Chapter 278: The Worst Possible Timing
Third-person POV
It had been six long days since the night everything spiraled out of control.
Since the moment Irina, Roxana, Penelope, Deena, and Seraphina risked everything to smuggle Electra out of the infirmary and into the old abandoned bunker, Elysium had been a nest of chaos.
Royal guards had swarmed the campus, and as if that wasn’t already terrible enough, drones had been added to scan every hallway and field in the school.
Questions were being asked at every corner, and threats were being made as well, yet no one had answers, at least, not ones they were willing to give.
What none of the teachers, guards, or even the Queen herself knew was that the very students they suspected the most had indeed taken Electra, and they had hidden her right under their noses.
Thankfully, the bunker was an old fallout shelter built during one of those wartime eras, and because it was buried, and disguised under years of rust and rot, it was the perfect hiding place that no drone could find.
They had planned to hide Electra for just a day or two, just long enough for things to calm down, but nothing had calmed down yet.
Instead, the entire school had been turned upside down with guards prowling the dormitory floors, with no care that the school was an all-girls school. Teachers weren’t even allowed to teach until they were cleared, students were questioned daily, and the gossiping and yapping were never-ending.
And of course, Irina, Roxana, and Penelope had become the prime suspects, but it wasn’t because there was any proof, but simply because they were Electra’s closest friends.
They’d all played dumb, and they had done it well. They let the guards search their rooms, pretended to be just as shocked and heartbroken as everyone else, and kept their heads down, but even with their top notch acting, they knew they were being watched.
Which meant one thing: they couldn’t go anywhere near the bunker, at least, not yet.
Each night, they sent coded texts to the phone that they’d left in the bunker beside Seraphina’s still-unconscious form, and each night, they waited, praying for a reply that never came.
On the first day, they’d panicked when Seraphina didn’t wake up after they’d all slept, and were supposed to leave the bunker, and go about their day like nothing happened. They’d tried shaking her, pouring water on her face, and even lightly slapping her cheeks, but her eyes had stayed shut.
Her body wasn’t cold, or hot in any way like Electra’s, and she was still breathing, but it was like she was in a deep, unreachable sleep, and no amount of tapping, and slapping could have pulled her out of that state.
"I think she’s stuck," Irina had whispered on that first day, staring down at Seraphina’s peaceful, and unmoving face. "She said she’s Electra’s vessel, remember? I think... I think whatever connection they have is holding her in place."
They didn’t understand it, not fully, but they didn’t want to risk carrying Seraphina out and drawing more attention, so they’d covered her with warm blankets, tucked the phone into her hand, and prayed she’d wake up soon.
Now, six days later, Irina sat at the edge of her bed, staring at the wall as morning light crept through the window. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her fists clenched and unclenched at her sides.
"I can’t take it anymore," she muttered. "If Seraphina hasn’t called by tonight, I’m going back."
Roxana looked up from where she was pacing. "That’s insane, Irina. If you do that, we’ll end up getting caught, and exposing Electra’s whereabouts. You know they’re still watching us."
"I don’t care at this point, Roxie," Irina snapped. "It’s been six days. What if she’s, what if they’re both—"
"Don’t," Penelope said quickly, her voice tight. "Don’t even finish that sentence."
Roxana stopped pacing. "We’ve waited this long, and we just need a little more time. The Queen and King left the school two days ago, and the heat is slowly dying down."
"You really think that Queen Jella’s going to let it go?" Irina asked bitterly. "You think she doesn’t have eyes still crawling over every building?"
They all fell silent for a moment. The pressure was getting to them—no, it had already gotten to them. It had settled into their bones, and it had become quite heavy and suffocating.
They had honestly started to miss Electra’s sharp wit, but most of all, they missed not being terrified all the damn time.
"We’ll go tonight," Penelope finally said, her voice firm. "After curfew. We’ll do a full sweep, check on them both, and get the hell out, but if we so much as hear a twig snap, we run."
Roxana nodded. "Deal."
Irina exhaled sharply, part relief and part dread. "Okay."
***
The air was filled with tension as Irina, Penelope, and Roxana crept through the pathway that led to the old storage bunker. The path under their feet was damp, and every sound, or snap made all three of them whip their heads around in panic.
None of them spoke at first, too caught up in their own nervous thoughts, and listening for the sound of footsteps behind them, particularly those armored, and synchronized footsteps of the royal guards that had been storming through the halls and grounds of Elysium for the past week.
"Maybe this was a bad idea," Penelope whispered, her voice barely audible as she clutched her small flashlight close to her chest.
Irina didn’t stop walking. She didn’t even look back. "It’s already too late for regrets, Pen. Just keep your voice down, stay focused, and let’s check if the girls are still breathing."
"They better be," Roxana muttered under her breath.
They arrived at the half-hidden staircase that led down to the backside of the unused bunker. The door had been left camouflaged with vines and old crates to keep curious eyes from stumbling across it, and Irina took the lead, scanning left and right down the empty path.
"Penelope, light," Irina whispered, holding out a hand.
Penelope turned on the flashlight and angled it down the staircase. Roxana fished the keys from her pocket, and they all held their breath as she slid the key into the rusted lock.
The metal clicked, and the door creaked open, but as soon as it did, along with it came an unexpected voice.
"Well, well... so this is where you’ve been hiding her."
Irina’s heart dropped, and Penelope’s flashlight trembled in her grip as she swung it toward the voice, the beam landing squarely on two figures just a few feet away from the staircase.
Yuna and Iris.
Both were standing there, perfectly still, smugness painted all over their faces like they’d been rehearsing this moment.
"Shit," Roxana breathed, taking a single step forward in front of the others.
"Oh, don’t stop on our account," Yuna said, her tone light, and playful even. "We were enjoying the show. You know, the sneaking around with the little flashlight. Very secret-mission-y of you guys."