Flowing Red Colours

"This is it! Definitly!", Claire thought inwardly to herself. This had to be the key she was looking for! The key to the metal cages and towards the freedom of her friends!

A small conflict broke out inside her mind, the situation was excessively dangerous! One wrong step and that monster or that guy could wake up ... and her live would be forfeited!

But the solution to most of her and everyone's current problems lied directly in front of her! She just needed to grab it!

Finally she decided to do it, despite all the risks involved. Otherwise she might regret this decision and her indecisiveness for the rest of her life!

She took small steps forward, one after another. First she got onto the floor and then moved towards the desk. As silent as a ghost she tried to close in on her goal.

But then suddenly, the guy on the bed began to move from on side to the other! That sudden reaction made Claire flinch back a little and the wooden ground started to make small noises as she had put too much weight on her back leg!

The noises startled Claire and a heavy pressure stopped her from continuing. She prayed to god, that nobody realized what had happened just now! Her breathing quickened, but when she noticed how none of the beast's head or the guy on the bed reacted she forcefully calmed herself down and stopped herself from heaving a sigh of relief.

Sweat droplets trickled down her forehead but she couldn't care less at the moment. Every step felt like a step on a tight rope and any misstep would cause her downfall into the deep deep abyss below her.

She got closer and closer and then finally, she reached the desk.

She didn't hesitate and grabbed the book silently together with the key inside.

Now that she had accomplished her goal, she realized how her back and her clothes were drenched in cold sweat. The beast right next to her was peaceful and seemingly asleep.

It still felt extremely weird to see such a weird creature up-close. Was it a weird mutant? Some genetic defect?

She had heard of siamese twins but she had never seen three heads on a huge dog-like beast!

The three heads moved independent from one another.

When breathing in and out, their snouts blew wide open and then closed again. Sometimes one head moved from one side to the next while the other's just stood still and quite.

It was actually a sweet picture but she knew this beast would probably have only one thought in mind when discovering Claire sneaking inside the room, to rip her into shreds!

After having enough of this strange sight, Claire moved back to the stairs as quietly as she came. Only when reached the stairs one floor below, did she breath out a huge sigh of relief. Everything seemed to have worked out well without any hiccups, that it felt surreal. Almost to perfect, but she didn't care much about it and moved on.

She slowly made her way down and reached the ground floor again. Vincent was there looking at her relieved and glad to see her ok. He had unconsciously clenched his fists all this time till they turned white but now he could release them again.

"And? Did you succeed?", he asked her.

"Yeah, here is the key. You won't believe me what I saw there!"

"Let's leave it for later!", he said eagerly and took the key.

The gleam in the old man's eyes in the cage next to them grew stronger and stronger when he saw Claire coming back down without any harm or injury, but his thoughts remained a mystery.

Vincent went to the cage where his classmates where imprisoned and put the key into the hole while talking to Kyle and Lora:

"Don't worry guy's, just wait for a second and we will get you out of this hellhole ...", but when he tried to turn the key around inside the key hole his cheerfulness got stuck in his throat. His eyes were fixed on the key hole and he tried to turn it around and open the cage but ... it didn't budge a single millimeter!

He tried it again and again but all his attempts proved to be futile!

Claire approached him and asked, already sensing a bad premoniton:

"What's wrong Vince?"

"The key ... it doesn't fit! I am afraid it's not the right one!"

"This can't be! It was the only one there! It has to be!"

Her eyes stared wide open at the golden key she so painstakingly tried to attain - with success! But now it seemed that all her efforts had been completely in vain. When she saw the key lying on the book, it felt like a fateful encounter or a sign from god! But now it turned out to be nothing more than her wishful thinking!

"No! No! We can't stop here! I will go back and look once more! It has to be there somewhere, I must have overlooked it!"

But before she could turn around, Vincent had grabbed her arm and told her in a serious tone:

"No, we can't do that!"

"But ..."

"No, but's! We tried it and we failed! Now is not the right time to look through his house! It will be like searching a needle in a haystack! And time is not in our favour!", He turned to Kyle and Lora,

"I am sorry we couldn't help you for now, but don't worry! I promise we will definitely come back for you! Just hang on for a little while more!"

Kyle and Lora looked disappointed that it didn't work out but they nodded their heads as a sign of acceptance. They were already glad that they weren't completely alone and that there was still hope left for them to survive!

Just when they were about to turn around and leave the hall, a quite but distinctive voice sounded out from the entrance.

"Hehehe where do you think you are going? If you're already here, why not stay for a little bit more? I am sure you will like it in our small but fun camp here!"

That voice sent chills down the children's spines! It was the guy they had listened to not so long ago!

They looked at the origin of the voice and what they saw made their hearts and blood feel freezing cold!

Panda stood in front of a tall guy, his hands clutching his waist where small red droplets where falling onto the ground. His face was pale and sweat trickled down his forehead.

"I am sorry ...", he breathed out his last words before he fell down onto the ground, not enough strength left to support himself.