My Wonderful Second Life

Chapter 72- The chained wolf

The tears did not stop. Not until the howling, louder than before, shook the foundations of this goddess-forsaken place. Pebbles flew from the highest points, falling close to me.

It was a warning. A message.

Get up and do something.

And I did. Cleaning my tears with the back of my hand, I went to pick up my pistol, noticing now little shards of bones all over the ground. Yet I had no strength or food left to react to it. I took the pistol and went back to the coffin. In a breath, I reached for the necklace, shuddering at having it so close to me. Then I put the pistol on the edge of the coffin so I could put the necklace over my head.

This would be my memory. My statement. To me and to others.

And I left, with the pistol back in my hand, but without the lamp, which broke when it fell to the ground. I did not need it anymore. The room was light enough with the opening above and any darkness that would emerge could not be worse than what I had seen already.

My steps took me to the opening at the feet of the goddess, to a corridor similar to the one that had led me to this horrible place. Voices travelled through it like an echo of a distant place, and I knew it, in my being, to be where Wolff was.

I took another step into the opening, feeling the breeze again, when I heard something behind me. In a quick motion, I lifted my pistol, ready to shoot, when I saw a little furry thing coming in my direction. Princess Lola.

I crouched next to her, letting her jump into my now dirty apron. Relief washed over me as I petted her fluffy body, but the voices and noises coming from the end of the corridor did not allow me any rest.

Cupping Princess Lola, I pushed my face close to hers. "Do whatever you can to keep yourself safe. No matter what, you cannot be caught, alright?" her paws touched my face as tears threatened to fall again. "I need to help Wolff and Cedric, but I cannot have you hurt, either. You are important to me. When all this ends, find me again."

Her paws left my cheeks, and I guessed she understood me because she jumped from my hand after making a chirping noise and went to hide in the shadows of this horrible place.

I turn back to the corridor, walking a path that seemed so similar to the one I had walked before. However, this time I could hear noises and voices, loud and masculine. They evolved from a faraway echo to a thunderous match.

Then, in the darkness, I saw an open door on the right side of this long corridor. The noises were coming from there. The smell of alcohol and their tirades told me the men were drunk, and that made things so much easier.

I had no idea what was down the corridor, only that, in this room, two inebriated guards were playing cards in front of a dark cell. Carved from stone and with no natural light. It was impossible to see what was inside from where I was until something moved and a golden chain swam between the shadows.

I wanted the men to feel pain, but I could not alert the other guards positioned at the end of the corridor, in case they existed. So I just put the sleeping pills on my pistol, lifted myself from my crouched position and shot. Once to the one turned to the door, and then to the one with his back on me, just when he had turned his head to see what had caused his companion to fall from his chair.

They both fell cold on the ground, sleeping. I avoided shooting the floor between them, instead, I wasted two bullets. I only wanted the guards asleep, not who was behind that cell. Could not risk it. Closing the door, I walked to the men, beating each in the head with my musket before reaching the dark corner. A snarl greeted me, together with some familiar amber eyes and very threatening teeth.