Chapter 48

When the door opened, Thalia was admittedly surprised by two things. One was that the self inflicted wound on the inside of her leg stayed open long enough for her plan to work and two, that the doctor had fallen for her trap.

She hadn't had a lot to work with and it had taken some time for Thalia to admit to herself that this potentially fatal plan was her only hope of getting out of her prison and getting to safety. Dante had gone off somewhere and taken Ms Thorton with him. Thalia wasn’t sure how big her window of opportunity was but what she did know was she intended to be well away from this place by time her captor returned. Thalia and the other girls had been left under the watch of the new doctor who was as creepy as he was arrogant. His pale blue eyes often had Thalia's skin crawling but she had gathered from his appearance that he wouldn't be too hard to take down even with Thalia being pregnant and wounded.

So all Thalia needed to do was lure him in. She couldn't get out without the doctor's help even if that help might be forced. He wouldn't bother for something mild like a headache or touch of nausea but Thalia had no doubts that if the babies were in jeopardy then the doctor would be in like a flash, giving her the window she needed to break free.

Using a glass she broke in the bathroom sink under a pillow, Thalia had used a shard of glass to cut the inside of the thighs to make it look like she was suffering a serious bleed related to the pregnancy. The plan had worked perhaps a little too well and Thalia was grateful when she felt her skin beginning to stitch back together while she waited for medical assistance. There was certainly enough blood everywhere to make anyone think something bad had happened and Thalia herself was feeling a little woozy by the end of it but her plan worked.

"Let's get you to the infirmary and see what's going on." The doctor pushed a wheelchair into the room quickly, assisting Thalia into the chair as she groaned in pain. "When did the bleeding start?"

"I don't know, maybe twenty minutes ago." Thalia replied, having no idea what to say and hoping she was making it convincing enough. "Oh goddess it hurts!"

"We are nearly there." The doctor replied as he rushed through the empty halls.

And the halls really were empty. Thalia had been certain that there would be people around. Although maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise given that Thalia recalled vividly how people only seem to appear when Dante required them. Ms Thorton had been the only one that had been around consistently and even then she only appeared when there was a reason for it.

What Thalia could work out was that they were in a city or at the very least, the suburbs of one. It was dark out but through the windows the doctor pushed her past, she could see the glittering lights of the city against the orangy black night sky. They were too far away for Thalia to see any signs or hints of where they might be exactly but a city meant they were close to some form of help. All Thalia had to do was get rid of the doctor.

The lanky doctor pushed the wheelchair into a small looking doctor's office. It looked like a typical GP doctor's space with posters about different parts of the anatomy and files stuffed onto a shelf alongside medical journals. It all seemed innocuous enough but Thalia's eyes were on the canister of oxygen by the examination table immediately.

"Okay hop on the bed and let's get you looked at." The man asked as he turned away to rummage through draws looking for equipment he would need.

Thalia got up from the wheelchair but didn't move to get onto the bed. Instead she grabbed the large canister, grateful for her preternatural strength and silence as she lifted it enough so she could swing it towards the doctor's head. The canister connected with the man's head with a metallic bang, the doctor's head jolting forward to smack against the cupboard before him. He crumpled to the floor like a house of cards, the metallic scent of blood filling the air.

Thalia didn't have time to feel bad about seriously hurting someone. She would no doubt have some regrets later but then again this guy gave her the creeps and she couldn't help but wonder if he had a chequered past like it turned out doctor McKinley had.

For a few moments, silence filled the room as Thalia looked down at the lifeless form before her, the sound of her heavy breathing the only thing breaking up the silence. She had half expected the doctor to jump up suddenly and lunge at her but the pool of blood forming around him on the grey laminate flooring suggested otherwise. Thalia shook the shock off of herself and quickly moved around the room looking for supplies and a change of clothing. She found some scrubs in a storage cupboard but there wasn't anything else of use so she changed out of the bloodied dress before rushing to open the door.

However the door wouldn't budge, making Thalia curse, frustration building within her like an unbearable ache.

"Come on!" She hissed, trying to pull it open with her strength but getting nowhere.

How did the doors not just open in this place? Thalia had never seen anyone use a key and yet the doors only opened for certain people or for certain reasons. The door to her prison never once budged when she tried the door and yet Ms Thorton, the doctor and Dante had walked in and out as if it was nothing more than a bedroom door. So how were they doing it? Thalia found herself examining the door before her for any clue but aside from the handle, the door was nothing more than a solid white piece of material which just wouldn't budge.

Turning to the body on the floor, Thalia couldn't help but grimace. She really didn't want to go anywhere near the prone man but she needed to find a key or something to help her open the door. It took a few calming breaths before she even took a step towards the man and knelt down to pay his pockets. However, they too were empty and there was no keycard or ID around his neck.

"How the hell are you opening the doors then?" Thalia sighed in frustration as she examined the body, her gaze coming to a stop of the man's hand. "Oh, no."

Thalia hadn't seen anyone use a key but what she had seen was everyone touching the door handle. Was it some type of new technology using finger printing? No, that seemed a little far fetched. She was no technology expert but as far as she could tell, that required a scanner. This was something less technological and something more to do with Dante and his evil powers. Why rely on gadgets when you had abilities that were much more reliable?

Deciding to test her theory, Thalia forced herself to grab the doctor's arm and dragged him towards the door. It wasn't impossible for her but after losing blood and also carrying two babies in her belly, it had her panting by the time she was able to place the doctor's limp hand on the door handle. The door opened immediately with a soft click before swinging back slowly to reveal the empty corridor with its soft lighting and shadows.

So Thalia's theory had been right. The key was their hands. That proved interesting but threw up a new issue. How was she going to get the other doors open? She couldn't drag the unconscious man around. She would be exhausted before she was even at the first door.

Eyeing the doctor and then the wheelchair he had used to wheel Thalia in, an idea started forming and Thalia moved quickly, heaving the dead weight of the male into the seat. She found some gauze to tie the man's limbs to the footrest and the arm rest, making sure one arm had enough moveability so she could still use the hand to open the door.

"Okay, doc." Thalia huffed as she moved the wheelchair to head out. "Let's find the others."

However, as Thalia was well aware of, nothing was ever easy.

"Where are they?" Thalia muttered as another door swung open revealing an empty room.

It felt like she had been at this all night without any success, the threat of Dante returning very much on Thalia's mind. It probably had only been an hour but what had become apparent was that this place had a lot of rooms and for whatever reason, the girls were spread through the strange building. Sighing, she pushed the wheelchair to the next door, trying to ignore the fact that her hostage hadn’t stirred since she cracked his skull open with the oxygen tank and that his skin felt a little cooler than normal when she lifted his hand to open the doors. She didn’t want to deal with the fact she might have killed someone, not right now anyway. Right now she needed to focus. When they were all safe she would allow herself some time to deal with this unfortunate turn of events.

She had half expected that there would be another empty room behind the next door she targeted but just as she neared it, she heard movement from within, her heart skipping into a rapid beat. She quickly manoeuvred the wheelchair so she could use the doctor’s hand to press the door handle down and push the door open.

“Laila!” Thalia gasped, relief flooding her as the door fell open to reveal her friend.

“Oh my goodness, Thalia?” Laila looked shocked to see the she-wolf standing in the door. “How did you get out? Her dark brown eyes soon flicked to the prone body in the wheelchair. “Oh god, is he dead?”

“I don’t know.” Thalia confessed. “We have to hurry, I’ll explain everything later but we need to find the others and get out of here before Dante comes back. We are all in danger if we stay here.”

“I know where the others are.” Laila’s eyes brightened as she grabbed a long scarf made of light breathable material and quickly arranged it into a hijab. “You really should check if he’s dead.”

“I really would prefer not to.” Thalia confessed as she followed her friend. “Besides, I would have preferred not to bring him with me but I need his hand to open the doors.”

“Why didn’t you just cut it off?”

Thalia’s eyes widened as she stared at Laila in disbelief.

“What?” Laila asked innocently. “If he’s dead then he isn’t going to need it.”

Thalia didn’t want to admit Laila had a point and so chose not to say anything as they hurried to the next door.

“Svetlana!” Laila called through a door, knocking on the wood gently. “Svet, are you awake?”

“I am now!” A feminine russian voice barked back, muffled by the door. “Laila, is that you? How did you get out of your room?”

Laila grinned and practically dragged the limp doctor to the door (albeit with Thalia’s help when the she-wolf saw what she was doing) and used his hand to open the door. Inside, Svetlana was sat on the edge of a bed, her belly equally as swollen as Laila’s and her eyes bleary with sleep. Her blonde hair hung down in messy tresses. For some reason, Thalia wasn’t surprised to see the blonde in a grey sweatshirt and red plaid PJ bottoms.

“We’re busting out!” Laila announced, still grinning like a kid at christmas. “Grab your shoes and help us get the others.”

“Are the nurse and doctor helping? Why is the doctor in a wheelchair?”

“She’s not a nurse, it’s Thalia, she’s breaking us out with the help of the doctor’s hand.” Laila rolled her eyes.

“Okay but if you only needed his hand why didn’t you just cut it off? He looks very dead to me and he won’t need it anymore.” Svetlana replied as she found some shoes and pulled them on.

“That’s what I said.” Laila replied, glancing at Thalia. “I think Thalia is squeamish.”

“I am not!” Thalia argued, shifting uncomfortably. “I just don’t want to know if I accidentally killed someone.”

“You’re a were-wolf and you’re upset by the idea of killing?” Svetlana shook her head. “This world really is fucked up.”

“Okay enough analysing my life choices, can we please find the others and get out of here before Dante turns up?” Thalia grumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

“You two get the others, I’m going to see if I can find a car or something.” Svetlana replied with a determined look in her eyes. “We’re going to need wheels if a pack of heavily pregnant women want to get anywhere fast.”