Hitori felt like throwing up on her, but his stomach was empty, and he would not vomit blood, that was for sure. He grabbed the girl's hand and ran into the hallway. The guard chasing Hitori shouted, "Hitori, stop!"
But he ran. The girl resisted his grip and tried to stop running, but he knew if she stopped she would trip and he would drag her if he has to. "I am sorry," he said, "just keep up with me."
She gulped and tried to calm her heart, she somehow found her voice and said, "Are you a thief? Why are you running? Are you taking me as a hostage?"
Hitori saw a turn. Left and right. Should he ask her the way to the exit? What if she sets him up by telling him the wrong way? So he trusted his guts instead of the girl.
Hitori took the left turn, thinking it might be the closest way to the back door.
Just right around the corner of the bright hallway, he found a dark corner. He glanced behind, the guard was far away, so he took the girl to the corner.
Looking at her, he knew she wanted to scream but was scared to shit to do it. Anyone would like to cry when they are a hostage, but she could not do it either.
He swung his arm forward and threw the girl in the corner. She banged her back against the wall. He loomed over her and looked into her eyes.
"I need your help." She stared at him with pain climbing her neck. "Tell me the way to the back door. I need to get out of here."
She gave it a thought. If he went, then what about her? Will he take her or makes her journey of life ends here? She raised her hand to cover her face and said in a little voice, "W-What about me? What are you going to do with me?"
Hitori glanced behind, the guard had not caught up yet. Only if Atama had allowed teleportation, things would have been different. He looked back at the girl. "We will never meet again, I promise."
She removed her hands to take a peek at Hitori, she was scared to shit and tears were forming in her eyes. "Promise? I don't even know you, mister."
"Well, I am a seventeen-year-old wizard, and you know how I look. So if shit happens to you, you can always come and find me. But I promise nothing will happen to you as long tell me the way out"
"That way! Take the left!"
Hitori glanced over his shoulder. "They are coming, miss, hurry up! Just point where the back door is!" He knew he could trust her because he believed he had warned her enough to know the consequences of setting him up.
She heard the footsteps and so did Hitori, he had no other choice because she would not tell him! He could have grabbed her neck and frozen it or burned her arm, but it was enough touching girls for the day.
He went for his wand. He felt a pinching pain as he grabbed the wand's thick end. Ignoring the pain, he pointed the wand at the girl's neck.
"Now!" he shouted and for once, he felt like a gangster. A fucking gangster.
She jumped back and hit her head on the wall, but not hard enough to knock her out. She raised her hand, but her eyes were still closed, and a drop rolled down her cheek.
Hitori turned and saw her pointing at the hallway behind him. The lights in that hallway were switched off and it got narrow as it progressed.
"Then?" He turned to her. "Where does it end?"
She half-opened her eyes. He thought she was wasting his time and making him stay as the guard closes in. They could not see him, but they could hear his footsteps. He clicked his tongue.
"Come on, you will pay for it," he muttered.
She was losing herself, he could see her eyes going numb and so did her arms as they fell by her side. He wanted to shake her but refrained from doing it. "At the end…" she muttered, and he heard nothing more from her.
She lost her balance and crumbled to the ground like a piece of cloth. He took a step back and revealed himself to the guard. He stared at her wide-mouthed, then gathered himself.
He leaned forward, despite the danger catching up– only three meters of distance was left to cover and held his wand against her neck. "I am sorry, again. This would not hurt much, just a jolt of electricity."
The tip turned blue and so did her neck, but nothing happened. After he was done submitting his mana to her, he squatted and turned to the hallway in front of him. But to reach the hallway, he would have to cross the tri-section.
He shook his head and held his wand by the side, almost touching the floor. He waited till the guard was only a meter away from him, and when he took another step, Hitori pushed himself using his toes, then transferred the weight to his thighs through his calves.
He saw the guard come to a sudden stop as he rolled over the floor to reach the other side. The guard took a step back and fired a spell at Hitori. He missed, of course, Hitori was prepared.
The beam hit the wall in front of the guard and Hitori reached the other side. He had crossed the tri-section, but things did not end yet. He needs to give the guard a distraction before he could take off running.
Hitori jumped to his feet and turned around. He pulled his arm up and aimed at the girl on the other side, still unconscious. The guard stepped forward and Hitori took that as a sign to act.
"Electrify!" Nothing came from his wand, but the mana he had sent into the girl activated and she screamed.