Shirayukihime and The Lost Fox

Chapter 17: Escape

Akira POV

"Oh, you're too late for that."

We both look at the entrance, where Mihaya leaned against the walls. His irritating smirk looks more sinister than ever as he observes Shirayuki and I. A feral growl vibrates through my chest as I bared my teeth at him, standing up and placing myself between him and Shirayuki. She looks up at me, her eyes widening in surprise as she herself stands up behind me.

Mihaya clicks his tongue. "Feral as always," he says. He steps forward, his bandaged hand reaching for me. "Now be a good mutt and go back to your cage." Mihaya lunges for me. I quickly sidestep then ram myself into his open side, pushing him against the wall. A puff of air leaves Mihaya as he lose his breath.

"Go! Run now!" I snarl, throwing Shirayuki out of her reverie. She startles then, after some hesitation, runs out of the room, momentarily stopping to grab her abandoned bag. I attempt to push off Mihaya and follow her, but he quickly grabs onto my coat and uses my momentum to toss me onto my back. He climbs on top of me, straddling my waist so I couldn't get up. He grabs both hands and pins them above my head.

"You're more trouble than you look," he sneers. I snarl at him, teeth bared. "Get off me, you bastard!" Mihaya simply clicks his tongue as he reaches into his pocket and retrieves a very familiar vial. "Recognize this?" He said, waving the bottle in the air. My face becomes slightly more pale as I pull at my hands and attempt to throw him off me, but he holds his ground. "Yeah, I thought so," he said smugly as he uncorked the bottle and poured the contents on me.

I close my eyes as the familiar coughing racked my chest, but it wasn't as strong as the first time. I still have time before the sedative swings in full affect, I can still make it out of here. With all my remaining strength, I rolled my body, throwing Mihaya off me. I stood up, quickly running down the hallway led by only the scent of soil and plants.

By the time I reached Shirayuki at the front doors, my breathing was labored and my legs were becoming weak. "Shirayuki," I breathe out. She pauses from yanking on the lock and chains binding the door and turns to me. Her forest green eyes widen as she abandons the door and comes to my side, helping me to stand.

"My word, Akira, what ha—" I cut her off, speaking above her. "The second floor..." I said. "The second floor windows... climb out there." She shouldn't worry about me, not now. If she could escape now she could go get help and come for me later. She purses her lips, determination filling her eyes as she gives me a firm nod.

We quickly made our way to the stair case and made our way up the stairs without incident. We reach the landing and pause, taking deep breathes. Shirayuki smiles as she saw the unbarred windows, tossing one open. She helps me onto the ledge and she leaps into the nearby tree. When she drops safely to the ground, she turns and looks up at me in the window. "You're going to have to jump!" She quietly yells.

I give a firm nod and wipe the sweat on my brow. Taking a deep shuddering breath to steady myself, I push off the ledge and reach out for the tree branch. My arms grasp the limb, but my body weight was too much to hold and I begin to slip. I claw at the branch in vain, and ultimately fall off the branch. The dirt floor dug into my tailbone, but was better than falling straight out the window.

I groan as Shirayuki helps me to stand. As we stumble forward away from the cursed house, a strong hand fists the fabric of my collar and yanks me back. I gasp, my hands coming up to loosen the vice of the now suffocating collar. An arm wraps around my waist from behind, and I recognize the bloodied bandage on the hand.

"Mi-Mihaya," I gasp for air. The wall of the building was casted in the warm glow of firelight from the torch Mihaya stuck into the ground.

"Thought you could escape?" His hot breath fell onto my ear, making a unpleasant shiver run down my spine and through my tail. "Oh, Rosylocks?" He calls out in a singsong tone when Shirayuki moved backwards. "Don't try running just yet, Silver here might get hurt if you do."

Mihaya switches his grip, releasing my waist and trading the fabric of my collar between his hands. His now free hand reaches up and pries my hand away from trying to loosen the fabric around me throat. I grit my teeth as he extends my bare forearm over the flame of the torch. I attempt to pull back but the tranq starts to kick in, slowing my movements and making it hard to move.

I curse under my breath. This was not going well, not at all. "What's the verdict, Rosylocks? Come back quietly or get Silver here burned?" He lowers my arm down, just above the flames. The heat licked at my forearm, hot and uncomfortable as the flames reached up.

I wheeze through the vice-like grip on my throat. "N-No... run now..." Mihaya twists his fist, tightening the fabric around my throat. A soundless gasp escapes as I search for more air. "Shut it," he warns in my ear, the quiet rage and frustration he was concealing peeking through the veils.

Shirayuki gazes at me worriedly. Then I saw something resolve in her eyes as she seemed to try and send a mutual message to me. My eyes widen as I caught on, and she turned to Mihaya. "I will choose neither," I began to brace myself. With her eyes shining with determination, she states, "I will follow my own path."

There was a stunned, stiff moment of silence before Mihaya's temper seemed to realize itself. He growled something before plunging my forearm into the flame of the torch. I quickly elbow him in the stomach with my free hand, as he is too focused on the flames to put up a defense.

My arm screams with pain, but I'm too preoccupied to give it much thought. I stumble away from Mihaya, who's doubled over his stomach. He quickly rights himself, centering on me and glaring daggers into my drugged state. Mihaya grabs the torch sitting next to him and charges, flames in my direction.

Something happens, another person jumps into the fray and knocks the torch out of the way. Just as they pin Mihaya to the tree, my legs could no longer bear my weight and I collapse against the wall. My eyes become heavy and clouded as I'm dimly aware of someone shouting something at me. But I pay no heed to their sayings, and instead lose myself to darkness.