T.N - Chapter 76

This is a very long chapter tonight! Maybe because I haven't written for so long, or because I got a bit carried away...
Either way, I hope you enjoy!

I wasn’t quite sure when I woke up. Somewhere along the way, the whiteness turned to darkness, and then there were sensations. I felt warmth, warmth to the point of discomfort. The scratchiness of the blanket. I could feel the aching tingling sensation in my toes and fingers as they warmed up. And there was this heaviness on top of me. At first, I thought it was because my limbs were asleep, but then I realized that it was because there was somebody on top of me. No, scratch that, there were several people on top of me. They were laying stock still, the only movement coming from the breathing that tickled my neck. And I could feel someone’s lips right above my collarbone.

I didn’t really understand what happened. I slowly opened my lead eyelids to try to see. Someone must’ve taken off my glasses, or they fell off because I couldn’t see anything at all. I let my eyes close again.

“What happened?” I tried asking, but I guess it came out as murmuring because nobody answered.

“Can you understand me?” This time I could hear the slurred words, and how nonsensical it sounded.

I tried enunciating every syllable. “Can someone give me my glasses at least?” No answer again. One of the people shifted, and now there were two pair of lips on my neck. I breathed in as deeply as I could.

“Who is kissing my neck?” I asked, and although I could hear the slurring, it actually sounded like words.

There was a bustle of movement, and the heaviness I felt was immediately lifted (as well as the feeling of people kissing my neck). I opened my eyes again, and forced them to stay open.

A sudden affront of voices asked me questions. Through the snippets, I could hear Heathcliff’s loud, overly dramatic lamentations over how he would’ve suffered if I hadn’t woken up; Dennis was scolding me for how stupid I was not to say anything if I was feeling bad; Charlie was asking me how I felt, and whether I felt like I needed to sleep or if I felt cold. Something brushed against my face close to my eyes, and I flinched, closing my eyes. It settled on the bridge of my nose, and when I opened my eyes again, I could see clearly. I turned my head slightly, and saw Wolfgang sitting there, gazing at me intensely. Not sure whether I should match his gaze or not, I looked away.

I slowly started to sit up. “How did you guys get in here—“

There was a unified yelp, and all of the guys quickly turned away. All of them except for Charlie were blushing, but even Charlie looked embarrassed. The blanket slipped down, and I felt a sudden rush of cold air. I saw the pile of clothes in the corner, and it all clicked.

“Who the hell stripped me?” I screamed, and I pulled the blanket around myself to cover my now obvious nakedness.

Dennis shifted a bit on his feet, and then answered with a meek, “Me.”

I scowled at the guys. “You all have a lot of explaining to do,” I muttered darkly. I reached over to the pile of my clothes, and felt that everything was still damp. I looked over to the cellblock door, where the guard was facing away.

“If any of you turn around, I will kill you,” I said to the guys, and I started changing into my clothes. It was difficult, with the wet fabric sticking to my skin and refusing to budge to where it was supposed to go. I didn’t even bother putting on the suit.

My head was still feeling a little fuzzy, and my limbs felt a little disconnected, but there was a surge of adrenaline rushing through me. Maybe from the blank out, maybe from finding out what had happened when I was asleep. Or maybe from everything that happened with...with Kent.

After I was done, the guys were standing there, backs turned to me, fidgeting. I sighed. “I’m done,” I said, and they slowly turned back to face me. Dennis was refusing to make eye contact with me, and the others looked nervous as well.

I stared at all of them. “Now then, can I get an explanation here?”

All of the guys started babbling, something about a movie, ice fishing, hypothermia, guard...

The door of the room slammed open. We all jumped and faced the entrance of the cell, where the guard was entering, holding a flask. “See, she’s perfectly fine,” grumbled he said. “Didn’t need to make all that fuss.”

He wasn’t drunk, but he was obviously not in his peak condition. A little alcohol can go a long way if you’re tired, and that’s definitely what was happening here.

“Did you let them in here?” I asked him.

“Yeah, but only ‘cause they insisted,” he replied. He waved the flask. “This was just a little bonus.”

I looked over to the cell next to me, and gestured with a little nod. “I think you should probably put them back in there, or else it’ll look bad on you if the Dragon comes in and sees you’ve been allowing the prisoners to move freely.”

He blinked a bit, and then grimaced. “Didn’t think of that,” he muttered.  He clumsily put the key in the lock of my cell. “Better come with me now, you lot,” he said gesturing towards the guys.

As he was unlocking the door, I inched myself closer and closer, ever so slightly crouching. When the door swung open, I jumped forward and socked him right on the temple.

I wasn’t feeling a hundred percent, and I could feel the punch was weaker and more uncontrolled than usual. However, it seemed to do the trick: the guard was on the ground, looking dazed. For good measure, I knelt down and punched him again on the other temple. He was out for the count then.

“Someone grab my suit,” I said, extending my hand out behind me so that I could keep a close eye on the guard. There was no movement. “My suit!” I yelled, and the guys scrambled behind me. I felt the wet fabric in my hand, and I quickly knelt down. I grabbed the guard’s arms, and put them behind his back.

I started tying the suit around his wrists, when Heathcliff protested, “We can’t do this, I told him that we wouldn’t do anything after I gave him the brandy! It was on my code too!”

“You might’ve made that promise, Heathcliff,” I said, knotting the suit twice around the guard’s wrist, “but I didn’t. And I’m not a gentleman, so I’m exempt.”

“I didn’t mean to infer you were anything but a lady,” said Heathcliff, and I cut him off before he could say anymore.

“Did someone grab the keys?” I asked, and Charlie bent down. He unhooked something off of the guard’s belt.

“These ones?” he asked.

“Perfect. Dennis, Heathcliff, Wolfgang, help me drag this guy into the cell.” I grabbed the guard’s arms, and the others grabbed his feet and torso. Together, we lifted him into the cell. We stepped out, and Charlie locked the cell door.

The adrenaline that had been pulsing through me suddenly rushed out. I felt tired, and slightly cold from the damp clothing I was wearing.

“Well then,” I said, looking at all of them. “What next?”