Cursed

Chapter Forty Seven

Cale's gaze was locked on Rosalie, who had managed to fall asleep, a rare occurrence since they'd arrived in the Lab. It had been a long time since they'd seen Sunflower or any of the other employees, and Cale didn't know quite yet if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

He tried his best to get some rest, too, but his mind kept turning over possibilities of what could happen to Rosalie if he allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

Eventually, though, Rosalie stirred, blinking a few times before sitting up.

"Good morning," Cale spoke softly before pressing a kiss to her temple. "Did you sleep well?"

A humourless laugh escaped Rosalie's lips. "Not really, but I appreciate the thought."

Cale wrapped an arm around her as Rosalie moved closer, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He found a small shred of happiness in the fact that Rosalie took comfort in him despite the situation. The feeling went both ways, too. As much as he wished Rosalie was spared from this situation, deep down he was relieved that he had a ray of sunshine through this all, even if she was closed off and grumpy most of the time.

"We're going to get out of here, Ros, you heard Sunflower." Cale kept his voice low and spoke directly into her ear, trying to keep their conversation to themselves and out of the Camera's earshot.

"There's no guarantee of that. We don't even know how long it's been since she last visited. Anything could have happened between now and then. And how do we know that we can trust her? We shouldn't get our hopes up or let our guards down anytime soon, Cale." Rosalie's tone was stern, as if she was trying to convince herself of everything that she said.

"We'll see." Cale sighed, lightly caressing Rosalie's arm as she leaned against him.

"Where should we go first?" Cale asked after a few moments of silence.

Rosalie craned her neck to look up at him, a puzzled expression painted across her features. "What?"

"When we get out of here. What should we do?" Cale was trying to put some positive energy into this room. Gods know there hadn't been much of that since they were thrown in here.

A deep exhale from Rosalie. Cale half expected her to brush off the question, to make some despondent comment and go back to stewing in silence. "The beach would be nice. Just me and you in a beach house. We can keep the windows open all day and night to hear the waves, the birds, everything. I would kill to hear something other than these damned fluorescent lights. To be somewhere warm, where I can lay in the sun, where I can see the sun."

Cale nodded as a silent agreement. He could use a beach vacation. As a rookie officer, he didn't get much time off to do the things he really wanted. And with the routine he had settled into, he was okay with that. But if they got out of here–when they got out of here, he was going to change that. This experience, however terrible it has been, has opened his eyes to the fact that he hadn't been really living.

And he'd already started making changes here. Outside, he would've never had the courage to give into what he truly felt for Rosalie. He only hoped that she would feel the same outside of these four walls.

"We'll book it the second we get out of here. I promise." Cale held out his pinky, and Rosalie looked at it tentatively for a few moments before locking her pinky in his.

"Deal."

Cale felt a sense of accomplishment settle over him when a small smile crept across Rosalie's lips. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, pulling her into a comforting embrace. "We're going to get out of here."

As if on cue, the door opened to reveal Arrow. Cale thought his eyes must have been deceiving him, because he knew for a fact that they were keeping Arrow prisoner here too.

"Arrow?" Cale sat up straighter, still in utter disbelief as he processed the surprise that came with seeing Arrow standing in the threshold.

Arrow held a finger to his lips, motioning for them to follow. "Quickly," he said quietly, motioning to the camera above them. They didn't have much time now that Arrow had been spotted on their cell camera. Surely guards would be on them in minutes, and they still needed to make it out of this shithole.

The pair wasted no time crossing the cell and meeting Arrow in the doorway, and Cale reached for Rosalie's hand before they made their exit, squeezing it tightly as they wound through the seemingly endless hallways made of the same white brick throughout, making it impossible to tell if they were heading in the right direction.

Finally, the scenery began to change, and they made it to a heavy door with no handle. Arrow held up the keycard to the panel beside it, and Cale could have cried when the door opened, revealing yet another long hallway.

Their movements were quick, and once they reached the end of it, they reached another large door. Arrow unlocked it, and then they were in a reception area. Thankfully, it was nighttime, and the reception area had been long abandoned by the secretary who would have occupied it.

Arrow wasn't too naïve to doubt that every hallway was heavily surveilled by cameras. He knew they had to have been seen by now, which meant they needed to get out of here. Fast.

Getting outside was the easy part, but now they had to put as much distance between themselves and that damned lab.

"Go, quick. I need to go back in." Arrow said after they had put a safe distance between themselves and their own personal hell.

Cale and Rosalie put up a small fight, trying their best to keep him from that decision, but Arrow had made up his mind. He needed to know more about what was happening, and he needed to get Sunflower out of there, too.