air, hoping it wouldn't hit Achlys, and then sink into the Feymon's flesh. The creature let go of her and hit the ground with a thump, its body going still. Achlys was now nearing us and I looked past her quickly to see the two dozen Feymon chasing after us before finally doing as Zack had been yelling at me. I ran up the first few stairs before coming to a stop and turning around after realizing Zack wasn't following. He kicked the wooden block from the door just as Achlys ran through and then he watched it close before staring up at me.

"Go!" he shouted while starting to sprint up the stairs after Achlys.

I did as he said and resumed up the stairs. My chest heaved and my legs were becoming sore from all the running we had been doing today, but I pushed it all aside as I made it up the last flight of stairs. We then came to the roof and went through the door before slamming it shut behind us.

My eyes scanned the roof to see that they had all already dealt with the few Feymon who were on the roof without any casualties. The dead bodies were off to the side and everyone was facing the door, waiting for the rest of the Feymon to arrive.

"We don't have all day, Achlys," Matteo said to her.

She was panting heavily and had a long gash that ran down her arm from one of the Feymon who must have clawed her. It wasn't too deep, but it was bleeding and still looked really painful. She grimaced slightly as she glanced at the wound on her arm before she nodded and ran over to the other side of the roof to get the portal ready.

A few moments went by in silence, –with no improvement portal wise– before Matteo spoke up again.

"How long is it going to take?"

I had expected Achlys to say something in an angry tone, but it seemed as though she had just run a marathon. She was even more pale than before, causing the thick black patterns to become more prominent on her skin, and sweat coated the back of her neck and forehead. To top it all off, her shoulders were hunched as she knelt on the ground and her eyes seemed even darker than they had before.

"I'm injured, so a little longer than usual," she replied out of breath, without turning around to look at him. "It'll also take longer if you don't shut up and let me concentrate."

Matteo looked like he wanted to snap something at her, but he chose to keep his mouth shut as he turned to face the door as did most of us while we waited for the Feymon to come bursting through the door.

"Zoe?" A quiet voice called out from my left.

I turned my head to look at Zack and the frown that was on his face. "Yeah?"

He cast his eyes to the ground of the roof; the same roof we had our first kiss. "About last night... I'm..."

I shook my head, stopping him from apologizing. I then grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "You don't have to say anything right now. We'll get out of here and then we can talk, okay?"

I watched him force a small smile onto his face before our attention returned to the door where loud banging sounds were coming from. I felt him squeeze my hand in a reassuring way before he let go and the door to the roof opened wide.

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Heyy guys, you know what time it is! Only three chapters left, which means prediction time!! Any guesses on what's about to happen next? Any possible deaths if any? Like I've said before, I love reading all of your predictions, so please let me know your thoughts!

Lastly, I would like to thank you all for reading my story and showing your support. It means a lot to me and makes me want to write a whole lot more. 

Enjoy the next few chapters when they come out in the next few days!!... It may be the last time you read about this groups journey..

-Syrein<3