Escape

I carefully peek around the corner at the basement door and see Henry guarding the door.

I quickly look around for something to throw only for my eyes to land on a forgotten penny.

"I hope this works" I whisper out as I grab the penny

I take a deep breath before chucking the penny down the hallway causing it to make a loud ding.

I quietly hide behind a chair when I hear footsteps coming my way.

I hear his footsteps stop in front of me which has my whole body freezing up.

Shit, shit, shit.

He suddenly turns around and continues to walk in the other direction.

Thank you, Jesus.

I carefully stand up and sneak past him. I make sure to quiet my footsteps but still be fast.

I turn the doorknob and notice that it's unlocked. I push the door open and slide in before closing behind me.

"Aspen?" I hear Carolina ask

"Yes, I'm here to untie you" I say as I lock the door

I walk towards them and stop in front of Carolina. I lean over and carefully untie her wrists which are a bright red color.

I look over at Kayden and notice him fast asleep.

I roll my eyes as I walk over to him and quickly untie his wrists and ankles.

Those knots were not easy to untie either.

I'm just a little more experienced since Henry grounded me for a whole week and showed me how to tie and untie these knots.

That might've been the only useful thing that he taught me.

"Do I smell pizza?!" I say excitedly while fake sniffing

"Pizza! Where?!" Kayden yells out as he jumps out of his seat which causes Carolina and I to laugh

"There's no pizza" Carolina says

Kayden just frowns at us with an unamused facial expression.

As soon as Carolina and I stop laughing I hear a voice outside of the door.

"Go find Thunder, I'll check on the prisoners" I hear Henry say as he twists the door knob

Shit.

Good thing I locked it.

"Hide just incase he gets the door open" I whisper to them

"There's nowhere to hide" Kayden says in a 'duh' tone

Wow, he's really not a morning person.

I look around and spot a weird crack in the wall. I walk over to the wall and look closely at the defined crack.

This doesn't look like real brick.

"Carolina, come here" I say as I reach up to feel the bricks

It doesn't feel like brick either.

It feels like clay.

I hear her slowly walk up beside me.

"Feel this" I say gesturing to the spot that I was feeling

She arches her eyebrow in question before doing as I said and becoming confused.

"Do you think that this may be a secret door?" She questions as she continues to feel the fake brick design

"There's only one way to find out" I say

Carolina and I carefully place both of our hands on the fake brick before pushing on it which causes the wall to move and reveal a lighted tunnel.

"Woah" Kayden says from behind us

I hear Henry violently bang on the door which makes its hinges rattle.

Shit.

"Come on, I'll lead the way" I say as I walk into the tunnel. Carolina and Kayden follow me shortly after.

I quickly close the tunnel door so Henry won't follow us.

"Which way?" Carolina asks as she points to the three halls in front of us

"How about each one of us take one" Kayden suggests

"No, that'll probably end up bad" I say as I think of every scary movie ever

"Let's try the middle one" I suggest.

-

I don't know how long these tunnels have been here but I think that it's been a couple of years.

It smells like rotten eggs and dirty socks.

A deadly combination.

I keep running into spider webs too.

I'm lucky that I don't have arachnophobia.

"Ew, I ran into another spider web" Kayden whines from behind me

"Shut up, your voice is echoing" Carolina whispers to him before she continues walking beside me

Carolina and I somehow haven't ran into any webs while Kayden runs into one every couple seconds.

"I think I see a light" I whisper as my eyes land on a yellow dot

"What if we die trying to find an exit?" Kayden questions which causes Carolina and I to stop walking and turn to face him

He's really thinking about this now.

"Like the saying 'I would rather die trying'" he says

Carolina walks over to Kayden and places her hand on his shoulder.

"I'll give you free slushees for a year if you stop talking right now" She says with a calm tone that has an edge.

She quickly turns away and walks in front of us as if nothing happened.

I jog to catch up to her before falling into sync with her fast paced steps.

"Are you okay?" I ask her with a concerned tone

"I'm fine" she says as she continues to speed towards the light

"Carolina, have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?" I ask her

"I don't know, have you?" She questions bitterly

What?!

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask

"Your dad got us into this mess so it's only logical to think that you may be helping them" she says with a shrug

Is she serious right now?!

"I don't even like Henry, what makes you think that I'd work with him?" I question

"You ironically broke up with Charlotte the day she and I found out about your father's plan" she points out

"I broke up with her because she insinuated that I can't protect myself, my father has nothing to do with that" I say matter of factly

"Then why did you meet up with him two days later?" She questions accusingly

"Because I wanted answers, which I got" I say

"We already knew he was in the van" she says with an eye roll

"He wasn't in the van, one of his buddies were in the van" I say since I've seen who was sitting in the car

"Yeah, you would know who was in the van" she says with an accusing tone

"Guys, lets all just be calm and-" Kayden starts to say carefully but we interrupt him

"Stay out of it, Kayden!" Carolina and I yell to him at the same time

"What have I ever done to you?" I ask Carolina with a serious tone

"As of recently you've just been making mistake after mistake, but this time you dragged us into one of your mistakes" she says with a frustrated tone

"Mistake after mistake?" I question

"Yes, you left our house when we told you not to and you met with your father" she says

"I didn't think that he was capable of this" I say honestly

My dad is usually all talk and no action with me.

"Never underestimate a gang leader" she says with a hidden tone

What?!

I'm about to ask her what she means but I'm interrupted by a voice.

"Did you miss me?" Charlotte says from behind us with a smirk

I turn around and look at her in shock.

"Where did you come from?!" I question

"There's secret doors all around this house, you'd be surprised" Charlotte replies with a small laugh

"Is there any chance that you know where that light leads to?" I ask her as I point to the yellow dot of light

"The side of the building" she says as if she's trying to remember

"Outside?" I ask curiously

"I believe so" she replies.

The four of us continue to walk silently as we make our way towards the 'light of hope.'

I pray that this works.

-

After what feels like forty five minutes later we suddenly stop in front of a door.

I open the door which reveals a grassy patch of land.

We're definitely not in the city anymore.

We pile out of the tunnel and observe our surroundings in confusion.

"Did you call the gang members?" I ask Charlotte

I will never get used to her being in a gang.

I need to ask her about it later.

"Yeah, they should be arriving soon" she says as she ties her hair up into a ponytail

Her arms slightly flex as she pulls her hair up which causes me to admire her.

Very blatantly might I add.

"Stare all you want, it's all yours" she says as she wraps her arms around my hips

"Don't get cocky on me now, Wilder" I tease her back

"Way to take all the fun out of it" she jokes and kisses my forehead before backing away

"If you two think that you're 'just friends' then you obviously don't know how friends act around each other" Kayden says from beside us

"I never said we were just friends" Charlotte says with a wink before walking away

Kayden turns to me and studies me thoroughly.

"What?" I ask

"You're a pillow princess aren't you?" He questions which makes my eyes widen in shock

"A what?" I asks

"Pillow princess" he repeats

"What is that?" I ask with a confused tone

"During sexual intercourse it's someone that typically receives everything but gives nothing in return" he explains

"Oh" I say with a blush

"Are you one?" He questions seriously

"Yes" I reveal with a defeated tone

"Aspen" he whisper yells at me in a scolding tone before gently hitting my shoulder

"You need to give her some, immediately" he says

"I can't give her head right now" I state the obvious

"I'm talking about afterwards you exhibitionist" he says with an eye roll

"Okay, I'll try" I say with a head nod

"Good, you better do it first before someone else comes along and ruins it," he says

"She's gorgeous, confident, smart, kind, the list goes on" he says which makes me feel slightly jealous

I have no right to be jealous.

Even though everything he said is true I still feel a little territorial around her.

"She's one of a kind" I say with a stupid smile

"Then make her feel that way" he says before walking off towards Carolina

I look over at Charlotte and see her talking to a group of people I've never met before.

Here goes nothing.

I walk up the the group of people and quietly stand beside Charlotte.

"Who's this cutie?" A random girl with raven hair questions as she checks me out

"Chill, Aphelia, she's mine" Charlotte says, I don't miss the slight edge in her voice as she wraps her arm around my shoulders

"Who knew you'd fall for an innocent one" a guy with dirty blonde hair jokes

"What can I say? She's had my heart since day one" Charlotte says as she looks down at me

"Okay, enough of the sappy shit" Carolina says as she walks up to the group

"Here's the game plan, everybody listen closely" she says with an evil smirk