Chapter 68: Not going down without a fight

Dante
The flickering light of the swinging bulb was the only thing that broke the darkness of the cell. The pain in my body was constant, a mix of bruises and cuts that burned with every movement. Mateo and I were chained up, exhausted but not defeated. The torture had been intense, designed to break our spirits, but we hadn't given in yet.
"We have to get out of here, Dante. We can't keep going on like this."
I nodded, though despair was starting to cloud my mind.
"I know, Mateo. But every attempt has failed. We need a new approach."
Mateo looked around the cell, his eyes searching for any weakness in our prison.
"What if we tried to provoke the guards? If one of them comes in here, we could try something."
I sighed, aware of how risky that plan was.
"It's a dangerous gamble. If we fail, they could kill us. But right now, we don't have many options."
The sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor. We looked at each other, knowing that the moment to act might be close. The door creaked open and a guard walked in, his gaze cold and calculating.
"Time for another round, gentlemen."
We braced ourselves for the worst, but this time Mateo took the initiative.
"Hey, bastard! Why don't you come over here and say that to my face?"
The guard paused, taken aback by the defiance. He took a few steps towards Mateo, ready to strike, but Mateo was ready for him. With a swift movement, he kicked the guard in the knee, sending him crashing to the ground. I seized the opportunity and lunged at him, trying to disarm him.
There was a brief struggle, and even though we were chained, we managed to subdue the guard. I snatched the keys from him and passed them to Mateo.
"Quick, open the chains."
Mateo fumbled with the keys, his hands trembling from the adrenaline. Finally, the chains fell off and we were free, at least for now.
"Let's go, we have to move before they send reinforcements."
We ran out of the cell, knowing that our freedom was fleeting if we didn't find an escape route fast. The corridors were a labyrinth, and every corner could be a trap.
"This way," I whispered, pointing to a door at the end of the corridor. We opened it cautiously and found a small storeroom filled with equipment and weapons.
Mateo grabbed a pistol and handed me one.
"This might level the playing field a bit."
I nodded, feeling a glimmer of hope for the first time in days.
"We have to find a way to contact Ana. She needs to know we're alive."
We moved stealthily through the building, avoiding patrols and searching for an exit. The hours felt like days as we made our way, each step more dangerous than the last. Finally, we reached a control room with a radio.
"This is it. We could use this to send a message."
Mateo got to work, trying to tune in the right frequency. The minutes ticked by slowly, and the risk of being discovered grew with each second.
"Got it," he finally announced. "Dante, you need to talk fast."
I grabbed the microphone, my voice hoarse from disuse.
"Ana, if you can hear this, we're alive. Mateo and I are trapped, but we're trying to escape. Don't trust anyone until we get there. We're coming for you. I promise."
There was a moment of silence that I hoped wouldn't last too long, but it did. There was no response, the signal cut out, and we knew our time was running out.
"Let's go, we have to get out of here," Mateo insisted.
We continued our progress, finding a back exit to the building. Freedom was in sight, but we knew the road to Ana would be long and perilous.
"They'll be waiting for us out there," Mateo said, his gaze determined. "But we'll find a way back."
I nodded, sharing his resolve.
"We're going to do this. For Ana, for the team. We can't fail now."
With guns loaded and our spirits stronger than ever, we stepped outside, ready to face whatever it took to get back home. The fight was just beginning, but together, we knew we could overcome any obstacle.
The lights of the outside world were a beacon of hope as we ventured into the unknown. But that hope quickly faded when we heard the roar of engines and the crunch of tires approaching. Mateo and I stopped, knowing that a showdown was inevitable.
A group of vehicles screeched to a halt, and armed men emerged, forming a circle around us. We braced ourselves for a fight, but then, a familiar figure emerged from the lead vehicle.
"Luisa," I snarled, my fists clenched with restrained fury.
She smirked, a cold, calculating smile that made my blood boil.
"Dante, what a pleasure to see you in such a...disgraceful state. It seems your little escape wasn't as successful as you'd hoped."
"What do you want, Luisa?"
She stepped closer, her heels clicking against the silence of the night.
"I want to make sure Ana never knows you're alive. She needs to focus on her true destiny, and you're just a distraction."
Mateo took a step forward, but Luisa raised a hand, stopping him with a gesture.
"Don't bother, Mateo. You don't stand a chance here."
"You're insane if you think Ana will let you manipulate her."
Luisa let out a bitter laugh.
"Ana is strong, but everyone has a breaking point. And when she believes you're dead, it'll be much easier to mold her into my image. I'll make her more powerful than you can imagine, but first, I have to eliminate any weaknesses. And you, Dante, are her biggest weakness."
"You'll never break her spirit. She'll know the truth."
"Not if I make sure there's no evidence of your existence left. My men will make you disappear so completely, not even your bones will remain. I already did it to Paolo, he died and look how devastated she was."
"You're playing with fire, Luisa. If I ever break free, I'm coming for you. And there won't be a place in this world where you can hide."
"Brave to the end, aren't you, Dante? I wonder if Ana will feel the same when she receives your finger as proof of your demise."
The guards started to advance, their weapons ready to subdue us. I looked at Mateo, and he nodded. We knew this was probably our last chance to fight.
Lunging at the guards, we engaged in a desperate struggle. I managed to snatch a weapon from one of them, firing blindly amidst the chaos. Mateo fought back with everything he had, but the numbers were against us.
Luisa stood back, watching with a smug expression on her face.
"No, no, Dante. This is not a fight you can win."
Suddenly, I felt a sharp blow to my back and crashed to the ground. My vision blurred, and I knew I was losing consciousness.
"Take him away. Make sure he can't escape again. And make it believable for Ana."
Before I completely blacked out, Luisa's words echoed in my mind, filling me with impotent fury. I couldn't let her get away with this. For Ana, for our child, for everything we had built.
When I woke up, I was in a different cell, darker and colder than the previous one. The pain in my body was unbearable, but my spirit was not yet broken.
Mateo was by my side, also injured but conscious.
"Dante, we have to find a way out of here. We can't let Luisa win."
"I know, Mateo. But we're in a much worse situation now. She's going to make Ana believe I'm dead. We have to act fast."
"But how? We have no weapons, no plan."
"We'll use whatever we have. Our strength, our determination. We can't give up."
The sound of footsteps approached again, and I knew the torture was far from over. But this time, it would not just be physical. Luisa was determined to break me mentally, to erase me from Ana's life once and for all.
"We're going to get out of this, Dante. No matter what it takes."
No matter what Luisa did, no matter how many times they beat us down. For Ana, for our child, for the promise I had made her, I would fight until my last breath.
The guards entered again, but this time, their eyes held an even more intense coldness. Luisa had prepared them to crush any hope we might have. But what they didn't know was that our hope could not be destroyed so easily.
"We're going to teach this witch a lesson," I whispered to Mateo as we got up. "We're not going to give up."
With one last glance down the corridor, I knew the road to freedom would be long and painful. But with every step, with every blow, we were closer to returning to where we belonged. And there would be no force in this world that could stop us.