Chapter 5 – Breaking Chains
1348 Words
The rain had turned to a steady hiss by the time Ethan reached the ridge overlooking the facility.
The building sat low and squat, more prison than hospital, tucked between rows of wavering trees and wrapped in a tall, rusting fence. The wind carried the sour scent of mildew and bleach even from this distance, Ethan winced. But it wasn’t the smell that set his wolf on edge—it was the silence.
No birds. No crickets. Just concrete and pitiful excuse of grass and withered trees. Nothing seemed to be able to thrive here.
“Perimeter’s clear,” Mira said, crouching beside him in the underbrush. Her dark braid was soaked through, rain sliding down the line of her neck. “Security’s light. Two cameras. "One tired guard.” She said, giving a pitiful shrug.
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “They’re not expecting a retrieval.”
“You sure she’s in there?” Mira asked softly, cynically.
He passed her the photo—worn, water-blotted, folded at the corners. Jane Doe. Blank gown, blank stare. And yet the eyes...
Mira looked at the photo and instantly regretted asking.
“She’s in there,” he said. “And she belongs home.”
Mira said nothing, avoiding doing any more damage, but her hand moved briefly over the hilt of the blade strapped to her thigh.
They would move at twilight.
Disguises were easy—old medical transport uniforms, ID tags lifted from a hacked system Kai had paid for quietly. Ethan had learned long ago that sometimes, wolves needed to play by human rules to protect their own. Had this been werewolf territory, this would have been settled differently.
The paperwork was forged but immaculate. A psych transfer signed by a doctor who didn’t exist.
No one should look too closely.
At the door, the orderly barely blinked.
“We’re here for patient 23-A. Transfer to the northern facility,” Ethan said, voice clipped, official, trying to come across unbothered.
The man squinted at the paperwork, giving it a little more attention than Ethan would have hoped. “She’s not been stable,” He said, now analyzing Ethan's face more closely.
“We know, she’ll be safer there. Authorized by Dr. Meyers,” Ethan lied, a bit of a bold lie to make, but time was of the essence.
"I have my nurse prepped and ready to assist us with her transfer, given her state" he said, gesturing to Mira just behind him. Her medical coat disguising her weapons beneath. They may not be necessary, but better safe than sorry. They were not leaving this place without her.
The man hesitated, gave them a final glance over seemed to shrug to himself and then buzzed them in. The first door clanked. Then another. And then they were inside. Ethans heart pounding.
The corridor smelled like bleach and wet paper. Jane’s wing was near the back—low risk, long-term cases. It took everything in Ethan not to run. His knuckles were white, holding onto the paperwork a bit too tightly, demanding self-control of himself.
When he saw her, he nearly stopped breathing. He nearly seemed to miss her altogether, having to take a few steps back.
She was thinner than he expected. Pale. Hair limp and dull brown. She sat on her bed like a doll placed there by someone else, her knees hugged to her chest, staring out the window as though the storm was something sacred.
But the moment their eyes met through the slot of her bolted door —
His wolf surged forward so violently Ethan had to brace himself. Her scent was faint, dulled by medication, but still there. Still familiar. His own blood answered it like a call.
“Jane?” he said carefully.
She blinked, slowly, her arms dropping to her side, her head lulled toward him. Her pupils were wide. Confused. And yet...
A brief flicker.
Something passed between them. A ripple in the air.
"Nurse unlock this door at once"he ordered with authority, not breaking his eye contact with his sister.
"Sorry, you are Dr ?..." Ethan snapped his gaze to the nurse questioning him, his eyes anchored under his disapproving frown.
"Now"he said, Nurse Shelley let out a little involuntary gasp and her face went pale.
"Apologies Dr," she said, fumbling with the key at the door.
She had hardly swung the door completely open before Ethan was shoving past her to Janes bedside.
Mira is already working on distracting the nurse, requesting her medical files for transfer.
Ethan gently kneeled at her bedside, shaken by her state.
“We’re taking you somewhere safe,” he said, his voice softer now. “You don’t have to stay here.”
She didn’t move. Janes weary eyes shifted from Ethan to Mira, who was now standing in the doorway.
Ethan now looked to Mira too, seemingly asking for help, looking a little lost at the heartlessness of this situation.
Mira approached gently, her hands open, palms exposed. “We’re friends. We’re not going to hurt you. But we need to go now. Can you walk?”
Jane’s eyes flicked between them. Then to the door.
The sound of Nurse Shelley's heels far down the hallway.
Something in her shifted. Her fingers twitched against the sheets.
“I dreamed about this,” she said quietly... I think.
Ethan’s heart stilled.
“You were there. It was you, but not you”, she added, looking at his familiar eyes now—not just through him.
He nodded, emotion choking him. “I’ve been looking for you a long time.”
Behind them, a buzzer cracked. Nurse Shelley's voice over the intercom: “Unit check, all wings.”
Mira moved fast. “Now or never.”
Ethan offered a hand. Jane hesitated.
Then—slowly—she reached for it, pausing her hand in midair. Was this just another hallucination? ... so what if it was, she thought, and grasped Ethan's hand.
Her skin was cold, but her grip was strong.
He pulled her gently to her feet. The blanket slipped from her shoulders. She was barefoot, but she didn’t seem to care.
They moved quickly through the back corridors, Ethan supporting his sister with an arm around her, her frail body not seeming to be able to keep up with the pace they needed. Mira led ahead of them, scanning for any trouble, avoiding cameras, gesturing forward, timing their steps to the beat of thunder and rain.
By the time they reached the perimeter, Jane was trembling but alert, pupils still wide. Mira handed her a coat, and Ethan lifted her easily into the back of the black SUV waiting down the slope between some poor excuses of trees.
Only once the doors were locked and the engine revved did Jane finally speak again.
“You knew my name,” she whispered almost to herself, thinking of her dream, recognizing something familiar about him, like he could be a fragment of the dream itself.
“You knew it once too,” Ethan said. "When we were little. Before they tried to take it from you.”
“What is it?”
“Not yet,” he said gently. “When you’re ready, I’ll remind you.”
She didn’t argue, she didn't have the energy too. This was by far more physical activity she had received than in a whole year itself, her heart still pounding against her chest, her face going a little pale.
Mira worked quickly, strapping Jane in as Ethan now tunnel-visioned down the gravel road, Tires aggressively kicking up stones behind them. He had her with him, but they weren't in the clear quite yet.
She leaned her head back against the seat as Mira seemed to hook a IV drip into Janes arm, Jane unbothered, watching the trees blur past through the window, a faint expression on her face—something between wonder and grief.
Behind her, the facility vanished into the rain.
And ahead?
Whatever it was, it couldn't be worse than this, right ?
...
Right ?
- Writer
