Good.
Now I need to pry off the vent cover.
I sacrifice two fingernails in the process.
Pushing my hand inside the small egress, I feel around the cavity space.
Ah, as I had hoped. The ceiling tile is filled with fiberglass rather than reinforced wire. Good for muffling screams, but not for keeping monsters secure.
I grip the edge of the tiling then heave downward, bringing a section of the ceiling with me. Dust and insulation fibers fill the air.
I pause.
No alarms that I can hear. And no boots pounding down the corridor.
Continue.
I repeat the action until there is space enough to hoist myself up. My shoulders scrape against the crossbeams as I pull my body up into the crawlspace.
It’s a tight, suffocating fit, but I can drag my body along, slowly wriggling my way from joist to joist towards the girl.
The air is thick and hot. Just how I like it.
Finally, I find the vent above her cell and through the narrow slats, I see her—curled up and unmoving.
I wish I could speak aloud.
Warn her about the noise and debris that are about to happen.
But I can’t, so I must continue and hope she doesn’t get hurt in the process.
To enter her cage, I simply roll off the beam I’m lying on, onto the insulation. The weight of my body smashes through the tile immediately, and I land heavily on the little girl’s cell floor.
She doesn’t scream, just sits up and stares, eyes wide and unblinking.
Hurry now, human.
Yes.
I scoop her up, and boost her into the ceiling, pulling myself up a moment later. The girl hasn’t moved.
I don’t have an option but to tuck her into my body with one arm, and use the other to drag us both through the eighteen-inch-high crawlway. The only illumination is from the holes I've torn in the infrastructure, so my path needs to be moving away from the light.
Now, in this labyrinth of underfloor access, my minotaur finds the means to aid us.
Forward.
Forward.
Now left.
I move steadily.
It feels like many, many minutes pass.
My breath comes out in dry pants, and sweat has soaked through my clothing as my hand reaches out, finding a solid concrete wall.
This is where I’m supposed to be, I believe.
