I AM BACK, BABY!

I am SOOOO sorry for the super-freaking-long wait! I had serious writer's block... A few times I would try to make progress on this chapter, but... I never got very far, and then I would just say "screw it" and go do something else. But anyway, enjoy this chapter, because I worked my ass off trying to write it!

Chapter 8: Escape... But Not For Long

"What... are we going to do?" Elizabeth moaned, turning her head to me. I raised my eyes to the stone ceiling, not wanting to look at my beaten-up sister, and sighed.

"I don't know," I replied, feeling her shoulders slump when she heard what I said.

"Can you... go... after him?"

"I'm in no better condition than you are," I told her. "I can barely move or speak."

"Well, I guess it's a dead loss, then," she said, sadness and defeat choking her voice. "We're doomed to sit here and die."

I shook my head slowly. "No, we aren't." Gathering all the remaining strength I had, I pushed my weary body to my knees and stood up. Immediately, a wound in my side spasmed and blood spilled over my skin.

"Allison, don't!" Elizabeth croaked. "You'll hurt yourself."

"Elizabeth, I'm not the weakling I used to be. That's all behind me now."

"I wasn't saying - "

"Hush," I snapped, cutting her off. "I have to do this, for me and my friends, and you can't stop me." I left her out of my sentence, because this act she was playing wasn't affecting me. I still believed she was evil, even though another part of me told me otherwise.

Before she could speak another word, I was out the door.

I looked from side to side to make sure that no one was coming, then I followed my instincts and turned right, darting down the hallway. I came to a corner and peeked around it. Seeing not a soul, I continued my probably futile journey to escape this God-awful place. After turning multiple corners, sneaking down halls, and freezing in my tracks when I heard a noise, I came across a large steel door. A keypad sat on the wall beside it, emitting a sickly green light. I silently cursed. How the hell was I supposed to figure out the code?

I was about to put in a guess at the password when I heard footsteps coming from the same direction I'd traveled. I froze in place, not moving, not twitching a muscle. I squeezed myself as best as I could against the wall, trying to become invisible, though that would be pretty hard considering the black catsuit I wore. The footsteps faded down a different hallway, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Looks like I'm not getting caught today, I thought.

But I was wrong.

As soon as the footsteps disappeared, I moved away from the wall and diverted my attention back to the keypad. My nimble fingers flew over the keys, entering a variety of codes; all of which didn't work. I was about ready to bang my head against the wall when the screen color changed from red to green, signaling that I had entered the correct pass code. The door slid open, revealing a large control room. Giant monitors occupied every inch of the wall, showing what was going on inside the facility. One glance at a monitor and I realized that they had seen my whole escape operation. Which meant that my ass was grass.

Guards, at least a hundred of them, stood just inside the door, waiting for me. The red lasers emitted from their guns were centered directly on my chest. Through the masks and visors they wore, I could see the bloodthirsty look in their eyes.

They were really going to shoot me. They wanted me dead, no matter what happened.

For all this time, I thought Loki had been messing with my head, saying that he was going to kill me. Even the expression on his face would uphold his statement. But I never thought that he was serious. Not once did it cross my mind.

Until now.

"Well, I must say," began Loki, who was standing behind the group of soldiers. "That was quite an impressive performance you put on for all of us."

I was so shocked that I couldn't speak, couldn't move. This had taken me completely by surprise. I mean, I had expected just a few soldiers as obstacles along the way, but this... this was an absolute disaster. But quickly, a chuckle from Loki brought me out of the paralytic state I was in.

"Though, I have to admit that it could have been better," he continued, "because you aren't getting out of here that easily." His eyes narrowed to slits, and he pushed his way through the crowd of soldiers, aiming the point of his staff at my throat. Sensing the potential danger I was in, I quickly backed away from him and glared at his proud form.

"Don't touch me," I growled through my teeth. He smirked and lowered the staff.

"I'm surprised, really," he said.

"Why?" I asked, still not taking my eyes away from his staff, in case he decided to make a move.

"I thought you would have put up more of a fight."

"We haven't fought yet, idiot," I snapped.

"No, I meant when I kidnapped you," he said. "When we were fighting on the ship."

As soon as he said that, I was bombarded with the painful memories of the fight. Losing Thor; being held back, defenseless and overpowered, while I was forced to watch one of my best friends get killed right before my eyes... Coulson. I couldn't stop thinking about him. Was he okay? Had they taken care of him? The torture of not knowing a thing about what was happening right now on the helicarrier hit me like a tidal wave, and I sank to my knees. All I could hope was that my friends were alright... Natasha, Steve, Bruce... even Fury and Tony. I couldn't imagine if they were severely injured - or dead.

"It's all my fault," I whispered and buried my face in my hands. Then I stiffened up again. I was showing my soft side in front of Loki and his soldiers. I couldn't let that happen.

But apparently, Loki had a soft side, too. "What's all your fault?" he asked. I could even hear an edge of sympathy in his voice. He leaned down and rested a hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it away and glared up at him.

"I don't need your sympathy," I snarled and rose to my feet. I looked at him and thought I saw a flash of hurt cross his face. I shook my head. No, I was just imagining things... or was I?

"Well, if you insist," he said and walked away from me. He turned and gave me one of his signature grins. "I suppose you still want to escape?"

"I've gotten this far," I said. "I guess there's no turning back." He stroked his chin with two fingers, seeming to ponder this for a moment, then looked at me and smiled. Not an evil smile, but an almost... forgiving smile.

"Tell you what," he said. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited for him to continue. "I'll let you escape. On one condition." He held up his index finger to show what he meant. "You have half an hour to find your way out. If you aren't gone when that time is up, then I will personally hunt you down and kill you."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Loki, the god of mischief and the mastermind behind the whole destroy-the-humans-and-take-over-the-world thing, was letting me go? Allowing me to slip out of here, without even attempting to chase me down and keep me from leaving? This made no sense at all. And then it hit me - he was making it up. I finally understood what he was doing. He wanted me to try and escape, but at the last moment his guards would step in and knock me out, extinguishing the hope of possibly seeing the light of day - or night, depending on what time it was - and dragging me back to be tortured yet again in this hellhole. Well, if he thought that I was going to give in this easily, he was wrong.

"I know what you're thinking," he said, snapping me out of my reverie. "You think that I'll let you attempt to leave, but then I'll recapture you. Am I right?"

Unconsciously, I nodded my head in agreement.

He chuckled. "You must believe me. I am giving you this one chance to finally be free, to see your friends again; and yet you won't take it. I'm not baiting you into a trap."

"Yeah, right," I scoffed.

"No, really," he protested. "I'll show you." He gestured for the men to drop their weapons, and the soldiers, almost unwillingly, complied. He then pressed a button, and the door behind me hissed, then slid open. I felt a shiver run up my spine as a cool breeze wafted into the room, sending goosebumps down my arms.

"The door is open, and my men have cast aside their weapons. You are free to go," he said.

"I want to see that staff gone, too."

He looked surprised at my words, but set his staff on the ground beside the discarded guns with a grin.

"That's better," I said. Slowly, without taking my eyes off of Loki, I backed out into the hallway, also trying to watch where I stepped so that I wouldn't trip over a random small bump in the floor. They made no move to follow me nor to pick up their weapons. I was about ready to believe that Loki was true to his word.

"You have thirty minutes before I find and kill you," Loki shouted at me before the door closed. Without hesitating, I turned and ran down the hall, my boots clacking on the tiled floor as I went.

I thought about going back for Elizabeth, but I realized that would take up a lot of time; time too precious for me to lose. She was just going to have to deal with Loki on her own. I was making absolutely no back trips for anyone.

The more I ran uninterrupted, the more I realized that most of the guards were probably in the control room or the outermost hallways. I swear to God it felt like I was running through an endless maze with enough twists, turns, and traps to make me lose the rest of whatever sanity I had left. Except there weren't that many traps. And by then, I was surprised I hadn't run into a trap and set off the alarm.

At least twelve minutes were gone from the time limit; that meant eighteen minutes left. You'd think eighteen minutes would feel longer, but when you were literally running for your life, it's like those minutes tick by in only a split second.

And then the rest of those were up. Just like that, they were gone.

That meant Loki was coming after me.

"I will find you!" I heard him shout down the hallway. Even as far away as he was, his voice was loud and clear. I felt the adrenaline start pumping faster through my veins, giving me the strength and stamina I needed to pick up my pace. My boots pounded against the hard tile, not stopping, not slowing down for a second. Sweat poured off my forehead, dripping into my eyes. I rubbed them furiously, but that just seemed to make the sweat smear everywhere. I cursed and continued running without caring about how loud I was.

It felt like forever until I finally reached another door, I let out a sigh of relief. Not just because I had found a door, but because I was able to take a break from the sprinting. I had been starting to feel really claustrophobic, and I wasn't even confined in a small room by myself. This door had a keypad as well, but I figured that the code was the same for every one, so I entered the code I had put in the last time. An "access granted" flashed across the screen and I heard the lock click as the door released pressure. I pushed it open and was immediately hit with a wall of humidity and sunlight. Yeah, I was definitely outside.

Birds chirped high up in the trees, and just hearing that sound lifted my spirits. It was the sound of freedom, the sound of joy; my freedom and my joy. I was ecstatic to finally be bathing in the light of the sun again. Its rays branched out onto every inch of my skin, warming me to the bone. I tried to do everything I could to enjoy this moment while it was possible.

And then it hit me.

The pain was so unbearable, so forceful, that it literally pushed me to my knees and made me double over. I clutched my head, groaning and whimpering. It felt like something was trying to claw its way out. I tried rubbing my temples, but that only seemed to make it worse. It got so bad that I was lying on the ground, screaming in pain. I didn't know what or who I was calling out to; my vision was hazy, and my heart was pounding in my ears, drowning out any noise.

Let me out, whispered a voice. I looked up, thinking that there was someone beside me, but all I was able to see was grass, trees, and a few brave and curious birds who had landed on the ground a few feet away.

I said, let me out!

I suddenly realized that the voice was inside me, not outside.

WHO ARE YOU?! I screamed in my mind.

I'm you, the voice replied.

So I'm talking to myself?

Not necessarily. You see, I am simply another part of your mental embodiment.

And that makes sense how?

Stupid child, the voice snarled. You should know me.

I have no idea who you are, and I don't think I want to find out.

The voice cackled. The sound bounced around in my mind, echoing off the walls of my brain.

You really are just another stupid human, it said. I can't believe that you really don't know who I am.

Okay, let's just cut to the chase. Who the hell are you, and why are you torturing me like this? I asked it.

It cackled again. I don't want to be locked up in here any longer. I want to be free, to see the outside world.

Well, that's progress. And I can't help but side with you on that. But there's still one other question that's left unanswered. Who are you?

There was a significant pause, and then it answered, I'm Demonica.

All I heard before the world faded to black was the sound of maniacal laughter.

Woo, cliffhanger! Heck yeah, I left you guys hanging! I'm evil, aren't I? Mwahahahaha! *dramatic lightning effect*

ANYWHO, I just wanted to finally get this chapter done before I went to camp. I might be able to squeeze in another chapter before the week's over, because I leave for camp next Sunday, so unless I'm busy, I'll be writing the next chapter! Stay tuned!

By the way, I'm sorry if this chapter seemed a bit short, and if the escape thing was too easy for Allison. You have to understand, it's two in the morning right now and I'm tired as anything. Also, if you find any mistakes in this chapter, like grammar, spelling, or capitalization mistakes, please notify me immediately. Thanks.

Rate, review, and favorite, please! I love it when you guys do that, and I also love to give out virtual cookies to anyone who does so!

Ciao~!
~FanFicWriter102