Chapter 44

Noah's POV

I was ready to bash my head against the padlock to see if that would make the time pass any quicker. I was certain that I had busted an eardrum or two thanks to the shouting within the relatively small room. I had wandered through the rooms several times to get some fresh air, and a bit of peace and quiet as Aldrich, Geppetto, Sawyer, and Caio worked to put the code in.

I wanted to help, and I'm sure Crow did as well. But I didn't have the patience to be in that room with two screaming people and bangs so loud, they could've come from inside of my head. Despite being vampires, none of them seemed to remember the fact that they would be able to hear each other if they spoke in a whisper. Or maybe they were just losing their temper and shouting was a good way to release the stress they were feeling.

I couldn't stand the sight and smell of blood within the cellar. I even asked Crow why we were trying to get them out of the dungeon. Aldrich hadn't done anything to me personally, but Geppetto was his friend, and he was certainly not someone I trusted in any way, shape, or form. I knew Aldrich had been put into a very negative situation thanks to Geppetto, but there must've been some sort of faith between the two if Aldrich forced us to travel to Italy at a moment's notice.

"We could've had you out of there ages ago," Sawyer told his dad as the lock made some sort of old shiny noises and clicked open. "You could've told me it was the year you two met." Sawyer's arms were crossed, and he stared at the slowly opening door.

"Forgive my absentmindedness," Geppetto told Sawyer in a sarcastic tone. "I had forgotten." He hadn't forgotten, that was clear by his slumped shoulders. There was a wild gleam in his eyes, and his face was streaked with blood. He had been the first to leave the room, heading straight over to Caio. "You had one job." He held up a finger, which was now raw and crooked.

Caio shrugged his shoulders, looking down towards his feet. "Sorry, master. I thought that it was our only option." He then looked at Crow and I from the corner of his eye. "I was unaware of the situation." When Geppetto's back was turned to him, Caio rolled his eyes and gave a small smirk. Maybe Geppetto didn't give Caio enough vacation days.

"Nevertheless," Aldrich said from behind me. His voice was gruff, and his hair was a mess. I was tempted to look for birds inside it. His usually luxurious golden locks stood up in all directions, and there might've been a chunk missing here and there. Sawyer had immediately moved to his father's side and began looking him over, but he was brushed off by his father. Instead, Aldrich wrapped an arm around Sawyer's shoulders. "Good job getting us out."

"Thanks for putting us in a situation where we had to save you," Crow retorted. HIs eyes hadn't stopped gleaming bright red since we came into the cellar. The blood stain on his shirt had stopped growing darker and darker, which suggested that his wound had stopped bleeding. We were still holding hands, which kept me anchored to the present moment.

"I'll make sure not to do that again," Aldrich retorted. He sent a glare in Geppetto's direction when he snorted. "Because I'm sure that the two of you won't be as kind to save us as you were today."

"Make that three," Caio corrected and spun on his heel. "We don't have long before we get closed in." He began to take long strides towards the door, from the way we came.

"Before we what?" I asked, ice running through my veins as I pulled Crow after me. I tried to keep pace with Caio, but he was quite far ahead. "Please don't tell me that was another very intelligent trap created by yours truly?" I nodded over to Geppetto, who was now following us very closely.

"Unfortunately, my genius beats even me sometimes," Geppetto admitted brightly. "But if we hurry, we might make it out." As though on cue, more clicks came from the walls.

"I swear Geppetto, you're even more insane than I thought," I said. I'm not sure how the words came out of my mouth in my rush towards the door. But I barrelled towards the door with Crow behind me, not letting anything get in my way. Including Caio, who I pushed forwards with my free land.

Caio scowled at me but moved quicker towards the exit. He escaped my grip as the breeze became known to me, spinning away and crossing his arms. He cleared his throat and then looked back into the cellar. "Sawyer, if you stay in there, we won't be able to get you out."

"Who makes the cellar a one-way system?" Crow whispered to me. He had been quiet whilst we were in there, and I was worried to find that his eyes were still glowing brightly, despite not being close to the blood steins. "That's a recipe for trouble."

I nodded in agreement, wanting to ask if he was okay, but not wanting Geppetto to take advantage of us anymore. "Yeah, but I should've expected it." I gave a sigh. I couldn't help but look back at Sawyer, who was scurrying out of the cellar, tugging on his father's hand.

"I'm here, I'm good, I'm okay," Sawyer mumbled to himself and patted his stomach and arms. Maybe he was trying to convince himself that he was still alive. He looked shaken, and I didn't blame him one bit.

"Yes, you are." Caio nodded before turning to Geppetto. "We should move." By the time he had finished his sentence, he was already backing away down the hill.

Sawyer rushed past Crow and I and began catching up to Caio. I still hadn't had the opportunity to ask Sawyer what was up with them, but I doubted I would whilst being in Italy. I wanted to get back home as soon as possible. I knew that couldn't happen, not whilst my home was unsafe, and there were humans who were able to put vampires to sleep.

The thought of what we were facing back home caused me to shiver and sigh. A crash from behind me caused me to jump out of my skin and yelp lightly.

Crow chuckled at me. His grip on my hand loosened and he wrapped his arms around me. I didn't know if this was usual Crow behaviour, but I didn't argue as I wrapped my arms around him, careful not to squeeze too tight.

"That was the doors, wasn't it?" I asked nobody in particular.

"Yes, each one of the doors in the cellar, and the ceiling is about to start to shift in thirty more seconds," Geppetto informed me enthusiastically., I wondered if it was too late to dig a hole and leave him in it so that he could personally enjoy the mechanics of his cellar. He was walking beside Aldrich, who was staring at his son with furrowed eyebrows and a small frown.

"What are we going to do now?" I asked Aldrich, suddenly feeling both tired and restless. I was still hugging Crow, and I wasn't about to let him go anytime soon. "This was a complete waste."

"We're going back to England," Geppetto answered, and I would've ignored him if he didn't sound so positive. "Then we're going to figure out what's making those humans so powerful and ask ourselves how they know about vampires in the first place."

"Knowing about vampires isn't too difficult," Crow pointed out, his voice muffled by my shoulder. He gently pulled away but kept an arm around me. He used his free hand to brush a strand of hair behind his ear. "But I'm not going on any kind of flying vehicle with you."

My ears began to ring, and I frantically shook my head. "No, we certainly aren't flying with him." I didn't know why we were still in his presence, to be perfectly honest. We had rescued Aldrich, and that's the reason why we went to the cellar. We should've sprinted the moment Aldrich could see the sun. That was another annoying thing, we were nearly completely in the open.

The sun was burning my scalp and shoulders, and it made me feel sluggish. My limbs weighed me down and I struggled to shuffle across the grass. I wanted to fall to the ground and let the sun be my death, acting like a laser, the light sinking into me until it reached my heart and burned a hole in it. Then I looked at Crow and saw the determination in his eyes.

"You can do whatever you like," Geppetto waved his hands in the air. "I'm going to the airport and getting the first ticket there." He looked down at himself and then frowned, dusting the dirt from his trousers. "Or I could go and get myself a new pair of clothes, then go to the airport."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I didn't. Crow and I exchanged unsure glances before hovering near the back of the group. I waited for Aldrich to be by himself, but the time never came. He stayed by Geppetto's side and followed him until we reached some sort of small town. I could see it from miles away, but I didn't know we were headed there until Caio and Sawyer stopped in front of a low building. At first glance, I thought it was just a regular house, and it wouldn't surprise me if Geppetto had millions of 'small houses', but there were several people inside, and some clothes were on display.

Geppetto and Caio went inside, and Sawyer quickly came to our side again. "We can lose them now," he told us in a quiet voice. "They'll be in there for at least fifteen minutes." He shifted from foot to foot, and he was fidgeting with his fingers.

"What's the hurry?" Aldrich asked. "As long as he gets me a whole new outfit to replace this." He gestured to his blood-stained clothes. "I'm sure we all stick out like sore thumbs." He raised an eyebrow at us. "Besides, where could we go?"

I looked down at my own clothes and scowled. I always hated throwing clothes away, hanging onto them until they could no longer be called clothing. But I knew that this outfit would be heading straight for the nearest bin as soon as I got something else. "Don't you have a house in Italy or something?" I asked. "Just seems like something you'd do."

Aldrich cracked his neck, possibly stalling for time. "Yes, well, you see." He was interrupted by a lady leaving the building and asking him something, most likely in Italian. "Time for us to get fitted." He gently pulled Sawyer into the building.

"Fitted?" Crow repeated, but he was ignored. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Is this part of the torture?"

I couldn't help but laugh at his downcast face. "Probably," I answered. "But if rich vampires want to pay for my clothes, who am I to argue with them?"

Crow wrinkled his nose at me and narrowed his eyes, but he began to follow the other two. "I'm a rich vampire, and I have also bought you clothes. You argued quite passionately at the time."

I nodded exaggeratedly. "That's my point, I learned not to argue. But where's your house in Italy?" I teased. I felt like a little bit of my personality was coming back, and I welcomed it with open arms. But I could also feel my care slipping away, and I didn't know what I thought about that.

Crow shoved me playfully, but otherwise didn't have time to respond as we were both swarmed by people with measuring tapes and thread.

By the time the six of us were provided with new outfits, the sun had gone down, I didn't have the patience for this, and I was sure I had worn down the carpet in the clothing store to within an inch of its life. But we couldn't do anything without Aldrich and Sawyer. I had been tempted to abandon them in Italy and go straight to the airport. But I wasn't sure how on earth we'd be able to get onto a plane without any money for a ticket, and I'm pretty sure our passports, along with other important documents, had been left in the collapsing castle.

I wanted to complain about the suit which I had been given, because it was the most expensive thing I had ever put on my body, but I couldn't because the shirt was extremely soft, and the trousers suited me far too well. Maybe this was a bribe or blackmail to keep our mouths shut about what exactly Geppetto had done, but I wasn't going to forget it anytime soon.

We left the building to find a black car, with tinted windows and at least six seats waiting for us. Crow and I got in last, our shoulders were tense, and we hadn't spoken much. Over the past few hours my mind had completely spiralled down a dark rabbit hole of worry and fear. Could we even trust Aldrich? What if the four of them were working together? How were Crow's parents and Haven doing right now? I doubted Crow had his phone on him now, so we couldn't even contact anyone we knew. Or at least anyone Crow knew well.

Hello lovelies!

I hope you're having an amazing week :D

The question of the chapter is: Do you have any siblings?

I've got an older brother, who moved out of the house as I moved in, so I pretty much grew up as an only child? Kind of? We're babysitting my cousin at the moment, and I've got zero clue how to engage :') I used to think I was great with kids, wanting to be a teacher when I grew up, but now-maybe it's just because the children don't really know me well at all, so they generally like me XD