Forsaken & Claimed

Chapter 37

Pandora

I slammed the door closed then secured the lock. My belly was rumbling all through breakfast, but I couldn't take the chance of ingesting another dose of that stuff. Everything felt muddled, and my head was fuzzy. Hopefully, I will have control again in a few hours. After flipping on the shower, I climbed onto the counter with a wood box I found under the bed. Using it as a step, I reached the vent and managed to peel it off. It would be a tight fit but very doable.

I sneezed a few times, crawling through the dark space. Keeping my movements minimal will minimize the sound. I still had no idea where I was going, but this seemed like the best thing to do. Thank goodness for the small amount of light spilling in, or I would've fallen into the shaft. From here, I could tell it was a long way down, and the space between floors was unknown.

Scooting back some to the last vent, I peeked in. Cages? The room was dimly lit. There was a quiet hum of machinery, whimpers, and whispers. I pulled on the metal grate, and with a pop, it came loose. No guards were present, so I lowered my body as far as I could then braced myself for the drop.

My ankles and hands took most of the impact. This room brought back many memories. It was freezing, and most of the light came from the ones that skirted the boundary of the space. Cases lined one wall, all filled with devices meant to break a person's spirit. It made the ones I saw during the punishment look like toys. Some of these even Sebastian refused to use. There were a few computers and, to my dismay: cameras.

"What are you doing? You're going to get all of us in trouble. Get out of here."

I glanced over at the cages; the metal enclosure rattled to the heavens. It was too dark to see inside. The closer I got, the woman's face became clearer. Upon seeing my face, she recoiled.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you," I said, fumbling with the door.

It was electronic and a pain to open unless you had the code or the skills to open it. Mine wasn't so great.

"What sick game is this? We follow the rules. Just leave us alone."

This voice was a man with a familiar accent. Europhia.

"Do any of you know a way out? I'll take you with me, but we need to move now."

"You speak like me, and yet you look like them. Act like them," he said, "I don't want any part of this."

"Yes. I speak like you because I am one of you. I was raised as a freeman before the great culling, lived as a slave under the Priestess' rule, then I fought with The Cause as a captain before being captured. I remember some Europhians had more pride than begging for scraps."

"Some things are more important than pride. You're too young to understand."

"I understand very well. Freedom is more important. If they opened this box and told you you could leave, would you? It sounds like you wouldn't."

His hard stare could break the metal bars if given a chance. He gripped the bars and pulled in close. The guy's skin was covered in a thin layer of grime and dirt, but those eyes held the fire of someone who was still willing to fight.

"I know a way, but either all of us go or none of us will."

"I was going to say the same thing," I said, "Do you happen to know the code by chance?"

"If I knew that, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

I scratched my head and studied the lock. The only chance I had of opening it was to take a look under the hood. Rushing over to the wall, I pulled down the jumper cables and a blade. At the table, I grabbed the rubber gloves and a scalpel. The panel came off with a little bit of elbow grease. On the other hand, the wires were a spaghetti mess hanging on the new plasma circuit board.

"I don't need to tell you that if you hit the wrong thing, an alarm will go off, or you can fry yourself," he said.

"You don't say," I said, sliding the gloves on.

I have seen Adam do this a few times. Splice the green with the blue. The red will turn you to goo. Gently I split the casing on the exposed colors and did the same for the jumper cables. I twisted the blue with the positive end of the jumper and the green with the negative. Taking the other end of the jumper cables, I clamped them to the fuse box in the corner. With a short light show, the cage door lock was released. The man hesitantly stepped out and looked around, almost as if he expected a trap. I quickly got to work on the other cages. After some time, everyone was free.

"Alright, I did my part. Where's the exit?"

"We're on the tenth floor. There's a staircase and an elevator, but I recommend the staircase. Fewer chances of us being discovered or them trapping us. Once we reach the ground floor, we go for the backdoor. How fast can you hack a hand scanner?"

"Let's find out."

I unhook the cables and grab the blade. The man peeked his head out of the door and waved us over. It was deserted at the moment, one we took without complaint. At full speed, we sprinted to the staircase, almost knocking the door off its hinges. Taking two stairs at a time, we made good time and went down five floors. I stopped dead in my tracks at the wave of vibrations pulsing through the air.

"Stop," I whispered, pressing in tight to the wall.

Everyone followed suit just as a door below us creaked open. Voices echoed up and bounced off the walls; their steps got closer. The man and I readied our weapons. I didn't want to hurt anyone, but I'm too close. So, close I could taste it.

"Did you remember the drive," a voice asked.

"Shit. No, go ahead. I'll catch up," another said.

"So, I can sit there and listen to that old geezer's glory day stories," he scoffed.

Their footsteps receded, and the door closed again. We didn't have time to take a breath as we rushed down the rest of the way. The door came into sight. I ripped off the panel cover and got to work. This one was very different from the other—no blue, green, or red. I sifted through the wires trying to make sense of it all. Yellow, orange, and purple? What the hell?

"Hurry up. Feeding time is in a few minutes," the man said.

"I'm going as fast as I can," I said, wiping the sweat from my brow.

The circuit board was the same. Thank goodness for that, and if I remember correctly, the yellow and orange should be the right ones. Splicing the wires and connecting everything went over well. A light tap on the shoulder drew my attention. It was the woman that hid away from me.

"I don't see a power source," she whispered.

My eyes went wide as I searched the walls; not even a power socket was in sight. The guy glared at me. It was his plan to come this way. Maybe we could just make a run for the front door. An idea that was quickly blown away as the door to the lobby swung open.