Fiery Love- Chapter 55

It was Wednesday afternoon and Aurora looked out the car window as she and Thrax drove down the road to the Delta prison to meet up with Damien and Ozzy. There was nothing in sight but trees. She hoped that they would be able to get something out of the four members of Nature's Court. Though she had a feeling they wouldn't say anything.

"Have you ever been to the Delta prison?" Thrax asked.

"Yeah, a few times." Aurora replied, still looking out the car window. She had been there a few times to help with some cases.

"Why is it called the Delta prison?" Curiosity could be heard in his tone.

Aurora looked at Thrax. "The Delta prison is divided into three building sections. One for werewolves, one for vampires, and one for sorcerers. It's easier that way. Each one is about six stories high. They're placed in a way that makes the shape of a triangle and are connected by long hallways. Hence the name. At the center is the main building where the security cameras, storage, and main controls for everything are."

"The whole place is surrounded by a force field because a regular or electric fence doesn't work very well against them." She continued. "They only lower it when people are coming in or out and then quickly bring it back up once they're through so no one has much of a chance to escape. There are guards and guard dogs everywhere, too. The guards are a mixture of humans, vampires, werewolves, sorcerers and sorceresses. It's secluded to make it harder for anyone who gets out to get anywhere quickly if they do escape, and there's less of a chance of people getting hurt."

Thrax looked at Aurora out of the corner of his eye. "Have they ever had any escapes?"

"When they first built the place and were working out the bugs, yes." Aurora replied. "But now they don't really have any escapes. Maybe once in a blue moon, but even then some of them don't get very far."

Thrax turned his attention back to the road. "So is there a separate one for women? I mean there has to be, right?"

Aurora nodded. "Yes, there is. That's the Delta 2 prison. That's at a different location."

There was silence for a few minutes before Thrax spoke again. "How much longer until we get there?"

Aurora smiled. "We should see it any second now."

As if on cue, a force field appeared down the road, with the Delta prison inside. Two guards stood watch along the road at the foot of the force field, with a few others spread around it on the inside and outside. A few minutes later they reached it and stopped the car. One of the two guards then walked over to them and to the drivers side of the car.

"State your name and business, please." The guard asked as he looked at Thrax, a serious look on his face.

"Thrax Roja." Thrax replied. "We're here to join in the interrogation of the four prisoners that were brought here on Monday."

"ID, please." The guard said. Thrax pulled out his ID and showed him. He then looked at Aurora. "And you are?"

Aurora smiled. "Aurora Blazer." She pulled out her ID and held it up for him to see.

"Let me just confirm all of this real quick." The guard took a step back and pulled out a walkie talkie. "I have Thrax Roja and Aurora Blazer here to join in the interrogation of those four prisoners brought in on Monday."

"Let them through." A male voice said through the walkie talkie. "We're expecting them."

"Yes sir." The guard put his walkie talkie back on his belt and pushed a button on the controller attached to his wrist. The force field immediately shut down. "Go through quickly."

Thrax nodded and drove past them. Once they were past the guards, the force field quickly came back online. He drove down the road and into a parking lot that was outside of the fence. He parked his car by another, obviously Ozzy's, and turned it off. They both unbuckled, got out, and then headed for the gate entrance.

"Anything else they're going to do before they let us past the gate that I should know about?" Thrax asked.

Aurora looked at Thrax. "Just one more thing."

They stopped at the gate and were greeted by two more guards with guard dogs. The two dogs looked at Aurora and bowed their heads then followed the guards as they walked up to her and Thrax. One of them pulled out a little scanner and did a quick scan of them, then nodded to the other and put it away. They both then closed their eyes and took in a deep breath. She knew they were taking in their scents. They always did. Out of curiosity, she took a subtle deep breath and caught their scents, finding that they were both werewolves.

"Alright, you can go in now." The guard on the left said. "You'll be escorted by another guard to were Mr. Moon and Mr. Jones are interrogating the prisoners."

Aurora and Thrax nodded and waited as the two guards went to the gate and opened it. They then walked through it and stopped as it closed behind them. Then another guard walked up to them.

"Follow me, please." The guard then turned around and they followed as he lead them to the building that Damien and Ozzy were in.

Aurora saw Thrax looking around and smiled. She wasn't surprise that he was, she had looked around the first time she had been there. It was all very impressive how they kept the prison secure and how well built it was.

Thrax leaned in and whispered. "Was all that back there really necessary? I mean I understand checking ID, but was the scanning and taking in our scents really necessary?"

"The scanning was to make sure we didn't have any hidden weapons," Aurora whispered back. "and they took in our scents for extra measure, so that they'll know what we are. Whether it's actually necessary or not I can't say, but they don't leave anything out. They don't want to take any chances."

They followed the guard into the building that was made for holding vampires. Aurora figured they saw that one as the best building to hold the members of Nature's Court in because of how strong they were in their animal form. They walked down a few halls before they reached where the interrogation rooms were. They stopped at the door at the very end of the hall where two other guards were standing watch.

"Through this door, please." The guard opened a door to the side and they followed, finding that they were in the observation room.

Aurora looked through the two way mirror and saw that Damien and Ozzy were interrogating the one that could change into a lion, and he was still in his lion form. It didn't surprise her that he was still in that form. He'd probably only be in his human form around them if he was wearing his cloak and had the hood covering his face. She also saw that he was still wearing his medallion, and didn't look very happy.

"Look, just answer our questions, and we'll go easy on you." Damien spoke calmly. "We've been in here for hours, so just talk."

The one in his lion form didn't say a word. He just kept on glaring.

"We can do this the easy way," Ozzy walked over to him and got right in his face and glared. "or we can do this the hard way." Aurora knew what they were doing, the good cop bad cop routine. "What's it gonna be? You gonna talk, or does the cat still have your tongue?"

The one in his lion form just glared at Ozzy. Slowly, a growl came from his throat and he began to bare his fangs and stand up. As he did Aurora saw that his hands were in special, electronic cuffs. Once he completely towered over him the cuffs gave him a little shock, making him let out a roar and sit back down.

"You shouldn't have done that." Damien looked at him, then at Ozzy. "Come on Ozzy. I think it's clear he's not gonna talk no matter what we try." He stood up and headed for the door.

Ozzy followed him and then looked back at the one in his lion form. "If you're not gonna talk, then you're gonna be here for a while. Just somethin' to think about." He then walked out of the room with Damien. A few seconds later they entered the observation room that Aurora, Thrax, and the guard were in. "Dang that guy is stubborn! We tried every method in the book and he still won't talk!"

"He hasn't said a word." Damien folded his arms and frowned. "His mouth is a steel trap."

Thrax grinned. "I guess it's my turn then." He turned to Aurora and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be right back, baby." He then walked out of observation room and closed the door behind him.

Aurora turned her attention to the two way mirror and watched as Thrax walked inside and closed the door. He was deathly silent as he walked over to the one in his lion form and stood behind him. He stayed quiet for several minutes before speaking.

"So you're one of those guys that can change into an animal?" Thrax moved to where he was next to him and put his hand on the table. "Not much of a talker are ya? Well if you're not gonna talk willingly," He lit his claw and moved it next to his face, his next words coming out in a deadly tone. "Then maybe I should just go ahead and try to make you talk." He still didn't say anything, he just stared straight at the mirror, unfazed.

"Why is he so unfazed?" Damien asked as he stood next to Aurora and watched.

"Most likely he was trained not to say anything." Aurora watched as Thrax took a step back and folded his arms. "Especially under pressure or if threatened."

Thrax then leaned in and whispered in the one in his lion form's ear, but he still wasn't fazed. He started to look a little angry that he wasn't. He went back to being silent for several minutes, then lit his claw again. "I'm sick of this. If you don't tell us what we want to know, you're going to find yourself as no more than a pile of ash."

The one in his lion form cracked a smile and closed his eyes. "Don't you get it? Threats won't work on me, and neither will torture. Not that you could do that in here without getting into serious trouble. Nothing you say or do is going to get me to tell you what you want to know. So go ahead. Kill me if you want to. It won't change anything."

"Well he got him to talk." Ozzy said, trying to be positive.

Damien looked at Ozzy and frowned. "Ozzy, that's not helping."

Thrax frowned and stopped making his claw glow, then headed for the door. He left the interrogation room and Aurora turned her head to the door as he walked into the observation room. "Well it looks like he's not gonna talk. Not the first time I've dealt with that, but it's still annoying."

Aurora looked through the two way mirror, right at the one in his lion form. She thought about what he said, then decided to try talking to him her way. "I'm gonna talk to him." They all immediately looked at her, surprise on their faces.

"What?" Damien walked over to her. "But Aurora, he hasn't spoken to any of us."

"Except for Thrax." Ozzy added in. "And that was to just tell him that nothing we do is gonna work."

"The only way we're gonna get anything out of him is if we use a mind reading spell or something." Thrax walked over to Aurora. "Baby, there's no point in going in there."

Aurora smiled softly and walked towards the door. "You guys have tried your way." She opened the door, stopped in the doorway, and looked back at them. "Let me try mine."

She closed the door behind her and headed for the door to the interrogation room that the guards were standing outside of. She quietly walked in and closed the door without a sound. She stood there and looked at the one in his lion form as she waited for him to look at her. When he didn't she cleared her throat to get his attention.

He moved his eyes in her direction, then quickly turned his head to face her, a surprised look on his face. She could tell he wasn't expecting to see her. She calmly walked over to the table and sat in the chair across from him, never saying a word. She stared at him with a calm look on her face as he stared back with a somewhat confused look on his.

She waited a few seconds before speaking. "I know you're probably not going to say anything, but I don't really expect you to from what I've seen so far." He blinked in surprise and looked even more confused. She smiled softly. "I can imagine that you were trained to resist any kind of interrogation, so I just want to talk, even if you won't say anything about what we'd really like to know. Based on what's been going on recently, and your reaction to when I came in, I'm pretty sure at this point that you and the others like you already know my name, so what's yours?"

"W...Why?" He seemed taken by surprise by what she had said.

"So that I know what to call you." Aurora replied. "I know they probably already asked you for your name so if you refuse to tell me, it's alright." It wouldn't surprise her if he didn't tell her his name.

He stared at her for a moment. "Yes they did. They also wanted me to change into my human form, but as you can see I didn't do that, or tell them my name."

"You can keep that form as long as you want, can't you?" Aurora had a feeling that he could.

He nodded. "Yes actually. We're able to keep either form for as long as we want since both are our natural forms." He paused. "How did you do that?"

Aurora gave him a confused look. "Do what?"

"Get me to answer your question. Get me to talk like this. I... I feel so comfortable around you. So calm." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She knew he was taking in her scent and most likely trying to see if it was the same as the cinnamon masking scent she used when she was in the woods the other day. He opened his eyes and looked at her, confusion in them. "How did you do that?"

Aurora shrugged, though she knew it was most likely because of her influential powers. That's what she was counting on for this conversation. "Well, you know you only answered one of the two questions I've asked you so far." She smiled. "You never told me your name."

He stood at her for a moment, as if debating whether or not he should tell her. He looked down at the table, then moved his eyes back up at her. "Zander. But... That's all I'm telling you about my name."

"Cool name." Aurora said.

Zander gave her a little smile. "Thanks." He paused and frowned. "What is it you want? You're not interrogating me or threatening me like the others did. So what do you want?"

"To understand you." Aurora calmly replied. "To understand what you and the others like you are doing and why." Even though she already knew what they were doing and why, but he didn't know that she did. "That's what we want to know. You guys helped a criminal escape, as well as do a few other things that give us a reason to be threatened by you."

"And they should feel threatened." Zander frowned and closed his eyes. "At least the humans should. They're the ones who started it all, and they're the one's who'll pay. Once we fine the one we seek."

Aurora stared at him. "They may have started it, but you don't have to continue it. You and the others don't have to seek revenge on humans."

"If you knew what the humans did, you'd probably change your mind." Zander clenched his fists.

She did know, but what caught her attention in his statement was how he kept on saying the humans, as if he wasn't counting her as one. "Why are you saying it like that? As if I'm not a human?"

Zander opened his eyes and looked at her. "I can't tell if you are or not. It's strange. Your scent doesn't scream that of a human, yet... I just can't be sure. Your scent smells kind of like a human's, yet it doesn't."

Aurora blinked in surprise. She hadn't though of her scent not being like a human's scent. She figured her ancestors had the same scent as humans, but that the only actual difference was just that they had powers. She mentally tucked that away to think about later and decided to use it as a way to see if he would answer her next question.

"Is that why you guys have been watching me and checking out places I've been? Because you don't know if I'm human or not?" She waited for him to answer. She knew it wasn't the real reason, but she was still getting him to talk. Hopefully if he kept talking he'd reveal something crucial, like where the others were.

Zander shook his head. "No the reason we're watching you is to see if you're the one we-" He stopped short and looked away. "I'm sorry, but I've said more than I should have."

Aurora frowned and looked down. "I understand, but thanks for telling me what you did anyway." Even if it was stuff they pretty much already knew, minus his name, it was good to know that she could get him to talk.

"There's one more thing that I will tell you, though." Zander said, making Aurora look up at him. She saw urgency in his eyes as he leaned in and whispered so that only she would hear. "Get out of here. Now. Get as far away from this prison as you can."

"Why?" Aurora gave Zander a confused look.

"Because, the other members of Nature's Court are going to come for me and the other three." Zander replied. "We never leave one of our own behind. When they come you could get hurt, not that we would intentionally hurt you, but it could happen in whatever fight pursues. So please, leave before they come."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that." Aurora paused. "Even if they do come, they won't be able to get through the force field."

"They'll find a way." Zander said, confidence in his tone. "Trust me. So please leave. You don't have much time. They'll be here any minute."

Aurora stood up. "I'm sorry, but like I said I can't do that." She walked towards the door, then stopped and turned back around. "It doesn't have to be this way Zander. I'd rather not end up being your enemy."

Zander looked at her, a hint of shame in his eyes. "I'd rather that not happen, either. I don't want to hurt you."

Aurora looked at Zander softly. "Then let's hope it doesn't happen. Thanks again." She then opened the door and left the room. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She frowned, closed her eyes, and folded her arms as she sighed.

She started to think about what Zander had told her. About how the other members of Nature's Court would be coming to get them back. There was no way they could get through the force field, so that meant they would need to find another way. The only other possible way would be to go under it, which meant digging.

Aurora opened her eyes when she heard the door to the observation room open and saw Ozzy, Thrax, Damien, and the guard come out. They had astonished looks on their faces as they walked over to her.

"How did you do that?" Ozzy asked. "How is it you got him to talk when we couldn't?"

"You guys were using the usual tactics for interrogation," Aurora started to explain. "I figured that I'd try just talking to him instead of simply interrogating him." Plus use her influential powers. "He didn't expect it."

Damien smiled. "Way to go Aurora. You certainly got further than we did. Even if it is stuff we know already, you still got him to talk." Aurora gave him a little smile, then looked down and frowned.

"What's wrong, baby?" Thrax walked over to Aurora and gently placed his claw underneath her chin and made her look up at him. "What's wrong?"

"The others are coming for Zander and the other three." Aurora replied. "He told me when me leaned in and whispered because he wants me to get away from here before it happens."

"Impossible." The guard spoke up. "No one can get through the force field."

Aurora looked at the guard. "They're not going to try to get through it, they're going to go under it. It's the only way they can, and we don't have much time."

Ozzy looked at Damien, then at Aurora. "But won't that take them a while?"

Aurora shook her head. "I don't think it will."

"Then we've got to get ready." The guard said. "Follow me. I'm taking you all to the surveillance room. You'll be safer there." Suddenly the alarm went off. "What the-?!"

A voice came over the speaker, making them all look up at it. "Intruder alert! Building V has been breached! Prepare for emergency lock down!"

"Building V?" Thrax looked at Aurora. "That's this building, isn't it?"

Aurora nodded. "They're here." She turned to the guard. "Where are the other three?"

"In separate cells on the third floor." The guard replied.

"They'll be heading for them." Aurora tuned her ears and heard six pairs of footsteps, as well as slithering. She knew what that meant. She listened as she heard them split up and some turn the corner. It sounded as if they were heading their way. "And for the one that's here." She looked at Damien and could tell he had tuned his ears, too.

The guard pulled out his walkie talkie. "To all guards on the third floor, do not leave the three newest prisoners alone and keep your eyes and ears open for the intruders. We have reason to believe that's where they'll be heading." He looked at Aurora, Damien, Ozzy, and Thrax. "Come with me. I need to get the four of you somewhere safe."

"But we can help." Damien protested.

"I'm sorry, but this is regulation." The guard insisted. "We have to get you out of here and to another room before the intruders get here."

"How much time before the building locks down?" Thrax asked.

The guard turned to him. "The building lock down is already commencing. First the outer doors and cell doors will close and lock, then the rest of the doorways will close and lock." He turned and headed down the hall. "Now come with me. There's no time to waste."

They all went to follow the guard down the hall but stopped halfway when they saw the owners of the some of footsteps that Aurora and Damien had heard earlier enter the hallway. They were already in their animal forms. At the end of the hall was the one in his snake form, one in his wolf from, one in his cheetah form, and one in his bobcat form. When they saw them at the center of the hallway they immediately stopped and stared in confusion.

"What is she doing here?" The one in his bobcat form asked, confusion in his tone.

Aurora stared at them for a moment. Obviously they hadn't expected to see her there. Not looking back she focused on the door at the end to the room that Zander was in and made it lock for good measure. Fortunately it's lock was electrically controlled.

Thrax took a few steps until he was past Aurora and stood somewhat in front of her. "Stay behind me, baby." He glared at the one in his snake form. "If I were you, I'd either turn around or give up and surrender now." He glared back at him and let out a threatening hiss as he bared his fangs.

"I'm guessing that's a no." Ozzy said as he turned to Damien. "Looks like we'll be helping fight them after all, Damien."

"Looks like it." Damien growled as he stared at the four members of Nature's Court that were across the hall. "I'll take the wolf."

"I'll take the bobcat." Ozzy pounded the palm of his hand with his fist.

Thrax lit his claw. "Leave the snake to me."

The guard frowned and sighed. "As much as I wish you didn't have to it looks like you will. Alright then. I'll handle the panther then." He turned to Aurora. "Miss, you should get out of here."

Aurora gave the guard a serious look. "I'm not going anywhere. These guys are tough and you're going to need all the help you can get. I can hold my own against them."

Damien then joined in the conversation. "Trust me she can, and she's right. Each of these guys is stronger than ten men combined. The more of us, the better."

The guard nodded. "Alright then. Let's not waste any more time."

They all stood their ground and waited for the members of Nature's Court to make their move. The four of them looked at each other, then nodded and charged at them. They fought each other with everything they had. Damien and the one in his wolf form were growling at each other as they tried to knock each other down. Ozzy fought the one in his bobcat form and knocked him into the wall. The guard and the one in his cheetah form rolled and tumbled as both tried to gain the higher ground.

Aurora and Thrax worked together to pin down the one in his snake form. He struggled and hissed, particularly at Thrax, as he tried to push them off of him. She tried to keep his tail pinned down while he kept his arms pinned down. It wasn't easy and she was afraid they wouldn't be able to keep him pinned down for long, and her fear proved to be right when he managed to get his tail out of her grip and knocked her back.

Aurora got up and went to pin his tail down again but he'd already managed to wrap it around Thrax. He then launched him across the hall. "Thrax!" Just as she went to run over to him to make sure he was alright she felt his tail wrap around her from her ankles to her shoulders and lift her off the ground. "Hey! Put me down!" She struggled as best she could but he held tight.

Though the one in his snake form was holding tight, he was being gentle with her too. He didn't tighten his grip anymore than was necessary to hold on to her. It didn't surprise her, not after how he handled her the first time. At this point she figured they'd be gentle with her no matter what the situation.

Aurora glared at him. She was pretty ticked off at how he threw Thrax across the hallway. "Let me go!" She wanted to use her powers but knew if she did then they'd know it was her for sure. There was one thing she could do without them knowing for sure, though. Subtly, she took a deep breath, taking in each of their scents. Now she'd know who they were if she ever ran into them again in their human forms.

She looked and saw the door at the end of the hallway shut and lock, shutting them all in there. Emergency lock down was going through the next step. At least they couldn't get out. The four members looked at the door, then at each other. She had a feeling she knew what they were thinking and tried struggling again.

"Let her go!" Thrax shouted. Aurora looked and saw him running towards them, his claw glowing bright.

The one in his snake form opened one of the doors in the hallway and quickly slithered in. He then gently set Aurora down, quickly unwrapping his tail from around her and heading for the door. She had a feeling he was putting her in there to keep her safe from the fight, not that she was going to stay in there.

"Oh, no you don't!"  Aurora ran and tackled him as he reached the doorway, knocking him back into the hallway. As she worked on pinning him down again she saw that the one in his bobcat form had knocked Ozzy to the ground and was already at the door that Zander was behind, fighting the two guards. She got up to go and stop him when the other tripped her with his tail and she fell to the ground. Before he could grab her again Thrax pulled him away from her and against the wall.

She started to get up, but immediately stopped and looked down the hall when she heard roaring from the room. The one in his bobcat form had already knocked the two guards unconscious and opened the door. A few seconds later, he came out with Zander, who was no longer wearing the handcuffs. They started to run down the hall to reach the others.

She quickly finished getting up and saw that Thrax, Damien, and the guard were still busy with the others while Ozzy still lay on the ground, unconscious. She had to think quick. She stood in their path as they ran towards her, then roundhouse kicked Zander into the one in his bobcat form, knocking them back ten feet. They both got up and stared at her for a moment. She knew they were trying to think of how to get past her without hurting her.

Suddenly a screeching noise from behind caught her attention. She turned and saw that the door on the other side was being torn open by the members of Nature's Court that had gone to get the other three. They were using their combined strength to break through the door, and were succeeding.

Aurora turned around as she heard Zander and the one in his bobcat form running towards her again. This time they managed to grab her and hold her against the wall. "Let me go!" She struggled against their grip on her, but it was no use. The only way she could get out of their grip was to use her powers. It was time to be a little subtle.

As she continued to struggle she slowly made the lights flicker, then made three of them shatter. She made the first two random, then made the one right above the three of them shatter. They immediately let go of her and moved out of the way to avoid the sparks and glass shards. She moved to the side to avoid the shards as well, then went to try and knock them down.

They moved out of the way and ran for the door to get out of there. The other members of Nature's Court followed and soon were leaving through the door and down the hall to escape. Thrax, Damien, and the guard headed for the door to go after them.

Aurora ran over to Ozzy, who was still unconscious, and checked his pulse. Fortunately it was okay. Most likely he just had a few bruises from how he looked. "You guys go ahead. I'll stay here with Ozzy and try to wake him up." They nodded and proceeded to leave the hallway and go after the members of Nature's Court.

She put her hand on Ozzy's shoulder and healed any head injury he might have gotten, as well as any other wounds. She then leaned him up against the wall in a sitting position. It was then that she felt a shooting pain in her arm. She looked and found that there were a few shards in her it. She carefully pulled them out and watched as her wounds healed.

Ozzy let out a groan and Aurora turned her attention back to him. He opened his eyes and looked at her. "What happened?"

"You got knocked out." Aurora replied. "I healed any wounds or head injuries you might have gotten. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." He looked around the hallway. "Where'd everybody go?"

Aurora stood up and held out her hand for Ozzy. "The other members of Nature's Court got the other three and then came here. Then the rest joined them." He took her hand and she helped him up. "Damien, Thrax, and the guard went to try and stop them."

Ozzy headed for the torn open door. "Then let's go help."

Aurora followed Ozzy through the door and down the next hallway. It wasn't hard to find which way they went. All they had to do was follow the path of torn open metal doors. They continued to run through several hallways until they ended up outside. She looked and saw Thrax, Damien, and the guard coming back from the force field, a few other guards with them. There were no members of Nature's Court, though. That wasn't good. They went over to them and met halfway.

"What happened?" Ozzy asked. "Where'd they go?"

"They got away." Damien frowned. "They dug a tunnel all the way to the back door, then made it collapse after they were through so we couldn't follow them. We went to the force field to see if we could find where they would resurface but we couldn't. They must have dug the entrance deep in the woods. Are you guy's alright?"

"We're fine." Aurora gave them all a concerned look. "Are you guys alright?" She looked at Thrax, hoping that he wasn't hurt after getting thrown across the hall. They all nodded and she let out a sigh of relief, then looked towards the woods.

"They're stronger than we thought. And clever." Damien walked over to the guard. "I'm sorry. If we had known they would have pulled a stunt like that, we could have better prepared."

"It's alright." The guard said. "There's no way any of us could have known exactly what they were going to do, but now we can prepare for something like that."

All the while they spoke, Aurora continued to stare at the woods, getting a chill up her spine. She scanned the trees and saw the silhouette of the one in his snake form among them, staring at her. She stared back, never taking her eyes off of him. After a few more minutes he turned around and disappeared into the woods. Though she knew she'd see him again.

"If you all will follow me, we'll escort you to the gate." The guard said. "We'll take care of everything else that happened here. The lock down procedure is shut down now."

He headed for the gate and they followed, silent the entire time. When they reached the gate the guards that were there scanned them like before, then opened the gate and let them through. The guard stayed behind as they walked through and then it closed behind them.

"They're getting bolder." Aurora said as the four of them headed for their cars.

"Desperate is more like it." Damien growled. "They did it in daylight. At one of the most secure prisons in the world."

"Hopefully they'll be more prepared now in case we catch anymore." Ozzy said, trying to be positive. "How did they dig a hole so quickly?"

Aurora looked at Ozzy. "Most likely one of them was one that could change into something that can dig holes quickly. Like a mole, gopher, groundhog, badger, and so forth." There were quite a few animals that could dig tunnels underground. It could have been any one of them.

Ozzy thought for a moment. "I guess that makes sense." He paused. "I have a feeling they're going to try something like that again."

"If they do," Anger could be heard in Thrax's tone. "They're going to regret it." He turned to Aurora, a look of concern on his face. "That little snake didn't hurt you, did he?"

Aurora shook her head. "No. I think he was trying to put me in that room so that I wouldn't end up getting hurt. Unfortunately for him I wasn't going to stay in there."

Thrax grinned and gently kissed her as they reached the cars. "I'm just glad he didn't hurt you."

Aurora smiled and kissed him back. "I'm glad he didn't hurt you, either." She looked at Damien and Ozzy. "And I'm glad you guys are alright, too."

"Well I'm glad someone here cares about ALL of us." Ozzy folded his arms and glared at Thrax.

"Don't take it so personally, Jones." Thrax pulled out his sunglasses and put them on.

Ozzy threw his arms in the air as he gave an exasperated sigh. "I give up." He went over to his car and got in.

Damien smiled. "I'll see you guys later. Ozzy's my ride."

"See you later Damien." Aurora waved to him as he got in Ozzy's car and watched as they drove out of the parking lot and down the road. She then turned to Thrax and smiled. "We should get going, too."

Thrax grinned and wrapped his arms around her. "In a minute." He purred, then pressed his lips against hers and held her close. "Don't worry about a thing, baby. Well get them."

She smiled and kissed him back, then rested her head on his chest. "I know we will."

She knew that they would stop Nature's Court. They may have been getting bolder, but that wouldn't deter her, Thrax, or the others from stopping their plans to eliminate the human race. Sooner or later, they would stop them.