Of Cages and Misery

[Byron]

A jerk ran through Elena's body as she perceived the slamming sound coming from the corridor. Her head snapped in the direction of the corridor, then back to Kiara who still crawled around on the floor. Then her gaze wandered up to Mason, and a skeered expression flashed over her face at once. "The fuck was that now," she said hectically, looking back at the corridor and pointing her gun towards it. The hand of hers was obviously shaking like mad by now, but only partially because of the sudden noise.

Hearing the door he would take his eyes off of Aurora and look towards where the noise came from. He looked at Elena as she gazed at him, replying: "Shit..." He then turned back to Aurora, adding: "Who else is in here?" He made a step towards her and would keep his gun aimed at her head."Drop the damned knife," he said in a sharp tone, looking straight into her eyes.

Her hand holding the knife started to shake even more, she was panicking, still trying to get away, despite being cornered. "No!" she yelled defiantly, albeit shakily, and kept staring at the gun, some tears running down her face.

"I'll check the corridor," Elena mumbled to Mason, tilting her head only slightly towards him while she spoke. "Take that bloody knife away from her while you're at it," she added before walking back towards the corridor from where the weird noises had occured. "Alright," Mason replied to Elena as she had left towards the corridor. He would make another step towards Aurora which would bring him about half a meter away from her. "Drop it. Or I shoot," he said with a serious look, one that said he would really do it. And he would, if this really was who they called Kiara, then she obviously had played them and is the wife of a Brigand. Obviously this did not help the situation at all, the girl just got even more frightened when he came closer. She slashed in his direction once, apparently trying to dissuade him from coming closer. She couldn't hit anything, though. "Go away! Go away! Why are you doing this?" she asked loudly and frustratedly and panicky. Not dropping the knife.

"What do you mean why am I doing this? Don't remember me, Kiara? Don't remember Elena over there either? Or was 'Kiara' just a lie you neglect now? Aurora, is it now?" he would mutter out in her face. Seeing as she still wouldn't drop the knife he would in a quick move change his aim from her head to the side, firing a bolt at the kitchen counter and burning a hole in it, as a threat. Afterwards he returned his aim to her head, staring into her eyes.

If Elena didn't know better, she would have thought it to be only a product of her imagination, similar to the thin voice she heard in the back of her mind and wanted to become free. But Mason had apparently heard it as well, so she investigated. Gun raised, she would shout: "Show yourself!" Seconds after, she found herself looking down an empty dark corridor, the same three doors. Nobody was there to reply. The door on the right led to the bathroom, and it was in the same state as Elena had left it earlier. The door on the left was open; it led to another room, probably a pantry, the lights turned off inside. But it was the door up ahead that drew her attention: it was shut, and the light in that room was clearly noticeable from under the door.

In an act of swallowing down her fear, Elena would tuck in her chin for a second and expire slowly. Then, carefully taking one step after another forward, she advanced towards the door behind which lights had obviously been switched on. After she griped its handle, she would count to three by herself, already holding the gun in a position to instantly shoot at whatever would reveal itself behind the door. A second of hesitation, in which she lowered her head for a moment and mumbled something through her gritted teeth. Then she would wrench the door open at one go, and check what was inside the room, gun thrust out.

As Elena opened the door and pointed her gun into the room, her nose could suddenly catch a faint scent of shampoo. And then, she felt a brief dumb kiss of cold metal on the back of her neck. A gun.