Mindstrider

Chapter 6

The Release

It was the morning after my conversation with Alvin, the sixth day. I was wide awake thinking about his question, “What’s it like living as a normal person?” What was it like? Normal, I guess, but Alex had never lived “normally”, like me, before. It was then I thought about my life outside the prison. I remembered my step parents, I knew they would be worried but I was never really close to them. They probably had a search party, or whatever, with the Police but I knew they’d never find me down here; besides even if they did they’d have no chance against the power and pure strength of the Caedies. Then my thoughts drifted towards my friends. At that moment I remembered that day at the river. Where were my friends? Max, Cleo, Jack and Will; I hadn’t thought about them since I was taken. Wait a second, I thought, when I was taken they were also hostage… maybe they’re here!

Suddenly I jumped up and tried sending a message to Balthazar, Alvin’s father, to ask him to try and detect my friends. It was proving to be useless until Balthazar replied, “They’re here but the signal is fuzzy, I can’t pinpoint them without getting close. However, I know they’re in the South Wing, on the other side of the courtyard. Wait a second... Get ready to run, stand by the door, five seconds... NOW!”

All of a sudden The Cell’s door slid open to reveal an empty corridor. The guards must be changing shifts; I thought and sprinted down the corridor. Once again Balthazar’s voice appeared in my head, “You can thank Alvin for that. It took him all day to bypass the security network, anyway you have about twenty seconds until guards come your way and you’ll have to take them out. Don’t worry about the doors, they’re all unlocked. Try to flick your switch; you’ll never get past the guards without it. I’ll stay with you and guide you. Good Luck”.

As soon as Balthazar’s voice disappeared I focussed on my switch. I tried and tried but it wouldn’t work. I saw two guards walk around the corner, fifty metres ahead and my heart sank. The two Morpus saw me and halted; axe in hand then charged towards me. I think they were expecting me to stop but with thirty metres between us my switch finally flicked.

My panting stopped and my speed increased as I felt the power pump through my veins. I was close enough to smell them now. One of the Morpus roared as I reached them. I put my right foot on the wall to my right and ran straight along it after a step I transferred to the ceiling; now running over the Morpus. It happened so fast that one of them didn’t realise and swung at thin air, the axe smashed into the wall right where my head would have been. I continued running over their head’s then with a final step on the left wall I was away. I twisted around to see the Morpus look around in bewilderment- scratching their heads- before sprinting around a tight corner.

 Suddenly I was blinded by intense sunlight; I skidded to a stop and realised I was in the courtyard. I regained my bearings and kept running. As I reached the centre of the courtyard a crossbow bolt whizzed past me and stabbed into the ground in front of me. I stopped and whirled but there was no one there. I heard the click of another bolt being slotted into the crossbow and I went into a fighting stance. I knew if one of the bolts hit me I was done, a well-placed bolt would kill me before I hit the ground; I trusted my switch to keep me alive.

My sharpened hearing sensed another click from behind me; I twirled and caught the deadly metal bolt, inches from my face. Only a second later another bolt zoomed towards me from a different direction. I dodged it with only milliseconds to spare before throwing the first bolt in the direction of the second’s shooter. I heard a thud then a groan before seeing a dead Morpus drop from the top of the wall. I shot off to the other end of the courtyard and into another corridor just as another bolt buried itself into a nearby column, with a loud THWANG. “That was too close,” Balthazar was back, “Ok, Daniel, you’re doing great; you’re now in the South Wing, fortunately that’s the smallest wing in this place. It’s the lower security prison block; your friends will be in one of the cells.”

I rounded a corner and ran straight into a Morpus, knocking it onto its back. Before I could land on top I planted my hands and flipped forward, keeping all my momentum.

After another corner and another one hundred metres Balthazar returned.

“Right, they’re on this corridor but that’s the best I can give you right now. If you wait five minutes I’ll tell you exactly.”

“No, I don’t have enough time, have Alvin open all the doors on this corridor.”

“But who knows what’s behind them other doors? The Caedies run brutal experiments down here!”

“Fine, I’ll wait.” I thought as I skidded to a halt. I did a 360, looking for more Morpus but the coast was clear- for now.

As minutes dragged by I started to get restless. Adrenaline was still coursing through my body, I was almost happy when two Morpus bounded round the corner ahead of me. A split second after, I heard footsteps running down the corridor next to me. I turned to see two more Morpus blocking the corridor and brandishing nasty war axes.

They closed in, suddenly; I sprang into action with a lightning fast side kick to the jaw of a Morpus then elbowed the one next to it in the temple. The other two Morpus didn’t have time to react before I grabbed an axe, swung it round and cut them both clean in half. The moment after their bodies hit the ground Balthazar faded back into my head, “Easy there buddy, that switch is a powerful thing. Alright then: Will, Jack and Cleo are on the next three doors on your right. Alvin’s working on them now. I’ll give you a few moments.”

“Wait a second, what about Max? My best friend, where is he?”

“He’s ok Daniel, just get out of there and I’ll explain later”. Then Balthazar was gone.

Suddenly I heard a whir, behind me three doors slid open and three of my best friends emerged. Jack, Will and Cleo gazed into the corridor. Cleo saw me first, she sprinted towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck; hugging me harder than I’ve ever been hugged before. We parted, just for a second, before she kissed me. My brain went into meltdown. Cleo, the girl who I’ve lusted over for the last three years was is kissing me. It was the best feeling in the world. She pulled away and I looked into her eyes and smiled. I was allowed only a millisecond of bliss before I was jumped on by Jack and Will. They wrestled me to the ground, laughing and joking. It was great having these guys back.