It's a Long Way Down

Chapter Twelve: The Rescue

"Sodo, get up, damn it, you'll miss your window," Swiss said, shaking me awake. Sodo quickly sat up, breathing heavily as Swiss said, "Dude, I thought you were gone. I've been trying to wake you up for the past 15 minutes."

"How much time do we have to get down there," Sodo asked, standing up, and grabbing his mask. Swiss said, "Like 3 minutes dude, hurry up."

He quickly put on his boots, rushing out of the room with Swiss. They both ran to the basement doors where Rain was waiting, "Took you long enough."

"Fuck off, let's go," Sodo said. Rain decided not to argue, opening the door to the basement as he and Sodo walked down the stairs. Both were silent in their movement. Rain was leading Sodo, just to end up back against a wall, bringing Sodo with him. The smaller ghoul let out a small groan, Rain quickly shushing him just before a guard walked by. Sodo gave Rain a look, only speaking in a hushed tone when the guard was gone, "I thought we were clear?"

"Yeah, the room has no guards. The hallways do," Rain simply explained. Sodo rolled his eyes, "How much farther until the office?"

"We barely made it five steps into the basement Sodo," Rain responded. He peered around the corner before motioning to Sodo to follow him. Staying low, the two walked down the hallway, Rain silently counting the hallways in his head as they passed them. In a certain hallway, Sodo felt the familiar pull. He froze in the middle, looking down the hallway, spotting the familiar door, just to be grabbed by Rain. Sodo felt his back slam against a wall, Rain in front of him as the taller ghoul said, "This is why I didn't want you to go. You probably wouldn't have made it to the office."

"I'm good, Rain," Sodo promised, "I'm good."

Rain sighed and started walking down the hallway, "We're almost there now. We just gotta get in, grab the keys and get out."

"You keep repeating it, I know the plan, Rain," Sodo said. He knew the plan, yes, but he knew that was going to go off on his own once he had the keys. Sodo followed after his friend, soon arriving at the office. Once inside, Rain quickly closed all the blinds. The water ghoul pointed at the desk and said, "Top drawer."

Sodo quickly walked over and said, "There's nothing."

He opened the drawer and started digging around, "There's nothing, Rain, what the fuck?"

"What?" Rain said, walking over. He started opening drawers, cursing, "Shit, they were always right here. No matter who was on guard, they were always here."

"Rain, you fucked up, we have no keys and we are running out of time. Ember is running out of time. I am running out of time," Sodo said in an eerily calm voice. Rain looked at his friend and asked, "What do you mean you're running out of time?"

Sodo stayed silent, looking at the ghoul as he walked closer, repeating, "Sodo, what do you mean?"

"Rain-" Sodo tried, not wanting to break the news to his friend now. Rain just shook his head, "Answer the question."

"I-" Sodo said, sighing. He looked at the floor for a moment before looking back at Rain, his eyes vulnerable. Rain had never seen his friend like this. So open.

"I'm dying, Rain," Sodo said softly, "I'm dying and Ember is too."

"How are you dying?" Rain asked. Sodo asked him, "Have you ever heard of a bond stronger than a Mates bond?"

Rain shook his head. Sodo explained, "There's one called the Soulmate Bond. There's no rejection. No reassignment if the other dies. It's the one you're fated to forever. If she dies, I die too. If we're separated too long, we start to slowly die. Starts with pains in the chest. Then dizziness and nausea. Until we die. Once the symptoms start, you have less than 48 hours. It's been nearly 12 hours since mine started."