The Starling Saviour

Chapter 21

Rushing to the old subway, we hurtled down the cold concrete of the tunnel, dodging old, jagged wooden boards that had once sealed the subway in. The slim streak of light that shone into the tunnel gave us little vision, the many dust particles eventuated in the limited sunshine.

'Where are we going?' Isaac worried, shivering as our surroundings became colder by the second. 'Why are we... Here?'

'This is where the Culebra gang are hiding,' I explained, starting to feel cold myself. 'It's where we were captured and Helena-'

'Saved you, yes, I get it,' Helena rolled her eyes whilst interrupting me. 'You don't have to keep mentioning my 'heroic' act, honestly.'

But I did. I knew Helena didn't believe in herself just yet, and she resorted to brushing off her true ability just like that. It really was annoying.

'Aria's right,' Ted swooped in, backing me up. 'You did save them. You're a hero, Helena. You just need to believe in yourself.'

As Helena blushed, I had my fair share of eye rolling and we continued down the tunnel.

'Well this is pleasant,' Elliot commented sarcastically as we arrived at the centre of the tunnel network, where Tommy and I had ended when we awoke here after being sedated and abducted.

Inspecting the place for any new surprises we would stumble across, I noticed there were more signs of wear and tear throughout the space. The tiles looked as though they had undergone even more damage, and there were many almost unnoticeable reddish-brown stains scattered across the walls. Blood.

'It looks like there's been some sort of fight here,' I observed in curiosity. 'I'm surprised, the gang usually deal with their nuisances with their pet snakes.'

'It's as if some was trying to escape,' Ted joined in with my deductions. 'And it got bloody.'

'This person must've been too quick,' Helena hypothesised with a frown as she tried to think of a possible scenario. 'Do you think they survived?'

'I'm not sure,' I said slowly, looking at the damage on the wall some more. 'Wait, look at the scratches on these tiles.'

The old, grubby grout seeped the crumbling tiles, the softness of the tiles and the dirt accentuating the clean, new scratches indented into the material. They carried on to an opening in the wall just large enough to squeeze through, as well as the same trail of blood we had just noticed.

'It's as if someone's dragged their way into this hole here,' I supposed, pointing towards the opening I was referring to.

'They could be in there, waiting for help!' Isaac exclaimed, caring and concernedly.

'Hello?' Helena projected her voice through the unknown in front of us. 'Is anyone there?'

Nothing.

'They must've moved-' Ted started, but was cut off by a hurried sound.

'Yes! Yes!' A strained voice croaked back to us from the darkness, replying to Helena rather delayed.

'Pass me a torch,' Ted instructed, a very organised Isaac immediately aiding him with his required equipment.

As Ted shone the light into the opening, he and Isaac climbed through, pulling out two mucky and bloody arms from the shadows. Out came a man, a normal, helpless man, pale as a sheet and only wearing ripped rags in place of his clothes.