President's Daughter's Bodyguard-Chapter 119: The Corridor

Chapter 119: The Corridor

Theo...

Danielle needed Theo...

Her palms shook as she pushed herself up and looked at the door. Someone had forgotten to lock it completely.

The latch was closed halfway, hanging just a little out of place. Danielle stared at it for a long moment, afraid it was a trap, then reached out and pushed it open.

That sound was too loud. The hallway outside felt too empty.

She stepped out.

Her breath came out in short, trembling bursts. The light in the corridor flickered as if the mountain itself was breathing.

Danielle held her hands close to her chest and walked quietly, listening for anything that sounded like the only person she needed to find.

Theo...Theo...Theo....

She repeated his name like a prayer she refused to let die.

The corridor stretched long and narrow, torches burned along the walls, and each flame seemed to hiss when she walked past it.

Danielle looked back every few seconds, terrified someone would grab her from behind. The Helenas moved like ghosts earlier. She had no idea when one might appear.

She reached the end of the corridor. Two stone paths split in different directions. One path had light. The other path was swallowed by darkness.

Touching her heart and whispering, "Please keep him safe."

Then she stepped into the darkness.

The darkness thinned enough for her to see a carved door ahead. It was half open.

Something inside her begged her to turn back. But another part, the part shaped by Theo’s arms around her and his voice calling her Bunny with warmth no one else had ever given her, told her to move.

So she pushed the door open.

At first, Danielle didn’t understand what she was looking at. The room was wider than she expected, but the walls were strange, stacked unevenly. She stepped deeper, letting her eyes adjust.

Then her feet started feeling the icy frost covering her toes...

The walls were not made of stone, but they were for sure made of bones.

Human bones....

Some were old and brittle, others still had shreds of dark, dried skin. Skulls were stacked in uneven piles.

Empty eye sockets stared at her. Jawbones hung crookedly, as if frozen mid scream. Danielle placed a trembling hand over her mouth but couldn’t stop the gasp that tore from her.

She stumbled back and her shoulder hit something hanging from the ceiling.

When Danielle turned around, her knees buckled.

Bodies...there were real bodies....

Some of them were old and some were fresh...some seemed to be half open with their organs removed.

Some tied from the wrists... Some missing limbs... The smell made her throat bring the puke out violently.

Danielle pressed her hand to her lips trying not to throw up.

Her throat closed, and she noticed how tears pushed forward but she shook her head and tried to breathe through them.

She tried to step backward but her heel knocked into something, so was forced to look down.

A skull....A fresh one!!!! It was dark hair still attached.

Her breath collapsed into a choking cry.

Danielle ran to the wall and covered her face with both hands.

She felt her heart beating so hard she thought it would stop. But Theo was somewhere there...it was her mission to find him.

So, Danielle pushed her back against the wall and forced air into her lungs until the edges of her vision stopped shaking.

When she opened her eyes again, Danielle noticed some footprints.

Blood soaked footprints leading out of the room and into another corridor. The prints were big, heavy, and deep. Theo’s boots always left tracks like that.

She followed the trail and walked past the hanging bodies. Every time she took a step, the bones on the floor cracked softly, and the sound crawled under her skin.

"Theo, please. I am coming."

She didn’t know if she was praying or begging.

The trail led to another narrow hallway. This one was lit by torches, but the flames burned a strange color, almost green.

Pressing herself against the wall and moving slowly, sliding along the stone until she reached the end, Danielle’s lips escaped a curse. "Bloody bastards..."

She peeked around the corner.

The sight nearly stopped her heart.

A massive chamber stretched open beneath her. Fire burned in a tall pit in the center. The Helena women knelt around it, their bodies looked almost bare, swaying to the chanting.

And there, in front of the fire was Argash.

Smiling as always.

But that was not what crushed Danielle.

What crushed her was the figure on the floor.

Theo...

His hands were tied behind his back. Blood stained the side of his head. His shoulder was wrapped but still bleeding. He was barely conscious, swaying as if he was fighting to stay awake.

Two Helena women held him by the arms, forcing him to kneel before the fire.

Danielle’s breath cracked. She covered her mouth, pressing her fingers hard against her lips so her cry would not escape.

Theo...

Her Theo...

Dragged into something unspeakably evil.

She gripped the stone so hard her knuckles turned white.

Argash circled Theo like a priest admiring an offering. The flames illuminated his hair, making him look almost inhuman.

"Bring the vessel," he commanded.

And another Helena woman approached from behind the chamber.

Danielle’s body turned into snow...

She knew that voice...She knew that name...She knew who they meant by vessel.

Her...

It wasn’t something so easy for Danielle to grasp...one, she knew they were all crazy, and two...Danielle knew that her father set her up for this, but one thing just couldn’t leave her mind was - why?

Even if he was so harsh to Danielle, he always protected and defended her when she was a misbehaving child...but again, maybe it was because she lost her mother?

Well, there was no time to go back into her past now, Danielle needed to save her knight.

"Theo, I will help you...just wait for me..."