The Darkness Within Her

Chapter- 6

Christy

The basement was packed with children of varying ages, the oldest looked thirteen. They were all bound to each other by chains. All their hands and legs were bound tightly to prevent them from running away. They all looked malnourished and cold with the way they were all huddled together. They were all blindfolded and gagged.

The basement was freezing cold. There were wet patches here and there. One even looked like the remnants of vomit. The whole place smelled like blood, piss and vomit. It was a wonder that these children even survived this.

The entire room was very small. It did not have any windows. There was a narrow slit near the roof. There wasn't much light. Most of the room was illuminated by moonlight and three candles. I guess during daytime it was better.

I had swiped a bunch of keys from one of the guards after killing him.

Hearing my footsteps all the children became alert. They were all very stiff. Some of them had silent tears running down their faces. But no even one of them made any sound. It saddened me to look at them.

Steeling myself I took the keys that I had swiped from my pocket. I began opening the locks that had bound the chains. As I unlocked all the locks, I could see the confusion that came across the faces of all the children.

"You are all safe. I'm here to free you all from here. I want all of you to keep calm and not make any noise, else you will alert the leader and the other guards.", I warned them.

"Also remove the blindfolds and gags.", I continued.

Hearing this, they were quick to remove all the bindings. Even though I had told them that I would free them they still looked at me sceptically, almost like they expected this to be some kind of trick.

I could see the distrust very evident in the eyes of the older ones.

I reassured them,"Don't worry, it's not a trick. I'm really going to free you all."

I knew that I wouldn't have much time until one of the guards realised that a lot of their people were dead. I had to move quickly and get the children outside where it would be easier for them to escape incase something happened to me while I went after the leader.

"We need to move fast before the guards come.", I told them.

I led the way out keeping an eye out for any guards that I had missed to kill. Thankfully we did not encounter anyone.

Reaching outside I took them to a clearing among the trees. I called forward one of the older kids. It was a boy name Alec. Pointing towards a trail I told, "If you follow this trail, it will lead you to the Streets. Wait for the sun to rise. After that I want you to go to Luna Lair. On reaching there show this ring to one of the men stationed there. They will provide you with safety and shelter."

I gave the kid one of the rings that adorned my fingers. It had an insignia. Anyone in the Streets who saw that ring would know that it belonged to me. Seeing the ring Alec looked at me as recognition flared in his eyes. Looks like he had heard about me or atleast about my works. I could see some of the fear leaving him. He knew of my reputation.

"I will come back for you later on."

After listening to my instructions, the kids left. I let out a sigh knowing that they will be fine now as long as they listened to my instructions.

Part one of my mission was over. Now I only had to kill the leader. Only then would it be safe for the kids to live peacefully and not always look behind their backs in fear.

I entered the building again, hopefully for the last time.