The self-satisfied inflection in Dylan's tone had been enough to set off a quiet rage within Cassidy.

They'd made a deal. As long as she's alive, Adrian should be too. But as far as what she knows – as far as what her uncle has let her hear, her husband is gone, and that fact, in and of itself, is enough to absolve her of her connection to this vile organization.

'I never had any intention of becoming a true successor. Like hell I would.'

Cassidy's words had been flimsy at best. She'd simply wanted to buy time. Her objective has always been to give Adrian a chance to act.

Their comrades will be infiltrating this hellhole of a hideout soon, and she knows that they will come for her, too.

'Maybe Uncle had seen through my lies - or maybe he hadn't, and he'd simply taken me in because he saw value in me. But it's now obvious that he never intended for Adrian to live.'

Dylan wanted him to die. Nothing Cassidy could have ever said would have kept him from reaching that goal.

Perhaps, she could've prevented it if she'd been smarter - if she'd been more convincing. She should have fought harder, and she should've been stronger.

'I was always the one who's asking Adrian to count on me, and yet when he'd truly been in danger, I failed to protect him.'

She failed. Very terribly.

Guilt and sorrow settled in her being in the subsequent hours. She'd felt the burn in her heart match the sting in her eyes. For that whole time, she kept her sobs quiet, and after a while, she ran out of tears to shed. The sadness had ebbed away into a mind-numbing hollowness.

Cassidy felt the cold deadness take over, keeping her frozen in her grief.

'I lost a loved one again. I lost my most beloved.'

The concept of Adrian's death still seems so far away - so unbelievable. All that Cassidy has to confirm it is the memory of Edward's broken speech.

She frequently finds herself still believing that she will see him again someday - that when the darkness of this prison gives way into light, the first thing she'll see will be her husband, pulling her out of there and bringing her to safety.

Some part of Cassidy doesn't believe that Adrian's dead even though everything is telling her that he is.

So, sometimes, she attempts to twitch her fingers or ease the cramps in her legs - anything to get some feeling back into her body. She can't afford to waste away like this. The day of her escape is coming soon. She can feel it. It's only a matter of time before her allies come bursting into the facility.

'By then, I should be ready.'

She won't give Dylan the satisfaction of winning. After all, he did not keep his end of the bargain.

So neither will Cassidy.

---

The sun is already setting when Bryan greets Edward and Charles at their rendezvous point.

Aira silently stands next to Seven as they stride forward to shake Bryan's hand. The gesture is somewhat necessary despite the occassion. It's their first time meeting him, after all.

"Sir Adrian had forwarded a blueprint of the facility's layout to me...

" Bryan informed both of them.

"I've already taken the time to memorize it along with his detailed instructions for activating the self-destruct mechanism. He's given us a window of seventeen minutes. Two minutes to get in, and fifteen minutes to get everyone out before the whole building explodes. We can't dally a single second. We have to make sure everyone who's against us in that facility dies along with the explosion. No more loose ends.

"

"Possible entry points?

" Charles chimed in, nodding at his directions.

"From the east side. The guards filter in through there.

"

"And exit points?

"

"Same as our entry point. There's no other way out. There's only the way we came in.

"

"I see. Please, proceed.

"

"The holding cells are located towards the center, near the laboratories. Sir Adrian suggested we enter quietly - sneak in through the guard's trucks. They're surprisingly lax. He anticipated there'll be a shipment today, and I've managed to confirm that. I circled around the facility, and I noticed they've been preparing a few trucks for transport. So, we'll have to act quickly. I'll activate the timer once I activate the self-destruction sequence.

"

"Hold on a minute...

" Edward interrupted, getting the instructions yet not understanding anything at the same time.

"Are you telling me we're taking orders from my dead brother?

"

"He's been planning this for quite a while now. The attack on the apartment was just... unexpected.

"

"So, he was planning to infiltrate this facility long before he and Cassidy got attacked?

"

Charles shot him a look then. It appears like Edward is still out of it. He really can't blame him, though. Then again, it's only been half a week since Adrian's death.

To add to that, the hospital isn't letting their family take his body yet.

"Sir Edward, we'd been previously informed that they're planning to infiltrate this facility long before Bryan approached us for help,

" Charles reminded Edward.

"We knew about the shipment thing from the get-go...

" Seven piped in with his hand raised a little to call for their attention.

"We just needed further clarifications from Bryan. Sir Adrian asked me to assist him. He chose the two of us since we're not part of the investigation that Sir Ray was conducting with both of you. So, we'd be the least to get targeted by the enemies, which then gave us the freedom to move.

"

Bryan seconded that with a nod. He then turns back to Edward and Charles before continuing,

"Right now, what we need is your tactical ability. We only know vaguely what we have to do.

"

---

When Damien laid down on his bed that night, he expected the same nightmarish noises to come.

It's in the eerie quiet of his cell that they've become profound, and sure enough, they've come. He has to take a moment to realize that they're not screams of pain, though. Rather, they're shouts of anger and protest.

Also, they're not coming from his head. They're coming from outside.

'That's odd.'

Damien sits up abruptly.

There's a short pause, and then, there it is again - that shout laced with profanities and insults galore. It sounds like a girl. There's a girl shouting out there.

'What's happening?'

Breath hitching, he crawls over to the cell door, trying in vain to listen. It sounds like they're dragging the girl along the hallway. Her bellows are drawing nearer to where he is. They're punctuated by the harsh sounds of whip hitting skin, but if anything, they only made her angrier.

"Take your filthy hand off of me, you jerk!

"

Damien stills then.

Now that he's listening closer, he realizes that the girl sounds familiar. He'd definitely recognize that voice everywhere.

'Is that... Aira?!'