Chapter 323: Wrong Escape
"Isn’t it supposed to be easy? I watch my parents do it all the time." Mark, who had been quiet all through, finally voiced out his thoughts. He crawled towards the cell bar and pressed his face against it, his eyes traveling out only to settle at the keyhole on the top.
"There!" He softly exclaimed, pointing at the lock. "If we can fit it through then we have more chances at leaving. There’s still a problem because the keyhole seems taller than us. We won’t be able to reach the lock." He turned to look at Alain who pressed his lips into a thin line, his brown eyes appearing slightly distant, as if considering other options, but a sudden ’psst!’ from the next cage drew his attention.
Turning his head to the cage that was an arms length distant from their own, his eyes landed on a group of boys who appeared to be older, plausibly with a three years difference. They were gazing at him with expectant eyes, and from their odd behavior, Alain was wise enough to guess that they must know about the key in his grasp. The looks they gave him were desperate, making him feel uncomfortable, and he shifted back only to hear them say.
"We’re tall enough." One of them spoke in a haste, making Alain pause in his retreat. He gave them a confused stare, his irises hinting at the slightest suspicion, whilst he studied them. They appeared more disheveled than the rest of them, their hair tousled and coated with brown dust, their bodies lacking malnourishment, whilst he wondered how long they had been trapped here.
"How... how about you give us the key first, we’ll set ourselves free and then help you right after. What... what do you say?" The one who called for his attention immediately suggested, his eyes almost giving off the vines of someone who was at the brink of losing his sanity.
Alain could remember the times when his Father would make notes about fear and what it does to one’s mentality. His Father never really considered making him avert his stare, cause he felt he wouldn’t understand the things written, but he did, a unique part of his abilities that he never told anyone, not even his Mother, at least not yet, and those symptoms he had seen were clearly visible in the gaze of the four boys staring at him.
He had a feeling that if he gave the keys to them, they wouldn’t fulfill their part of the deal.
"Don’t listen to them." Lily’s soft, but wary voice found its way to Alain’s keen ears, and he met her purple eyes. "They won’t give it back."
"Shouldn’t we work together to free ourselves, including everyone?" Asked the boy, "or do you intend to free yourselves and leave the rest of us behind?"