Breeding in the Academy: Searching for Freedom (All 14)

Chapter 9

North POV (in this version, North and Luke are half-siblings. They have the same blood father.)

Luke leaned against me. I was angry that I couldn't do anything to help him. He always tried to give off a happy exterior so we wouldn't worry about him too much. But we did. I did. I cared for him although we weren't exactly close. We were half-brothers, sharing the same genetics from one man.

I watched as Owen tore open the rose carefully. His fingers shook as he deftly unrolled the origami creation. Inside the paper were words, but I couldn't see it. I growled with impatience. "Well, what does it say?"

A small cylinder a one-eight of an inch thick and one inch tall fell into Owen's hands. Owen read the words. "Gather a backpack worth's of clothes, food, weapons, necessities. Wear dark clothes. When you are ready, go to room 8 in hallway 200 at 3 a.m. and twist the beacon on. wait there. Do not leave unless a person with a white Volto mask appears."

I blinked at the message then at the clock. The hands read 2:38. "We have 22 minutes."

"Move, and pack," Owen ordered. "Meet here in fifteen minutes."

We scrambled out of his room. Sean stayed behind, and when I looked behind my shoulder, I saw Owen staring at his beloved violin. Sean whispered. "Are you going to leave it?"

Owen seemed to hunch over in pain. "I'll have to."

Turning, I ran into my room. I threw off my tuxedo and put on my usual black jeans and black t-shirt. Shrugging on a thicker jacket for winter, I grabbed my backpack which I stuffed five shirts in, two jackets, some socks, and my fruit that I always had on hand. I swiped my jewelry that I usually wore into my backpack. The necklace was from Luke, but my gold earring was from my mother. I didn't have much to pack. I was about to leave my room when my eyes caught on the pictures on my desk. In one photo was my mother, and the other picture was a photo of all ten of us. Without a thought I threw the two pictures into my bag and made my way back to Owen's room. Silas and Nathan were behind me.

I threw open his door to see Michelangelo and Owen with his bag packed but his eyes were on his violin case. Sean, Kota, Gabriel, and Luke stumbled behind us.

Luke stepped up, "We can bring it, Owen." Most of us have something that we could never leave behind, but everyone's except Owen's were small and able to be stuffed in our backpacks. Luke was especially attached to his since it was from his mother. She had given him her ring which he wore on a chain around his neck.

Gabriel fidgeted. "Don't want to hurry anyone, but we have less than five minutes to get to the room."

Owen nodded and grabbed his bag. Without a backwards glance, he stormed out of his room, leaving his violin. I followed him down the stairways and hallways when we came to room 8 which happened to be a little bit bigger than a restroom. Owen twisted the cylinder and a red light started to flash. Suddenly Kota gasped. "Where is Luke?"

I looked around and growled. That little sneak probably left the group so he could go back to Owen's violin. I threw open the door and started to run down the hallway. I had just neared the entrance to the staircase when the door opened and Luke knocked into me. In his hands was Owen's violin case. I wanted to yell at him when an explosion rattled the building, sending me and Luke crashing to the floor. Sounds of yelling and gunfire filled the building. Growling, I lifted myself and Luke off of the ground and started to run towards the room the others were. We were almost there when voices called out.

"Halt!" Luke and I scattered to a stop. Turning around we came to face to face with a machine guns pointed at us. Behind the weapons were the blue uniforms of the Academy. The six guards noticed the backpacks on our bags and narrowed their eyes. One guard started to talk into her walkie talkie. "Two of the Prime are planning to escape. We apprehended them in hallway 20-"

Her words came to a stop when a canister echoed throughout the room. A metal grenade rolled to a stop between me and the guards before it started to smoke. Suddenly a mechanical voice yelled. "Hit the floor!!"

Without thinking, I fell to the floor. Luke landed beside me as gunfire echoed in the hallway. Flashes of light showed silhouettes falling to the ground. Then there was no more gunfire. Footsteps walked towards us, and a pair of shoes stopped in front of me and Luke. I looked up to see a figure in black clothes, a black hooded cloak, and a white mask looking down at us. He started to speak, his voice distorted. "Get up."

We scrambled to our feet as I watched six more people emerge from the shadows. They were also in black but wore black ski masks and goggles. The figure in the white mask opened the door the others were in, and waved them out. "Hurry." He said in that mechanical voice. "We don't have much time."

Time seemed to fasten as the ten of us were running down halls and stairwells. When we got to the entrance, I expected to see more of the Academy guards waiting for us, but was shocked when I saw blood coating the walls and floor. Bullets tore up the walls and floors that the servants had polished for the event only a few hours ago. Bodies littered the ground. Some were awake, while some were unconscious, but from what I could see, their chests were still moving.

Six more people melted from the shadows and joined our group. Amazed, we ran through the entrance and into the fresh air. We followed the thirteen people throughout the streets until we came to a dead end. The person with the mask turned towards the twelve. "Disperse."

Ten of them disappeared while two of the people lifted something from the ground, and the person with the white mask pointed at the hole. "Climb down."

I moved behind Gabriel. As I climbed down into the sewer system, I gagged at the smell. I almost vomited when my shoes sunk into the liquid. I covered my face with my hand and moved out of the way. When all of us were down, I watched as the lid was put back, sending us all into darkness.

A light flickered on. The masked figure had turned on a flashlight and started to go down the pipe. "We have a few miles to walk until we can get out."

We were quiet. Surprise filled me. We had finally gotten out.