Blaze and the Mafia -Wattys 2016-

Chapter 12

Weakly, I pulled shifted to the side of the bed.
My leg tugged as I moved but it wasn't as bad as it had been previously – Thank God for those pain killers.
My body was able to just about reach far enough to awkwardly yank at the drawers from both side of the bed only for them both to land on the floor empty with a small thud.
I swore.
Next was the cupboard.
Grabbing the single crutch which had been left at the side of the bed, I stood. My body cried from all directions – I felt as though I had been hit by a truck at this rate. My leg could hardly move without causing a pull from the stitches, the wound on my back I could feel stretching and breaking as I moved. As I secured the crutch around my arm, and attempted to pull up, my bruised torso seemed to cry out equally.
The world spun as I stood fully – my eyes closed, breathing slowly in an attempt to regain myself. I needed to continue searching the room.
Inside the cupboards there were two outfits hung by metal hangers. I smirked, taking them from the cupboard and throwing them weakly in the direction of the bed.
The bathroom was surely my biggest hope.
I limped in, pulling open any drawers I could find. They contained nothing more than toothbrushes, toothpaste, some hair wash and soap.
I stepped back, my fingers threaded through my hair, tugging at the roots whilst all I could do was stare. My eyes watched the cupboard drawers – praying that if I just kept staring something might magically appear. What use I could make of the shampoo, of the toothbrush, the bodywash...
Then I caught sight of the mirror.
My breathing slowed to a halt as I saw it. I could feel my pulsing heart slow. I was a mess. My hair was matted, tangled with clumps of dried dirt from the forest. My eye sported a faded yellowish bruise and there was a slit slowly scabbing across my cracked and dried lip. My face looked hollow, empty. Eyes glassy with a lifetimes worth of tears left unshed. It was like I was looking in the mirror and looking back stared a shell – a lifeless, walking corpse.
I forced my head high – my posture tall. My core screamed as my bruises stretched and the scald shifted but I bit through the pain. It was just something I had learnt over the years – stand tall and strong, I hoped that if I did it every day, maybe one day, I would be. It was just a lie.
I took a deep breath, feeling it full my lungs and embracing the release as I let it out again.
I had to keep going but already I felt weak.
I turned away from the mirror, flicking off the light as I limp out the room.
A spark.
The lightbulb let out a snap of fire before blowing entirely.
My finger flicked the switch again but the light never lit.
I rose a brow, my lips curling into a grin.
Fire.
Maybe there was something I could do with this room after all.

***

Hours had passed. It must have been late evening when I came into this room. I had been laying there, desperately assessing my options, going over inventory in my head in hopes a plan would hatch.
I had no means to tell the time, however the quieting movement from people passing by in the hall indicated towards the late hour. As time passed, it had gone from a constant shuffle outside the room to just the one perhaps every half hour – I assumed it was security making their rounds.
I wished I could sleep – my body was fatigued, a dull ache filling my entirety.
My eyes were heavy, craving the rest but I knew even if I tried it would not come.
Even if my mind weren't racing, desperate for an escape, the lack of security would never have allowed me the bliss of sleep. Not when they could come in at any minute – sleep rendering me defenceless.
No, even if I could sleep, I would not sleep.
I had changed from my unwearable outfit to one of the ones in the cupboard. The loose joggers were a blessing around my leg and the sport tops loose fit and sports back prevented any rubbing on my burn.
I knew I would use the metal hanger in my escape for sure – already having bent the wire into a make-shift shank.
The rest of my hand had yet to come.
I stared blankly into the bathroom – watching that soft yellow glow slowly creep through the window and spilling onto the floor as the sun began to rise.
The only sound was the quiet patter of the security guards feet as he passed my room yet again and then that silence filled the room again.
I relished in it. The pause; the break.
That brief illusion of peace.
I flicked off that bedside lamp. The suns soft glow now beginning to light the room.
Then I realised what I had to do.
After unscrewing the lamps lightbulbs, I used my coat-hanger/shank to remove the inner's of the bulb, leaving me with an empty shell. My stiff body proceeded to limp back into the bathroom, filling it with some water.
The back of a toothbrush was used to smash the mirror without further hurting me and I grabbed a decently sized shard ready for the escape.
I recalled a sign I had passed earlier.

'The doors to all the rooms on this floor and above are linked to the fire system. If the system goes down or there is a fire, the doors will unlock accordingly.'

I rolled up a piece of toilet tissue, angling the glass shard by the tiny window and holding the light bulb just above it. I allowed the mirror to redirect light from the window and through the bulb – targeting it directly onto the tissue. It began by browning, thin smoke coming off as I continued to wait patiently for it too light. Parts of tissue were dissolving, a red glow thinning along its edge and yet the fire had yet to catch.
"Come on... come on..." I muttered to myself.
my eyes flickered over to the door. I could feel my heart pounding. If anyone came in right now... if someone saw this...
Then it lit.
I smiled, relief flooding through me.
Shielding my small flame, I hobbled over to the sensor, raising it up, above my head – ribs screaming as I reached as close the fire detector as I could.
Any second now.
A thin line of smoke rose as the fire continued to burn through, slowly increasing the heat in my hands. I shifted my fingers further from the flame.
"Just take it... take it..." I quietly begged the alarm to go.
Then, a shunt sounded through the room as the door unbolted. Hardly a second later the alarm screamed. I couldn't help but let out one of my own.
"Oh thank God!" I breathed, grabbing the metal hook from my hanger and my crutch before charging towards the door.
It swung open with ease, freeing me to the empty hallway which I now stood in.
My heart was pounding instantly. Pain shot through my thigh; I bit my lip, glancing down at the wounded leg as I weighed out my options. I didn't want to get caught any more than I wanted to run and risk re-opening my leg.
I had to get out of here either way.
Footsteps cluttered through the hallways, quickly growing louder as the men grew closer.
"Crap..."
My eyes glanced down the long corridor - I could never get down it fast enough to escape their sight.
Instead, I hobbled to the room across the hall – its door also having been unlocked by the alarm.
I slid into the vacant room, pulling the door mostly closed in fear of a system override causing it to lock.
I heard scattered footsteps coming to a stop just outside the room.
"Her door unlocked boss."
There was a crackle before Carters voice came through what I could only guess to be some kind of radio, "Well is she still inside."
There was a thud of what I assumed to be the other door slamming open. A few seconds passed.
"Vacant," a new voice spoke, "She's gone boss."
A brief pause.
"Then I suggest you go find her."
The footsteps continued, thumping off in different directions.
I let out a breath I hadn't realised I had been holding.
They were gone.
I pushed the door back open and slowly made my way back into the hallway.
I could only hope for nobody to come down here again – if they did my options to hide were limited and my ability to run was low.
There was a fire escape at the end of this corridor if I remembered rightly.
With one last glance behind me, I made my way down the hall.
It only took a quick glance around the corner at the end of the hall for me to check it was unoccupied before I finally made my way down it, smiling as I caught sight of a fire escape at the end.
I was going to do it I was going to get out of here.
My eyes locked on the door, a smile growing on my face as my hand finally touched the handle of my freedom. I pressed, allowing the door to swing open and the outside heat to hit me when
"Holy-" I stumbled backwards as an arm shot out, blocking the door.
"I've got her," He spoke into a small gadget on his shirt, "I'm sorry, I just can't let you leave."
"Please, just step out of my way - nobody needs to know about this."
"I'm afraid I can't. Please just return to your room."
"I'm afraid I can't," I bit my lip, taking a deep breath before asking my next question, "What is A-TRAP?"
"A-TRAP... why would you..."
There came the thudding again, footsteps closing in through the hall. They were coming.
I took a breath, sparing a brief glance behind me as the first man came charging around the corner.
"I'm sorry..."
Before I could shift, he lunged forwards.
I swung my free hand into his throat, knocking the air from his lungs. I didn't hesitate before swinging around and forcing my crutch into his gut.
The men were growing closer and time was running thin. Only a few steps away from the wounded man, I limped off.
My body stumbled forwards - hobbling through the garden despite the flame in my thigh. Men very quickly gaining on me. I didn't have to get far before reaching the fence and scrambling pathetically through a hole in it. Tears stained my cheeks as my feet continued scrambling forwards. I couldn't stop running.
I couldn't stop.