The hallway ended in a wall, but she could feel the caress of barely flowing air against her skin. Cassie ran her fingers over the wall as she searched for something that would help get her past this. Her fingers picked up on a latch set above her head and to the left. She hesitated as memories of being trapped beneath the school, locked within a cell, and tortured for the pleasure of twisted men assailed her.
She didn't know what was beyond this wall, what secrets it held, or if she would be able to escape it again. She sensed that Luther was here though, that this is where they had taken him in order to lure her here. A trickle of sweat slid down her spine, her hand shook as she clung to the small switch.
She didn't know what was hidden behind this door, but no matter what she couldn't leave him there. Cassie pulled the switch down and stepped back as a small door swung open within the wall. Sickly radiance spilled around her feet, the stench of death caused her stomach to roll at the same time that exhilaration tore through her.
Her fangs sprang free as the coppery tang of blood wafted over her. She stepped through the door and grasped hold of it before it could slam shut on her. She hesitated in the doorway, there had to be a latch on this side that would open the door, but she didn't plan to waste time trying to locate it when they evacuated here.
She glanced around the dimly lit hall, but there was nothing within reach that could help her. Adjusting her stance she shivered as she slipped her jacket off. Balling it up, she propped it in the doorway and made sure that it was enough to keep the door from locking shut again. She moved cautiously down the hall but she had no doubt that they already knew she was here.
The hall reminded her of the setup beneath the school. The small rooms on the side of the hall held cots, but none of them seemed to be occupied right now. Another room held a contraption that resembled the room where she'd been repeatedly electrocuted. A shudder tore through her at the same time an impotent fury began to escalate toward higher and higher levels. This place was The Commission at work again, and if they had harmed Luther, or if they felt they were going to take her prisoner again, they had another thing coming.
She felt bad about what she'd done to the vampire, but here, now, she would not feel guilty. If she came across them in here, she wouldn't hesitate to rip out their throats. In fact, much to her disgust, she knew that she would take great pleasure in it. Cassie turned the corner and stopped as she came upon a large, glass window. The room behind the glass was hidden in shadows but Luther's scent was stronger here. She pressed her fingers against the glass as her enhanced eyesight began to pick up details of the interior.
There was a bed within, and what appeared to be a person on top. It was a trap; it had to be a trap but she knew it was Luther on that bed. She nearly bolted into the room but managed to stop herself before she did. Luther may be in that room, but there were others watching over her, just waiting for her to mess up. She already felt that they'd made the worst move of all by entering this house, but she couldn't reverse that one. She could keep herself from doing something just as stupid again though.
She turned away from the room to study the dim hallway. The lack of illumination wasn't a hindrance to her, but it would be to the people trying to keep them here. She suspected that they had some surprise up their sleeves, some way to come at her without actually confronting her. They'd had her once before, and she'd barely gotten away with her life. They wouldn't allow her to escape this time. She just didn't know how the children fit into this, or what they planned on doing to her and Luther. Whatever it was though, she had to keep her wits about her if she was going to get them out of this. She had to go on the offensive, had to go after them, and destroy them.
She moved swiftly into the room on her right and flipped on the switch. There was no point in trying to stay hidden at this point. They'd known where she was from the minute she'd entered this freak show of a house. Cassie swept through the room as she searched for something she could use as a weapon.
They had pumped gas into the rooms that she and Julian had been kept in before and they had drugged their food supply. The gas they'd put into Julian's room had to have been different than the gas they'd put into her room. Julian hadn't required air and neither did she anymore. The gas would have to be absorbed into their bodies in a completely different way, perhaps through their skin. Cassie glanced at the walls and ceiling, but she saw no vents in this room. These rooms had been designed to lock away something that wasn't as lethal as she and Julian.
The children, the creepy children who had sat wordlessly by as that woman had led them through the seemingly innocent home. Had they come all this way just to discover that there was nothing worth saving within the children anymore? That they had endured something within these rooms that had rendered them unsalvageable?
Cassie refused to believe that as her thoughts turned to the boy. There had been something worth saving within that angelic face and astute eyes. He had thought her an angel, his angel. If there was nothing left there to save than he wouldn't have welcomed her here, he wouldn't have thought of her as his savior. There had to be something here worth saving.
Cassie strode back out of the room and looked to make sure Luther was still present on the bed before entering the room across the hall. She wished she still had her jacket. If it was a gas that was absorbed through the skin, the extra material would have come in handy. As it was, she didn't think her thin sweater would keep her protected once she entered Luther's room.
It was in the third room that she finally found something of a little use to her. Three sheets had been left behind on one of the cots. She hastily ripped one into pieces and wrapped it around all of her exposed skin and head. She tucked the other one beneath her clothes and carried the last one for Luther. She doubted it was enough protection but there wasn't much else she could do.
She swept through the remaining rooms but found nothing else of use. In the last room she tipped the cot over and busted the legs off of it. Though she carried a stake she knew she would require more weapons. Unfortunately she didn't think that the two metal legs would be enough either.
She slapped them against her palm as she exited the room again. Her jacket was still tucked into the door, but she had a feeling that once she went in after Luther, that jacket would be removed. She shuddered at the thought, but there was nothing that she could do about it. Feeling like a Mummy, Cassie returned to the glass window outside of Luther's room. She had to get in and out as quickly as possible. She hovered in the doorway and peered into the room as she tried to learn as much about it as she could. There were vents in the ceiling that were most likely already omitting some type of drug.