Beauty of the Beast

#15

*harvey up top* my bad. Wasn't supposed to say Balthazar

Recap:

Momentarily dislodging his hand from over her mouth, she managed to shout. "Blue!" Where was she?

A loud thud sounded right next to her, the male groping her went still. His hold eased around from her and he fell back, landing on the forest floor. Sadie swivelled about and gaped at the knife sticking out of his forehead.

Blue came to a stop next to her, inspecting her handiwork with a pleased look in her eye.

"Yeah well, I ran out of bullets."

Chapter 15:

Balthazar's eyes shot open; blurry and unfocused. He could feel an underlying sluggishness refusing to release his body from its grasp. Eventually his eyesight cleared and he managed to turn his throbbing and aching head to survey the room. Hot, searing pain radiated from every inch of his battered body. He could feel a few open wounds bleeding profusely; the pool of blood increasing with each attempted movement. He was beaten and bruised and wanted a long nap; but he knew he had to get out of this situation and fast.

"Bloody hell." He sighed as he tried to move his limbs.

He was strapped to a cold, metal table. His arms and legs enclosed in metal chains and leather straps. Taking a deep, fortifying breath Balthazar gritted his teeth against the pain and strained his limbs against the restraints. The chains were loosely wrapped around his lower torso; if he broke through the leather straps, he might be able to maneuver his way out of the chains.

Biting the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out, Balthazar poured his admittedly feeble strength into his bruised and battered arm and strained it against the leather hold on his wrist. Each second began to seem like an eternity; Balthazar could feel the pain from his wounds increase tenfold. He knew there was no question of failure. Lord knew how long it would take Sadie to get a hold of Blue, and whether Blue would be able to track him down in time.

Taking quick breaths, Balthazar steeled himself against the pain and strained his body against the restraints; he couldn't give up, not with so much at stake. He could feel his strength and determination ebb with each passing moment, and slumped in relief as his right hand shot free, breaking the restraint. He made short work of the chains and remaining restraints, within record time he stumbled to the door on unsteady footing, his determination fueling his aching muscles.

Calming his racing heart, Balthazar listened carefully for any possible guards posted outside the door, and slowly pulled it open. Swearing under his breath as the door creaked; he flattened himself against the wall, ears straining to catch any sound of nearby hyenas. He nearly collapsed in relief at the sight of the empty hallway. Multiple doors lined the long corridor, with a few steps leading up to an open door through which sunlight poured through. With nothing to lose, Balthazar headed straight for the steps.

I've got to do this no matter what. Balthazar knew he had to ignore the searing pain coursing through his limbs and pull through this obstacle and make his way back to Sadie.

At least he could rest assured that Blue would ensure Sadie never left the confines of his cabin.

Footsteps from ahead caused him to plaster himself against the wall, he couldn't risk detection. Balthazar slowly inched back down the steps and crouched down in the corner, praying that the shadows would hide his presence. He let out his pent up breath as the footsteps seemed to change direction and rush off in a hurry. Peering out the door at the bright sunlit world outside, he squinted his eyes against the bright intensity of the light; there was no one about. Sending a quick plea heavenward, he rushed out into the open clearing and made a beeline for the closest opening to the forest. Once within the leafy confines of the trees, he broke out into a flat run. Balthazar didn't have an exact idea of where he was, but he was aware he needed to get to high ground and scope the area to determine his location.