Fifty–Five
Isabella’s POV
It was tight and suffocating and there was only so much light the torch could provide for me in the ultra dark space. Glad that I had the sense to tie my hair into a tight bun at the back of my head because I could not imagine how I would have felt with my hair swishing all around me and eventually sticking to my body in this heat. I could feel sweat rolling down my face as I realized for the umpteenth time that there was no turning back now. There was no way to turn back so except I crawl backwards, something I couldn’t see myself doing, there was no going back. My jaw was beginning to hurt from holding the torch between my teeth but there was nothing that could be done about it. If I drop the object from my lips, picking it back up will be hard. That was how tight it was in here.
I kept crawling till I got to the turn and maneuvering my body by twisting and turning, I finally got unto the new path. This one seemed longer as I could not see the end of it but I swallowed, hoping I had swallowed my fear along with the saliva as I kept on moving. I crawled until my knees and arms hurt and at one point I got a cramp that had me squeezing my eyes shut and biting my lip until I tasted blood. I cursed silently and kicked my leg out a few times, wanting to try anything possible that could finally take away the pain and numbness.
I continued shortly after when it subsided, praying to the goddess to help me through this. She was literally all I had right now. A deity I had never seen and would never see until I
die. At that thought, I tensed slightly, well I hope she does not want to see me soon. Maybe I should stop calling out to her so much so she doesn’t get too fond of,me and allows me to die so I can go up to her. I wondered if that could happen or it was just my paranoia projecting nonsense into my head. Well whatever it was, I really didn’t want to die now and with that thought in my mind, I pushed everything aside and kept moving.
I kept crawling until a few feet from me, I saw light coming out of vent. I had stopped moving for a quick second due to fear but once I was able to tell myself that it was alright, I continued again and when I finally crawled up to it, not only did I see into the room and recognize it as the kitchen, I could also see clearly enough to recognize that the man in there was Antonio and that the other man who he was talking to was one of his guards, that one made obvious by the uniform he was wearing. As I looked closely, I also realized that he looked a tad bit familiar and that was when my eyes widened in shocking realization. It was the man from the club that night; the one that gave me the drink. I shook my head; at least that bit finally made sense.
The next thing that I clearly detected was the fact that they were talking about no other person than me and my heart instantly accelerated not even bothering to calm back down when I realized that it wasn’t a conversation about a prisoner that had just escaped. I could only pray that they couldn’t hear my heartbeat because for a while it was all I could hear, even tuning out their voices.
When I finally tuned into what they were saying once again, I heard the guard mention that he had sent one of Antonio’s men to my apartment. That bit instantly made me perk up as I wondered at the ease in which these people were able to go
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in and out my pack. It was truly creepy and unsettling. What on earth did they want in my apartment? As if he read my
mind, Antonio asked him exactly that.
The.man scratched his head, “We go info that he was going to a neighbouring pack on the basis of his search so we planted the woman’s possession there so he would find it. We just wanted to stir up a little trouble that would come back to bite him in the ass when he finds out that he raved against the wrong person as well as throw him off our scent a bit.”
Immediately he closed his mouth, a silence ensued and I could literally smell the tension radiating off the guard. He had made a decision without Antonio’s approval and his reaction after told me all I needed to know about just how scary Antonio truly was. If this man was this scared well…what chance did I have? Antonio finally cleared his throat, “Well, what happened next?”
The man bowed his head, “The dude mistakenly dropped his crest. I’m sure Alexander would find it and finally realize who he has been searching for all this while. Don’t worry though, he would be executed.” He added quickly at the end, “I already have him tied up in the basement.”
Antonio was silent but not for as long as the last time before he let out a short laughter that had my skin breaking out with goosebumps. I could see the other man tense up as well as that laugh was so vague at this time.
“You didn’t ask for permission before going ahead to plan out something so big but now you’re asking for permission to execute the one whose only mistake was to let his crest fall off him?” Antonio chuckled again, “No, don’t do that. My dear brother has taken so long already. If I did not know that he
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genuinely didn’t have any idea where to search, I would’ve thought that his plan was to bore me. Perhaps I shouldn’t have used the scent concealers after all. He would have found us long ago.” Antonio got up, “All in all, don’t execute the person who did me a favor. Let Alexander come. I’m itching for some action.”
Immediately he said that, I could sense that the conversation was over. Who knows what the time was and when I would be checked up upon. If execution was how they punished people around here, I wouldn’t want to see anyone die just because I was looking unto my own freedom and continuing my life. I crawled passed the kitchen as well as other vents on the way. If Antonio was so excited right now, I can only imagine how angry he would get if he finds out that I’ve run away. As my pace quickened, I hoped it wasn’t audible in any way as well as the sound of my heavily beating heart.
The torch had drastically dimmed which worried me but I kept
- up.
‘You can’t go back now, Bella. You can’t go back. You’ve made it this far and you’ll get to the end.‘ Was the mantra I kept chanting inside my head as I crawled and soon, my wolf was backing me up, enveloping me with as much warmth as she could to get our ass out of there as soon as possible.
This time it wasn’t from Antonio telling me directly that I heard that Alexander was searching for me. He was talking to one of his men and had no idea I was listening. In fact, it was the other dude that brought it up. What reason would he have to lie? Then a thought hit me like a freight train.
How far away from the pack was I that it was so hard for Alexander to find me and would finding out that it was his
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brother that was behind it make it any easier? Would it give him an idea? If I make it to the end, would it be so easy to find my way to my pack or would everything be a complete waste of time. I shuddered at the thought of being shot from behind after all my efforts.
It isn’t the time to think about all of that. I heard my wolf say.
“When is? When can I think about it?” I asked her as tears
rolled down my eyes.
Never. Let’s never think about it. She said and I could hear her try to keep the fear out of her words, We’re almost there,
come on.
That last bit may have been nothing but some words of encouragement but I soon began to feel cool, fresh breeze and instantly realized that I was indeed near the exit. The tears began to flow even faster now even as my wolf scolded me to stop obstructing our vision.
I was almost there! I was going to be free!
