SATe [✔]

[22] unfathomable

With no response from either Priestley or the rest of the team, I had to make my own decision. The way I initially looked at it was I either left the club and made my own way back to the SATe base, with the expectation that Priestley made her own way there. Or explore the rest of the club myself and hope she pops up in a room.

Those were the options I'd given myself. I'd given myself those options, and yet I was hesitant to take either of them. I felt concerned at the level of danger that was present in the club; if Marie was here, who knows what else was lurking around her? More than that, I concluded that leaving Priestley here on her own was the wrong decision; that leaving this club would turn out to be one of my more significant regrets. That left both options voided.

I had opted to leave the building through a back door that had caught my eye earlier; despite the hallway being filled with groups of people, they were considerate enough to vacate the vicinity of the door. The exit sign above had been blinking every few seconds, drawing me to it and giving me much-needed direction. If I were to run away from someone like Priestley, I don't think I'd stay in the building.

The door had given way to a small smoking area enclosed by a chain-link fence. The three men standing within the area seemed to have been interrupted, staring through the gap in the fence at a figure lying against the ground of the alley. None of those men had gone towards the figure; instead, they'd chosen to take long draws of their cigarettes.

I could chalk that up to the abundance of club-goers that littered the streets in the area; it wasn't a rare occurrence that a drunken individual would collapse after a drink too many. They often got themselves up within the hour. It could also be reasonably ill-advised considering the drops of rain that had begun to speckle the concrete. The sky has taken a grey hue, embracing the clouds and meshing together like strokes on a painting. Puddles had already started to form in the divots of the earth, and my boots became drenched shortly after leaving the relative safety of the covered smoking shelter.

Each droplet sits on my skin for a moment before trickling down, the shirt I'd hurriedly thrown on earlier being penetrated by each one. I approached the figure slumped against the wall, facing away from me with their cheek grazing the scratchy surface of the brick. It didn't take long for me to realise that Priestley hadn't gotten far after all.

The rain had started to pick up the pace, beginning to thunder against the ground as the heavens opened up and released a downpour. I chose to shake her by her shoulders gently, hoping the combination of water and movement would wake her up. It was at this point I noticed the large bruise that had formed on her cheek. She'd been knocked out purposefully. Not only that, but she looked an odd combination of flushed and sickly which only made her look weak.

"Priestley," I muttered close to her ear, trying to avoid the gushing rain muffling my voice. She'd stirred a little, her head flinching away from me. I suspect it was to avoid the water. Subconsciously she must realise what position she was in. I shook her a little more forcefully, "Hey, look at me. Open your eyes."