💎𝟥𝒱𝓈 𝓍 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇💎

Route 5~ Valentino

The noise of an explosion shook the building. Val's room's walls were blown in as fire and smoke and a crackle of electricity slammed into us. We were thrown backward and all I could hear were my screams and a ringing in my ears.

Once the smoke cleared, I slowly opened my eyes, coughing, and heaving. My leg was crushed under an armchair, clearly broken. After my ears stopped ringing, I heard a faint threat say in a voice laced with poison and static, "Oh, Vox. You just can't seem to keep up. You've already made a fool out of yourself yet again, so I'll grant you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe if you upgrade your system, then you can put more than a scratch on my face." The voice ended with a slight hiss and a loud burst of radio static before disappearing.

I waited and let my heart return to its normal beat before trying to lift the armchair off of my leg. "Val?" I coughed, squirming out from under the chair. There was no response. But I saw Vox crumpled in the corner of the room, his screen cracked and blank. His fingers twitched, small sparks of blue electricity signaling that he was at least alive. "Help!" I called weakly, my voice strained and ragged.

I pulled myself up to my knees to scan the wreckage that was once a luxurious bedroom. I saw Val near his bed, blood running down his head. His chest rose and fell in slow, shallow breaths, but he was clearly unconscious. I crawled over to try and see just how shallow his breathing was. Anxiety wrapped around my now fast-beating heart and bile started to make its way into my throat.

Please, please do not be dying. Please.

"Help!" I yelled again but with more urgency. I cradled Val's head in my hands and tried to identify where the blood was coming from on his head.

"OMG, YOU GUYS DID YOU HEAR THAT MASSIVE EXPLOSION?!" Velvet shouted as she burst into the room. But as soon as she saw the wreck of Val's room, she gasped and yelled, "HOLY SHIT! VOX, VAL, Y/N! ARE YOU OKAY?"

She ducked her head out of the room and growled, "FETCH CORA AND THE OTHERS. NOW OR I'LL FEED YOU TO THE HELLHOUNDS!" She then hurried back in and started asking questions rapid-fire, "Are you okay? Omg, your leg! That's totally broken. Voxy! Is he ok? At least he's breathing. Thank Satan. Val! Is he unconscious! Holy shit, that's a lot of blood."

"Velvet," I said in a raspy tone. "Yes?" she asked with frightened eyes. She was holding Vox's head as I was holding Val's. "Val's okay, but he might not be in a few..." My voice faded out to a husk of a whisper. I just now realized how much pain I was feeling in my chest and leg. Something was definitely wrong. Looking back, I saw a trail of deep red blood spreading from my leg. My hands were blood-stained and I could feel a throb of pain drumming up my spine.

I blinked to try and keep myself conscious and also tried to steady my breathing. Cora and the rest of the infirmary team burst into the room and took a second to look around the room in pure awe. Clearly, this sort of thing had never happened before.

Velvet's eyes were filling with tears as a few imp nurses checked on Vox and put him on some sort of hospital bed. Other nurses hurried over to Val and I. Some of them instantly took Val to a hospital bed. I reached for him as he was being taken away and croaked, "Wait! What's wrong with him!"

An imp helped me to my feet and hissed, "We'll let you know when he's better. I don't know how you survived this consciously, but you're joining the rest of them just in case." I half limped and half dragged my working foot over to another hospital bed. I collapsed upon it, the soft pillow holding my head already working wonders. But I still felt dizzy, nauseous, anxious, and scared all at the same time. Who had thrown Vox into the studio with such ease? Will Val be okay? What if something happens to him?

Cora shouted over the imps, "HURRY THE FUCK UP YOU INCELS!" The imps squeaked and rolled the beds out of the room and around the rubble. "Hey!" I tried to say to Cora. I needed to know where we were going.

"Zip it, survivor. Someone dart them," Cora said, not even paying me a glance. My head spun as something small and sharp collided with my neck. I tried to pull it out, but my whole body felt like sludge. My vision blurred and the ringing in my ears returned. I slowly let my body and head rest on the hospital bed, realizing that I had probably been shot with some sort of sleeping dart. The last thing I heard before being wheeled out was Velvet's short sobs and wails.

___________

My eyes opened slowly and hesitantly. I picked up my head from the hospital bed and looked around, feeling sluggish. I tried to remember what happened to me. To Val and me. I examined my hands, seeing no blood or bandages. The same with my entire body. I was simply dressed in a clean robe with plush socks. I wriggled my toes, trying to get my body back to normal.

Wait. Hadn't my leg been severely broken?

I sat up quickly and looked down at my legs. It was as if they had never been disturbed. After all I had seen in Hell, you'd think that I had seen everything. But this was surely a new one. I turned my head quickly to see where I was. In the corner of the room was a demon half shrouded in shadow.

"Hey," I asked, refusing to let my voice waver. "Who are you?" The demon gave a sigh and simply replied, "I see you're awake. Feeling better?" I tilted my head and said slowly, "Yes, much better. How did you fix my leg? How much time has passed?"

The demon chuckled and stepped closer to me. He had what looked like green fire for hair and eyes as black as the abyss. After a moment he answered, "Fixing broken bones is easy down here. Especially here. Just some special poisonberry juice and a leaf from a winter willow and your bones will be just as before. You didn't even notice, but several of your ribs were broken."

I swallowed and looked down at my leg and chest. It really felt like what had happened during the explosion was just a faraway nightmare. But I looked up at the demon and asked sharply, "Who are you, and how long has it been?" The demon crossed his arms and said, "I'm Rini, one of Cora's understudies. And if I'm correct, it's been two days."

Two days? "Where are Val and Vox?" I demanded, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. "Mister Vox and Lord Valentino are in a sleep. Their injuries were far more severe than yours. So while their injuries are healing, Cora advised that they be put asleep until they were okay. That's just what we did with you," Rini stated.

"Where are they?" I asked, panic showing in my voice. Rini laughed and whistled. "I don't know who you are, lucky one, but I'm afraid I can't tell you where Mister Vox and Lord Valentino are. All I can say is that they are both healing well. I'd say about a day of sleep should fix them up good," Rini said with a taunting smile.

"Well, then get me the hell out of this room. I'm fine," I said, glaring at Rini. He shrugged and said, "Nope. Cora has to inspect you before you can leave. She'll be back in a few hours, so make yourself comfy." I hissed and growled, "No, you don't understand, I have to-" Rini held up a clawed hand which immediately silenced me.

"No," he said firmly, his voice strangely echoing around the room. "You will stay here until Cora returns. She will check on you and then you may leave. I don't care what your relations are with Vox and Valentino. You will stay here. Do you understand?" I swallowed, and some strange force moved my head up and down into a nod. I glared at Rini who simply returned the glare. With that, he swept out of the door and locked it. I rushed to the door he had locked and pounded on it.

"Hey! Prick! Let me out!" I yelled, but somehow I knew he wouldn't give. After a minute of silence, I fell to the floor and shook with fear.

Where was Val, and was he truly alright?