The Golden Core | Secrets of the Core #1

Chapter Twenty

Her eyes flew open, immediately checking her surroundings. The concrete walls. A sigh left her lips. Escaping was never an option, was it? All she could remember was being pulled inside, but who brought her back into this torture room was the real question. It wasn't hard to guess that it was more than likely Phoenix. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't do it. But giving up wasn't an option. Not now, not ever.

A shiver ran through her body while pulling herself up from the cold floor. When she sat up, the pounding rush in her head only got worse. The thoughts spun around, almost like they were dancing, before she grasped onto reality trying to ignore the pain. Checking her arms and legs, there were no signs of purple on her skin. At least that was a plus, for now. The bruises would probably show up later.

With no idea how long she was unconscious, the priority of needing to get out of here rose to the top. Only twenty-four hours in one day certainly didn't help with her being in the darkness for most of it. Now, how was she going to make it out? There was no point in trying the door. Phoenix would be in front of her in a heartbeat if she made any type of loud noise. Already missing Lauren, she remembered how much fun it was to go out and be with someone her age. In the midst of thinking about all the things they did, Winter stretched her arm above her head. The bun from the boutique was still there! Surely that was part of her headache.

Winter's fingers touched the black bobby pins that were holding her hair up and started to pull one of them free. Before she could get any further, the door swung open hitting the wall extremely close to her body. She shook, steadying her hands on the ground for balance.

"Wake up, Winter. Here's your breakfast," Phoenix said, a big smile on his face.

The delicious smell of bacon and eggs went through her nostrils, her stomach doing flips for the food. Taking the plate, she gave Phoenix a nod and sat cross-legged on the cold floor. Winter glanced at Phoenix as he walked off, shutting the door behind her while the lock clicked in place. Even though she couldn't wait to dive into the breakfast, she hesitated, picking at the food with her fork. Every breakfast she got from Phoenix had been nowhere near as good as this one. Did he catch on to her plan? Maybe this was a way to force her to stay, as if a breakfast would be the only thing she needed to be here with him. If he believed that, he was out of his mind. It would take a lot more to persuade her to continue being here.

Nevertheless, she scarfed her food down within minutes, her tongue slightly on fire from the heat. Hopefully her headache would go away. The white plate rocked against the floor while pushing it away, careful not to make much noise as she placed the fork on top. It was time to get out of here. Slowly she pushed herself up to a stand, stretching her arms behind her head, a pop reaching her ears as she twisted her back.

Winter pulled one of the bobby pins from her hair, wishing Phoenix wouldn't come in before she got the chance to unlock the door. She stretched the pin out to make it flat, then tried to yank the tiny rubber pieces off. It was no use. No matter how many times she wanted to take them off, it wouldn't budge. About to give up, she sat down, her mind working on a way to get the rubber off so she could insert the pin into the lock.

Moments later, she put the bobby pin into her mouth and managed to pull the rubber off both ends with her teeth. Smiling, she laughed. Maybe she was more resourceful than she thought. Winter pushed the pin into the lock, jiggling it to the left and right, hoping to unlock the door, but it wouldn't be that easy. After taking it out of the lock, she twisted part of the pin backwards, creating a loop. Then, pulling the other pin out of her hair, she pushed it to the left in order to create a right angle, using all the strength in her arms. There wasn't much energy left in her.

Before she had the chance to catch a breath, Phoenix came strolling in. Winter hid the bobby pins behind her, then sat down trying her best not to look suspicious.

"How are you feeling?" Phoenix asked.

She stretched, yawning. "I'm fine, certainly feeling a lot better after that breakfast," Winter replied, making sure he couldn't see anything she'd done just a few minutes earlier.

"I'm glad," he answered with a smile. "We don't want you getting worse now, do we?"

Staying silent, Winter hoped he would leave the room. Whatever he was doing, she was almost positive that he knew exactly what she was trying. Freedom was so close she could almost taste it. But she needed a distraction. Anything to make sure Phoenix wouldn't find his way back into the basement while she tried to escape. Figuring out what that would be proved to be the most difficult.

As if her father in the heavens heard her wish, the android in the living room named Roger called Phoenix's name. She only met him once, but she assumed he was only around to help Phoenix with all of his plans that her father was involved in. Unable to get over what Phoenix did, she disliked both of them.

"Give me a minute, Roger. Can't you see I'm talking to Winter?"

Yet another sign Phoenix had somewhat of an idea with what she was doing. It wasn't often that he called her by her actual name. There was no way he actually enjoyed her company.

"It's important, sir. You need to see this," Roger replied, his voice still void of any emotions.

With that, Phoenix huffed and made his way out of the basement, keeping her locked in once again.

Releasing a breath Winter didn't know she was holding, she continued on with her escape plan. Little did she know, all those times of unlocking doors with bobby pins when her mother would separate Summer from her, it would actually come into good use. Summer was a great teacher, after all. She missed him, but at least they were on good terms again. Dwelling on her own thoughts, she shook her head. Now was not the time to be thinking of things other than leaving this torture room.

Winter inserted the right angled bobby pin into the bottom of the lock on the door, holding it gently as she pushed it as far back as it could go. Then, she turned the lock slightly to the right with the pin, making sure it was in the right place. Once that was finished she took the other bobby pin in her left hand and stuck it on top of the second pin, moving it up and down to get a feel for the lock. She could still hear Roger and Phoenix speaking, which meant she had more than enough time to finish her escape job.

Eventually, as she kept moving the bobby pins and turning the lock, the next sound was like music to her ears. The click. Excitement ran through her, almost forcing her to jump up and down and shout happily, but she knew better. Being quiet was the only way she'd win this race. With a big grin on her face she turned the lock a little more to the right, then managed to twist the door knob and get it open. The air was the same air she breathed for the entire time she was in the basement, but now it was freedom.

Winter shut the door quietly behind her, making sure to twist the lock with her bobby pins to keep the door locked. Tiptoeing across the room, she made it to the stairs when she heard footsteps.

"Thanks for the information, Roger. I'll be right back," Phoenix said.

He was coming closer towards her, but she had no idea where to go. She was stuck. Each step got louder and she knew he would catch her at any moment. More than likely, he knew of her plan all along and was just waiting for her to get out so he could throw her back inside. What started as minutes of time to escape turned into seconds and figuring out whether she would get out in time left her too uneasy. Would this be the end of her freedom?