Bride To His Darkness-Chapter 323: Wrong Escape

"Isn’t it supposed to be easy? I watch my parents do it all the time." Mark, who had been quiet all through, finally voiced out his thoughts. He crawled towards the cell bar and pressed his face against it, his eyes traveling out only to settle at the keyhole on the top.

"There!" He softly exclaimed, pointing at the lock. "If we can fit it through then we have more chances at leaving. There’s still a problem because the keyhole seems taller than us. We won’t be able to reach the lock." He turned to look at Alain who pressed his lips into a thin line, his brown eyes appearing slightly distant, as if considering other options, but a sudden ’psst!’ from the next cage drew his attention.

Turning his head to the cage that was an arms length distant from their own, his eyes landed on a group of boys who appeared to be older, plausibly with a three years difference. They were gazing at him with expectant eyes, and from their odd behavior, Alain was wise enough to guess that they must know about the key in his grasp. The looks they gave him were desperate, making him feel uncomfortable, and he shifted back only to hear them say.

"We’re tall enough." One of them spoke in a haste, making Alain pause in his retreat. He gave them a confused stare, his irises hinting at the slightest suspicion, whilst he studied them. They appeared more disheveled than the rest of them, their hair tousled and coated with brown dust, their bodies lacking malnourishment, whilst he wondered how long they had been trapped here.

"How... how about you give us the key first, we’ll set ourselves free and then help you right after. What... what do you say?" The one who called for his attention immediately suggested, his eyes almost giving off the vines of someone who was at the brink of losing his sanity.

Alain could remember the times when his Father would make notes about fear and what it does to one’s mentality. His Father never really considered making him avert his stare, cause he felt he wouldn’t understand the things written, but he did, a unique part of his abilities that he never told anyone, not even his Mother, at least not yet, and those symptoms he had seen were clearly visible in the gaze of the four boys staring at him.

He had a feeling that if he gave the keys to them, they wouldn’t fulfill their part of the deal.

"Don’t listen to them." Lily’s soft, but wary voice found its way to Alain’s keen ears, and he met her purple eyes. "They won’t give it back."

"Shouldn’t we work together to free ourselves, including everyone?" Asked the boy, "or do you intend to free yourselves and leave the rest of us behind?"

"How should we trust that that isn’t our thoughts but yours?" Alain replied back, "I’m not giving the key to anyone."

"Listen here!" The other boy in the next cage snapped. "Aren’t you a little too little to bear such a silver tongue?"

"Aren’t you a little too little to act like a bully? If you wanna beg for something that isn’t yours, at least do it right." Alain deadpanned, his expression defining the stubbornness within him, whilst the boys in the cage were slowly starting to lose it, but, however, managed to restrain themselves.

"Listen, you’re right. If we don’t get out of here now, we can become the next victim to that witch. You have the key that can set everyone free, give them to me, I’m the tallest that means I can reach the locks quicker. Once I’m out, your cage will be the next thing I’ll unlock, besides, you have no idea on how to unlock a cage."

Alain gazed at the boy who was trying his possible best to make sense, and when Alain looked at the rest of his little cellmate, they gave him the slight nod of approval. If they can’t reach the locks, might as well find someone who is capable of reaching their’s, so they can help everyone flee from here.

After coming to the decision, Alain reached his small hands into his pocket and brought out the keys. He tossed it to the next cell, and the sound of the key causing a ’clanging’ sound made everyone freeze. For a moment, no one moved, and as time passed by with the monsters not showing up, the boy at the other cage immediately reached for the key, grabbing a hold of it.

He didn’t hesitate and immediately tried to unlock his cell. The rest of the children in other cages had leaned forward, their hands clutching the cell bars as they anticipated for the cage to be opened. Some of the children held their breath at the sound of a ’click!’ whilst signaling the cages lock being opened. With a gentle push, they opened their cage and stepped out.

The rest of the children were happy, but they held onto their excitement until they were freed as well. Lily and the rest also had a smile dawning on their features, and they whispered for the boys who were out to unlock their cage as well. To their dismay, they were immediately ignored by these boys who were still rejoicing over their freedom.

"Our cage." Liam raised his voice slightly, reminding them of their promise, but to everyone’s shock, the boys stuck out their tongue at them and said,

"If we all leave together, there’s not a chance that we’ll make it. Stay here while I get the adults, okay?"

"That wasn’t our promise." Alain remained seated where he was, but the boys simply ignored all of them and began to race towards the entrance.

"Are they really getting away?" Lily’s eyes were already pooled with tears as she watched them make a run for it. However, her pupils dilated when the exit door suddenly opened, and two grotesque guards emerged, making the four boys halt with a look of dread on their faces.

When the guards cleared the path, Carmela stepped forward with a malicious smile, and she counted the boys.

"One, two, three, four." She took the key from one of their grips, "just the amount I needed, take them to the other room." She ordered, and everyone’s faces turned aghast as the boys were immediately taken to the other room. Carmela followed behind, and when she was out of sight, the rest of the children immediately lost their hope and sank back to the bare ground.

The silence that weighed the air was palpable, but Lily still knelt close to the iron bars, her small hand gripping them, whilst her gaze was fixed on the door Carmela had used.

"They won’t come back, will they?" Lily stammered, "do you think there’s a portal behind that door? What if they’re been transported to a different place? Somewhere not scary like here." Lily’s petrified mind tried to think of only positivity, and Alain had thought the same as well, but his body automatically tensed when a metallic scent hit his nostrils, and he froze.

"Ali?" Mark, who noticed the sudden peculiar action from the boy, asked. "Did you see something?" He immediately followed Alain’s line of sight, but there was nothing there.

Alain’s eyes moved to Mark and the rest of them. Rather than saying what he felt, he reached into his pocket and brought out the spare key he had hidden. The sight of another key elicited gasps from the three, and they immediately crawled back to Alain’s side, shielding him so no one could gaze upon what he was presently showing to them.

"Another–"

"The keys are removable." He let them know, speaking more softly than last time. "My mama and papa always carry spare keys whenever they leave the house. I gave him the keys and kept a spare one."

"How do you come up with this?" Liam asked, but Alain gave him the spare keys. frёewebηovel.cѳm

"Keep the key, you’re a bit taller than me so it should stay with you instead. When the witch is gone, try to see if you can reach the locks with your hands first, then use the key." He advised, and Liam didn’t hesitate to receive it. Presently, he saw Alain as the smart one amongst them, so he was going to listen to him.

When the door suddenly opened, the four children scattered, wisely separating themselves from one another. Carmela stepped out of the other chamber, whilst she made her way towards Alain’s cage. Hearing the locks click, a terrified gasp escaped their lips, and she reached for Alain, taking him out of the cage and locking it back.

She looked into his eyes that gazed back at her, and she smiled deviously. Deep down, she hated how he always tested her patience with this attitude of his.

.

"Come with me." Rather than taking him into the other chamber, she took him out of the dungeon instead.

Read 𝓁atest chapters at fr(e)ewebnov𝒆l.com Only