seventeen ◌ gates to hell

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Midnight came quickly.

Before I knew it, I was slipping on black pants and throwing my hair into a ponytail at the nape of my neck. In silence, the boys were stuffing their backpacks with heist essentials, and I was doing basic stretches off to the side. My body was still shot; throbbing with pain and having to fight through it was going to take a ridiculous amount of mental strength.

"Are you all ready to go?" Liam asked, throwing on his backpack. I nodded in response, slipping on a bullet proof vest.

"Should we review?" Niall suggested, looking up from his backpack resting at the edge of the bed.

"Good idea," Liam agreed with a nod of his head. "I'll start. There are five night guards on duty in sparse areas of the bank. It'll be on me to locate them and shoot their asses with elephant tranquilizer. Har-"

"Wait a second," I interjected with wonder. "Did you just say, elephant tranquilizer? Where the hell did you get your hands on that?"

"Harry developed it for me," Liam shrugged nonchalantly.

When I looked at the curly-headed boy who was strapping on his bullet proof vest, his arm muscles flexing with each click of a buckle, I stared in silence. Noticing the lack of vocal sound around him, Harry's head slowly lifted. He scanned the room and narrowed in his brows.

"What?" He spoke, eyeing us with lifted brows.

"You can develop elephant tranquilizer," I mentioned with curiosity.

"I like chemistry," Harry declared, responding to my statement with indifference. "And brewing a simple tranq is nothing of my full capabilities. You'll see tonight."

Harry winked at me, and I scoffed at the gesture. I shook my head from the cockiness exuding from the boy, to which he responded with a giggle.

"What's so funny?" I asked, sounding more annoyed than necessary.

"I know what you're thinking," Harry stated confidently, as if taunting me with his knowledge.

"And what is it that I'm thinking of?" I challenged with disbelief.

"If I can concoct a poison that can knock out an animal as massive as an elephant," he started. "Then I can surely put together a date rape drug."

Harry was good. I still didn't trust him and he knew that. Every little 'impressive' talent of his, only gave me another piece of evidence that swayed me towards what I liked to call, 'the allegiance theory'— the notion that Harry's loyalties lie somewhere else.

"Continuing on," Liam sensed the tension in the room and switched the topic. "Niall, job."

"I'm on security duty. Disabling the system and all CCTV cameras, then guiding Harry and Tasha through the underground tunnels," Niall stated with a sense of self-assurance. "Tasha, what about you?"

"Entering Prime Corp via tunnels. Then breaking into my dad's vault," I addressed. "Ass hat?"

Harry shot me a tenacious scowl and then proceeded, "I'm using my chemistry expertise to break through the iron barricades and dissolve the cash inside the safe."

"Perfect," Liam clapped his hands together. "In three minutes, let's get the show—"

The phone on the bed emitted a startling shrill, while the laptop on the desk lit up with a bright glow. Everyone stared at the device, curiosity enveloping them as they attempted to peer at the screen. I quickly snatched the ringing cellular phone, swiped my finger across the smooth surface, and held it up to my ear.

"Hey Effie."

Relieved, the boys let out an exhale and returned to their prior positions. I smirked, amused with their nervous stint. Myself on the other hand, plopped down on the bed and tended to my best friend.

"You sound better," Effie noted. "Is the food poisoning gone?"

"Yea, felt better yesterday," I played along.

"Oh really," Effie murmured. "But you didn't come to school. We were supposed to work on our Psych project together."

"I'm sorry Effie," I apologized with great remorse. The pit of my stomach felt extreme guilt because even though I was in a terrible situation, I knew I let my best friend down. "I really wanted to be there. I felt better, but my mom thought I still looked green and clammy. She didn't want me being around people in case I got triggered."

What the hell am I saying?

"There was also a yearbook staff meeting after school," Effie mentioned. "To discuss moving the layout around so we can dedicate two full pages to the big Walk for DACA Defense. Also, wished you there there-- we could've really used your enthusiasm."

"I know," I mumbled. Guilt was eating me alive.

"You really missed out. Thousands of people showed up— including some of those YouTubers you like so much. We had coverage from major news stations, radio teams, and the walk was trending on Twitter. It was an amazing event," Effie chirped. The inflection changes in her voice as she spoke only confirmed that I had indeed, truly missed out on an important event.

A light tap on my shoulder motivated me to look up. I was met with Niall's blue eyes, and with a simple head nod, he silently expressed it was time to depart.

"I gotta go Effie," I told her with a frown.

"Is everything alright? You seem kinda distant," Effie alleged.

"Yea, yes, " I insisted. "My mom made me take some medicine and now it's kicking in. Feeling real drowsy."

"I don't really believe you Tasha," she declared bluntly. "Especially because I know you're in New Orleans."

I was fucking gobsmacked, "what are you talking about?"

"Hello? Did you forget about my Creole grandma? The priestess of voodoo magic?" Effie brought up matter-of-factly. "She saw you outside her shop and had this strong feeling that one, you were connected to me. And two, you were in great trouble."

"Effie..." I didn't know how the hell I was going to lie out of this one.

"Whatever girl," she let out a heavy exhale. "You know how to reach me when you're ready to deal with whatever it is you're dealing with. See ya around."

And with that, she hung up.

"Don't worry about her," Niall squeezed my shoulder in support. I forced a smile, appreciative of his efforts to keep me optimistic, but the truth stood still— I missed my best friend and I hated lying to her.

"I don't know how long I can keep up with the charade," I admitted, trailing the boys out the hotel room.

"You can and you will. It's for her own good. You can do this," Niall promised. His hopeful twist to life was something I could never get tired of.

"Thanks," I rested my head against Niall's shoulder in response. This was probably crossing a line, considering the preceding conversation we had after I stupidly kissed him. At that moment, I didn't care about stepping over boundaries, but unfortunately for me, someone else did.

"Tash, you're distracted," was all Harry said to alter my mood like a flick of the switch.

I lifted my temple off of Niall's shoulder and shot daggers at the back of Harry's head. When he turned back to glance at me, there was nothing but a self-righteous smirk planted on his stupid face.

"What's that about?" Niall asked, flicking his eyes to Harry.

"Nothing," I answered cooly. "Just Harry being a condescending jerk, that's all."

Pounding rubber soles to asphalt were in sync to the rhythmic beating of my heart and breath as I ran through empty streets. Eyes straight ahead, I kept a steady focus on the darkness that surrounded me, and entered a lurid alleyway. Harry followed closely behind, his heavy footsteps synchronized with my own. I emerged from the shadows and into a shared back alley of the clustered businesses. Dimly lit with only a small, golden bulb attached to an old lamppost, the small margin of radiance was still enough to detect a set of iron doors angled on a cement embankment.

"Tash and I are on location," Harry informed, his voice filling my left ear.

"Copy," Niall responded through the coms.

The pair of iron doors were decrepit and speckled with rust. They were latched together with heavy duty chains, locks, and massive bolts. Decorated with a metal sign, warning trespassers off, the barricades leading to French Quarter's underground tunnels could not be opened. Unless you had a head of curly hair and a boner for chemistry, that is.

"Put these on," Harry handed me a gas mask and a pair of robust, plastic gloves. As I took the garments out of his hand, he continued, "the chemicals I have to dissolve the metal is highly corrosive, highly toxic, and highly awesome."

I placed the mask around my face, and slipped the gloves onto my hands while Harry pulled out a glass container from his backpack. I observed him as he quickly unscrewed the cap and poured the clear, viscous liquid onto the metal chains. Immediately, plumes of smoke detonated from the chemical reaction and I softly gasped at how well Harry's mixture worked. Through the grey billows of gas, the metal was beginning to literally melt into nothing.

"Stand back," Harry ordered, leaning above the iron doors. I followed his directions and took several paces away from him.

Harry grabbed any remaining metal and tossed them off to the side, vapor still wavering around it. With as much strength as he could muster, he pulled open the barricade, revealing a deep, dark, abyss.

"Whoa," I breathed, stepping forward to examine the creepy hollows.

"I think I just opened the gates to hell," Harry commented.

"Well at least you'll feel right at home in there," I grumbled. Liam chuckled from the other end of my coms.

"Niall, what's the update on security?" Harry asked, ignoring my previous statement. "Tash and I are just about ready to enter the tunnels.

"I'm ready to go," Niall announced. "Synchronize your watches. Remember, once I deactivate the system you will only have twelve minutes to travel through the tunnels, break into the vault, exterminate the money, and get out. After that, a silent alarm that I cannot neutralize will go off. Security cameras will be back online too."

"Copy that," Harry spoke. He lifted the mask off of his face and turned to look at me. "You ready?"

I nodded my head, "yea."

Taking my mask and gloves off, I handed them back to Harry who placed them into the main compartment of his bag. While situating himself, I grabbed the flashlight conveniently housed in the side section of my backpack and flicked it on.

"Guys, twenty seconds till go-time," Liam broadcasted with vigor. I could practically hear the adrenaline pumping through his veins at an ungodly strength.

"Tasha, are you good?" Niall questioned.

"One hundred percent," I answered with a smile.

As much as I knew that Niall and I would never become a thing, I still couldn't let go of the tiny sliver of hope that fate would change its mine. He was a flicker of light in a moment so dark. So when he asked me if I were okay, my damned, young heart continued to grasp onto that hope with a much tighter grip. 

"Phase one commences in three, two, deactivated."

The moment the words fled Niall's mouth, Harry and I bolted straight into action. Using the bright LED of our flashlights to pave our way, the two of us ran down the stone steps and entered the chilly tunnels. Darkness, darker than black itself surrounded us in an eerie, mystifying way. I hardly could discern what was ten feet in front of me, then beyond that, was an enigma.

Running through the damp underground burrows, I felt badass like Lara Croft— just minus the large tits. Mother nature didn't exactly grace me with those kinds of assets. Adrenaline fused blood surged through me, its energy becoming stronger with each step I took.

"Niall, are the trackers working? I think we're coming up to a fork," I informed.

"They're working perfectly," he gushed with pride. "Take the left tunnel."

"I must say, developing a tracker pin and orchestrating it to tunnel blueprints was a brilliant idea," Harry complimented, as the two of us maneuvered through the left side of the fork.

"Niall's a genius, that's why," I instantly praised.

He lightly chuckled, "thanks... um, Liam, what's your 20?"

"Just apprehended the third guard," he answered. "Just searching for two more."

"Perfect," Niall whooped gleefully before gasping loudly. "Holy fuck."

"What?!" Harry bellowed.

"Your trackers are picking up an incoming heat signature," Niall informed.

"Excuse me?" I halted my steps, as did Harry. "Are you saying that we're not alone in here?"

"It could be a homeless person looking for shelter," Niall suggested, his voice increasing by a couple octaves. "I don't know, but it's moving fast guys. Get ready."

Both Harry and I dropped our flashlights onto the stone ground and snatched the guns from our holsters. We held the weapons out in front of us, ready to fight whatever was coming our way.

"It's a few feet away from you guys," Niall told us and I held my breath. I wasn't sure what was going to appear from the pitch blackness before us. Would it be a person? A monster? A zombie? Do zombies even give off a heat signature?

"Niall, keep us updated, where's it at?" Harry demanded.

"Three feet away!" Niall yelled.

"I see nothing!" I shrieked.

"Show yourself!" Harry barked, his deep voice echoing against the stone walls of the tunnel.

"Guys, it's behind you," Niall stated with urgency.

"What the actual fuck?" Harry cursed, as he quickly turned around.

Harry and I stood back to back, both of our guns brandished before us. I could feel Harry's back muscles graze mine with every tiny movement of his, and the weird convergence caused me to take a step forward.

"It's right on top of you guys," Niall told us. There was distress in his voice as he spoke.

"What the hell is this thing?" I questioned with concern, darting my eyes in search for whatever was fucking around with us.

It was pitch black, and I barely could see past the beams of light before they gradually disappeared into the darkness beyond us. Suddenly, I felt Harry's back against mine again, and this time, his muscles were taut.

"Harry, you okay?" I asked, sensing the uneasiness encapsulating him.

"It's on my fucking leg," Harry's words slipped out his mouth with gritted teeth.

"What?" I breathed in confusion. I turned on my heel to observe Harry, only to jump out of my skin, and my heart to shoot out my butthole. "Holy shit!"

Chilling on Harry's leg, was a colossal rat with beady, red eyes. It looked like a mutant rodent that escaped from someone's evil laboratory.

"Tash, get this bloody thing off of me!" Harry ordered. His face was contorted with anger and irritation, but beneath the furrowed brows was fear.

"What do you want me to do? It's a rat! Make like Taylor, and shake it off!" I suggested with a shrill.

"What if it gets agitated and crawls up my body?" Harry argued. "Do something!"

"Fine, I'll shoot it," I cocked my gun.

"No, fuck you Tash! What if you miss and shoot my leg off?" Harry let out a shrill as the rat began to move up his leg.

"Are you forgetting who taught her how to use a gun?" Niall pipped up. He let out an annoyed scoff.

"Exactly my point," Harry retorted. "Tash, just do something. I don't fucking care. We're wasting time!"

"Okay fine, just keep still," I muttered with irritation.

I dropped down to a squat and aimed the gun ever so carefully towards the rat. I caught glimpse of Harry who bit his bottom lip in nervousness as he screwed his eyes shut. Not letting another second pass, I pulled the pistol's trigger. The earsplitting explosion of the bullet escaping the gun echoed through out the tunnel, and thankfully my plan was executed perfectly— well, kind of.

"You fucking shot me!" Harry hissed in pain, gawking at his wounded leg.

"You're fine. The bullet barely grazed you, and it grazed the rat at the same time," I gestured for the scurrying mutant animal. "See, the monster rodent is gone. You can slap a bandaid on your paper cut-like wound later. We gotta go."

"She's right. You guys only have a little less than seven minutes to finish this mission," Niall notified. "You're only a few yards away from Prime Corp's basement. Take another left at the upcoming fork and you'll find an iron door on the right."

Sprinting through the dark passageway, Harry and I listened to Niall's orders. I focused on the mission at hand; concentrating on Kat. Her infectious laughter drove me, while flashes of sweet memories with my sister propelled my mind. The last task almost killed us, and until I save her, there was no room for human error— my family depended on me.

"Niall, we're at the door," I announced, aiming my flashlight for the iron blockade.

"Alright, you know what to do," Niall insinuated, and I turned to look at Harry who was already digging into his backpack for sources. "Behind the door is a gate, a small hallway, and then a steel door... Liam, what's your twenty?"

"All the guards are down and I'm in the basement. I can see the vault," he told us.

"Guys, we only have six more minutes till the silent alarm goes off," Niall sounded uneasy. "We're not going to pull this off beforehand."

"What happened to your positivity?" Harry criticized. His hands quickly delved inside a heavy-duty case where several different vials rested. He uncapped one of the tiny glass bottles and replaced the cap with a spray nozzle.

"I'm positive we'll succeed," Niall reiterated with confidence. "I just think we're going to run into some problems along the way."

"Hey Tash, catch."

"Aw, fuck!"

The flashlight in my hand tumbled onto the ground with a crash in attempt to catch the gas mask flying through the air. I directed a snarl towards Harry with vexation, to which he only responded with a pleased smirk. Seconds before he began to spray down the locks, I placed the mask around my face. Like before, billows of smoke vented from the chemical and the iron locks dissolved. As we waited for the substances to complete its reaction, a loud explosion crackled in my coms.

"What the hell was that?" Niall was the first to respond.

"There's no time for Harry to Professor Snape his way past the gate and steel door," Liam disclosed.

"So you fucking shot it?" Harry became infuriated as he kicked away the residual locks from the door. "Liam can you be any more of a fucktard? Someone could've heard! You might as well set off fireworks, geotag us on Facebook, and tell everyone we're at fucking Prime Corp."

"The alarm will go off regardless! This should've been an easy, in and out mission but you were too busy wasting time by fucking around with a stupid mouse," Liam retaliated.

"Fuck you Payne!" Harry exploded, grasping onto the iron handle. He pulled open the door with a loud grunt, revealing a short, narrow passageway. At the other end of it, was a glowing LED and a very pissed off Liam.

"Oh look, an unproblematic path into Prime Corp's basement," Liam taunted with a dark chuckle. "No gate to deal with, and no heavy duty steel door in your way. You should thank me." 

"Don't fucking test me," Harry stormed straight for Liam, grabbing him by the collar and violently shaking him. "You contribute shit for this team. All you do is shoot things whereas the rest of us use our brains, which you clearly lack."

"Hey! This isn't the fucking time!" I yelled, forcing myself in between the two men.

Combined, they had almost 400 pounds of muscle mass. While I could easily get squashed by the meatheads, I decided it'd be best to stop a potential murder— at least until this mission was over. Harry released Liam with a forceful toss and walked off. I glared at Harry before darting the same look of fury towards Liam.

Boys, ugh.

Wedged in between an intricate stone wall was the steel vault. It shined behind a metal cage which immediately captivated my attention. I ran straight for the enclosure in order to examine it closely. With arms reaching forward, I grasped onto the metal bar.

"Tash, wait!"

◌ ◌ ◌

» author's note «

Definitely one of my favorite chapters written. I wrote this chapter so long ago I almost forgot what happened in it haha. Fun fact, this chapter & the next one originally were fuzed together. But I decided to break them up into two separate chapters to elongate the action.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! We just hit 6K reads which is freaking awesome! Thanks for all your support & love.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Idk how many of you all are part of the 5SOS Fam too, but if you are, I'm holding a 5SOS Story competition called WASTE THE NIGHT AWARDS. You can check it out here: WasteTheNightAwards