Categories > Celebrities > 30 Seconds to Mars > Escape
Chapter 4: Into Oblivion
2 reviewsShannon's alone in the twisting tunnels of the den, will he find his brother?
0Unrated
He was alone. Feeling like the only living creature left for miles Shannon Leto stumbled down the dirt track that was enveloped in the warehouse's shadow. A shiver of Deja Vu shot through Shannon's spine as he stood in front of that same steal door. Shannon began to wonder how on earth this would work. This place was surely guarded, and by god knows
what, he could not just waltz in and out again. So he paused, his hand inches from the door he was about to push open. 'Burgulars don't just ring the door bell and hope to be let in!', he thought to himself. He scurried away from the door and began to hurry around the perimeter of the building. It was much bigger than he had first observed. Just as he was running around the back wall of 'The Den' a deep bark from afar caught him off guard. He tripped and fell into a pile of cardboard boxes and other discarded junk that had been thrown against a skip.
He was about to move his hand from underneath the rusting skip he was now lying against when he noticed something. As quickly and quietly he could, Shannon leapt to his feet and began pushing the hunk of iron out of the way. Heart racing, he looked down. A perfect, raised rectangle of earth lay where the skip had moments previously. Shannon had to stop himself whooping as he lifted the mismatching wooded hatch covered by earth. He threw the piece of wood behind him.
Hardly daring to believe his luck he stared into the hole that he had just uncovered. A secret entrance.
Adrenaline took over his normal thought process, without foresight of danger he sat on the edge of the darkness cut into the floor, pushed himself off and was swallowed by the ground. It had not even crossed his mind that should somebody come around the back of 'The Den', they would find the skip pushed over and the earthy cover disturbed, alerting them to the fact of an intruder
The wind began to pick up. It collected dust from the floor, spun it around the rusting metal objects causing an eerie whistling, before spewing the particles backdown to earth. A pair of glowing, amber eyes shone from the darkness beneath an old pickup truck. They were fixed on the spot where Shannon had just disappeared.
He was on his feet again, his arm slightly bruised and grazed. The drop had, thankfully, only been 10 foot of so, but that had caused Shannon to fall to the rocky, uneven ground below. He peered around his new surroundings. The hole above allowed a rectangle of light to filter through causing the tunnel to be illuminated for a few feet in front of and behind Shannon. Squinting into the grim gloom beyond where the sunlight's fingers caressed the craggy rocks, he came to the conclusion that the tunnel went on for miles both ways. He also realised that going right would take him under the warehouse, whereas left would weave a path through the mountains.
Shannon was about to walk towards the warehouse when he heard footsteps coming straight towards him.
"Shit!", he swore under his breath and began to run as swiftly yet silently as he could into the mountains. It was not long before there was a fork. He dived left and hid inside a large crevice in the rock face. Footsteps drew nearer and a pair of deep masculine voices to match. They echoed off the black walls. The sound crashing upon
Shannon's already pounding ears. He made himself as small as he could and placed his hand over his own mouth to stifle his breathing. Praying to god that they would just walk by.
"EEK!"
"What was that?", called one of the men. Shannon felt fear grab his stomach and begin to turn it. He held his breath, but was sure that the hammering of his heart would give him away.
"Just a mouse probably, come on Dustin, Caspians in a foul mood enough as it is, especially with that Leto trying toescape again",
Shannon mentally kicked himself no sooner than his gasp escaped his lips, he screwed his eyes tight; praying they had not heard
"Yeah... your right these tunnels must be full of stuff",
Shannon's heart fluttered in his ribcage with relief as he heard the footsteps begin to fade and die. They had gone. He looked down to see the culprit of the 'squeak', a large brown rat, looking up at him.
"You nearly go me killed, you rascal", He chuckled softly. He paused as he noticed something on the floor not far away and went over to inspect. It was a notebook left discarded. Picking it up Shannon flicked through the pages.
For a second time in five minutes he felt as though he had been punched, the breath leaving his lungs.
The wrtting, he recognised it. Of course he did. How could he not? It was Jared's. Shannon fell against the wall, he was here, or at least had been here. Amoug many scribbles and doodles Shannon found what he guessed were thebeginnings of a new song, though heavily scribbled and amended he could read some of his younger brother'ssprawling writing. Shannon guessed that it had been written in great excitement and a warm feeling spread through him like ink drops in water as he imagined his brother so happy:
'I want you to stay
I want you to believe
I want you to win the battles that are before you
Will you stay?
You're running away now
You search yourself
Even then those stories that I re-tell
And that was yesterday
It could have gone away'
Shannon smiled, especially at the prompt words and scribbles orbiting these words such as:
'hold on', 'Survival',
He felt as though he could sit there forever and just stare at the ink Jared had once forged in to words, but he forced himselShjf to get up and continue walking. The tunnel was almost pitch black; he had to feel the walls with his hands.
Eventually, after the tunnel snaked and turned through the granite, torches began lighting the dark gloom ahead. They gave the place and eerie, orange glow.
Shannon was stood in a small clearing, the claustrophobic tunnels had opened into a circular cavern, allowing the air to breathe again. Shannon saw that there were doors seemingly etched into the rock face. He raced up to the nearest one. It was a solid, iron door, no hatch to peer through only a heavy lock. However, a number was inscribed in the door's frame '1'. He ran to the next one, which swung open the moment he touched it.
Suddenly,more footsteps and voices drifted from around the corner. Breaking the silence. Panicking Shannon raced inside and closed the door. He managed to catch snippets of the conversation that, seemingly, three men were having.
"So what cell do you need Drake?"
"10, Caspian wants me to make sure that he hasn't managed to get out again.",
"Who?", Replied a new voice.
"Leto! Caspian'll do his nut if anything happenes again", answered the second voice who sounded slightlyexasperated: His companions did not seem too bright. "Anyway, lets just get this over with!"
Shannon's mind was racing. If they were going to Jared he needed to follow them. 'But you'll get caught' a small voice inside his head. That was true, and he was no good to any of them caught. He wondered if he could overthrow the three men... but that would attract attention and for his plan to work he needed to get within Jared's cell without being seen.
~~~~~~~~~~~*
Caspian sat in his darkened office. His head bowed and fingertips pressed together. He looked up as the sound of the soft padding of paws entered the room. His hairy, black dog, Kirus, was walking towards him.
"Kirus", he smiled patting the dog's head as it sat back on it's haunches next to him, "You bring news, I trust",
The dog gave a wolfish grin.
"Only the best", It's voice was course and harsh. "The Leto's brother is in the tunnels"
"Is he now?", Caspian purred, "Well... You know what they say: Two Letos are better than one". His feature's contorted into a menacing smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~*
Shannon had decided it was better to wait in the small room for the men to go. It was ten whole minutes before he tentatively pushed open the door and crept back out into the rocky corridor. Tip-toeing, hardly daring to breathehe slinked his feet across the cold stone. Finally, cell '10'. The large joy-filled balloon in his chest was popped: He needed a key. Shannon cursed under his breath. The key was surely with Caspian or his other vampire minions.
"I'm coming for you Jay...", He whispered with his cheeks pressed against the door, he didn't know whether his brother could hear him or not. He was about to turn and think through a ploy for entering the cell when he heard a heavy foot fall behind him. He felt hot breath on the back of his neck causing the little hairs to pick upwards with apprehension.
"Well, well, well... If it isn't little Shannon Leto on a rescue mission. You know I was kind of hoping you'd use the front door, but oh well, the thrill is in the chase". It was Caspian. Slowly Shannon turned to face the man. He was cornered like a hare with a pack of hounds.
"P-please... Just let me see him..."
Caspian smirked, "Don't worry Shannon, you'll see your precious brother soon", One of the many minions surrounding Shannon grabbed him and threw him to the sharp ground. Caspian withdrew a bunch of jangling keys from inside his large coat.
Shannon was now on his knees. His hands had been bound together, a rag across his eyes was tied at the back of his head: Blinding him. He still attempted to struggle, earning himself several hard blows with boots to his body.
Caspian opened the door separating the two brothers. "Jared!", He called, falsely sycophantically, "You have a visitor".
Shannon could not see a thing all he could do was shout "Jared!" but the screams were killed by the dirty cloth that had been shoved inside his mouth, only muffled cries escaped his lips. Now he was being shoved into, what he presumed was the room in which Jared was contained.
"What do you want us to do with him?", Asked one holding Shannon
"Tie him up over there... I'll deal with them both later", He waved his gloved hand, "Remove their gags and blindfolds though, I'm guessing they've been dying to talk to each other"
~~~~~~~~~~~*
what, he could not just waltz in and out again. So he paused, his hand inches from the door he was about to push open. 'Burgulars don't just ring the door bell and hope to be let in!', he thought to himself. He scurried away from the door and began to hurry around the perimeter of the building. It was much bigger than he had first observed. Just as he was running around the back wall of 'The Den' a deep bark from afar caught him off guard. He tripped and fell into a pile of cardboard boxes and other discarded junk that had been thrown against a skip.
He was about to move his hand from underneath the rusting skip he was now lying against when he noticed something. As quickly and quietly he could, Shannon leapt to his feet and began pushing the hunk of iron out of the way. Heart racing, he looked down. A perfect, raised rectangle of earth lay where the skip had moments previously. Shannon had to stop himself whooping as he lifted the mismatching wooded hatch covered by earth. He threw the piece of wood behind him.
Hardly daring to believe his luck he stared into the hole that he had just uncovered. A secret entrance.
Adrenaline took over his normal thought process, without foresight of danger he sat on the edge of the darkness cut into the floor, pushed himself off and was swallowed by the ground. It had not even crossed his mind that should somebody come around the back of 'The Den', they would find the skip pushed over and the earthy cover disturbed, alerting them to the fact of an intruder
The wind began to pick up. It collected dust from the floor, spun it around the rusting metal objects causing an eerie whistling, before spewing the particles backdown to earth. A pair of glowing, amber eyes shone from the darkness beneath an old pickup truck. They were fixed on the spot where Shannon had just disappeared.
He was on his feet again, his arm slightly bruised and grazed. The drop had, thankfully, only been 10 foot of so, but that had caused Shannon to fall to the rocky, uneven ground below. He peered around his new surroundings. The hole above allowed a rectangle of light to filter through causing the tunnel to be illuminated for a few feet in front of and behind Shannon. Squinting into the grim gloom beyond where the sunlight's fingers caressed the craggy rocks, he came to the conclusion that the tunnel went on for miles both ways. He also realised that going right would take him under the warehouse, whereas left would weave a path through the mountains.
Shannon was about to walk towards the warehouse when he heard footsteps coming straight towards him.
"Shit!", he swore under his breath and began to run as swiftly yet silently as he could into the mountains. It was not long before there was a fork. He dived left and hid inside a large crevice in the rock face. Footsteps drew nearer and a pair of deep masculine voices to match. They echoed off the black walls. The sound crashing upon
Shannon's already pounding ears. He made himself as small as he could and placed his hand over his own mouth to stifle his breathing. Praying to god that they would just walk by.
"EEK!"
"What was that?", called one of the men. Shannon felt fear grab his stomach and begin to turn it. He held his breath, but was sure that the hammering of his heart would give him away.
"Just a mouse probably, come on Dustin, Caspians in a foul mood enough as it is, especially with that Leto trying toescape again",
Shannon mentally kicked himself no sooner than his gasp escaped his lips, he screwed his eyes tight; praying they had not heard
"Yeah... your right these tunnels must be full of stuff",
Shannon's heart fluttered in his ribcage with relief as he heard the footsteps begin to fade and die. They had gone. He looked down to see the culprit of the 'squeak', a large brown rat, looking up at him.
"You nearly go me killed, you rascal", He chuckled softly. He paused as he noticed something on the floor not far away and went over to inspect. It was a notebook left discarded. Picking it up Shannon flicked through the pages.
For a second time in five minutes he felt as though he had been punched, the breath leaving his lungs.
The wrtting, he recognised it. Of course he did. How could he not? It was Jared's. Shannon fell against the wall, he was here, or at least had been here. Amoug many scribbles and doodles Shannon found what he guessed were thebeginnings of a new song, though heavily scribbled and amended he could read some of his younger brother'ssprawling writing. Shannon guessed that it had been written in great excitement and a warm feeling spread through him like ink drops in water as he imagined his brother so happy:
'I want you to stay
I want you to believe
I want you to win the battles that are before you
Will you stay?
You're running away now
You search yourself
Even then those stories that I re-tell
And that was yesterday
It could have gone away'
Shannon smiled, especially at the prompt words and scribbles orbiting these words such as:
'hold on', 'Survival',
He felt as though he could sit there forever and just stare at the ink Jared had once forged in to words, but he forced himselShjf to get up and continue walking. The tunnel was almost pitch black; he had to feel the walls with his hands.
Eventually, after the tunnel snaked and turned through the granite, torches began lighting the dark gloom ahead. They gave the place and eerie, orange glow.
Shannon was stood in a small clearing, the claustrophobic tunnels had opened into a circular cavern, allowing the air to breathe again. Shannon saw that there were doors seemingly etched into the rock face. He raced up to the nearest one. It was a solid, iron door, no hatch to peer through only a heavy lock. However, a number was inscribed in the door's frame '1'. He ran to the next one, which swung open the moment he touched it.
Suddenly,more footsteps and voices drifted from around the corner. Breaking the silence. Panicking Shannon raced inside and closed the door. He managed to catch snippets of the conversation that, seemingly, three men were having.
"So what cell do you need Drake?"
"10, Caspian wants me to make sure that he hasn't managed to get out again.",
"Who?", Replied a new voice.
"Leto! Caspian'll do his nut if anything happenes again", answered the second voice who sounded slightlyexasperated: His companions did not seem too bright. "Anyway, lets just get this over with!"
Shannon's mind was racing. If they were going to Jared he needed to follow them. 'But you'll get caught' a small voice inside his head. That was true, and he was no good to any of them caught. He wondered if he could overthrow the three men... but that would attract attention and for his plan to work he needed to get within Jared's cell without being seen.
~~~~~~~~~~~*
Caspian sat in his darkened office. His head bowed and fingertips pressed together. He looked up as the sound of the soft padding of paws entered the room. His hairy, black dog, Kirus, was walking towards him.
"Kirus", he smiled patting the dog's head as it sat back on it's haunches next to him, "You bring news, I trust",
The dog gave a wolfish grin.
"Only the best", It's voice was course and harsh. "The Leto's brother is in the tunnels"
"Is he now?", Caspian purred, "Well... You know what they say: Two Letos are better than one". His feature's contorted into a menacing smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~*
Shannon had decided it was better to wait in the small room for the men to go. It was ten whole minutes before he tentatively pushed open the door and crept back out into the rocky corridor. Tip-toeing, hardly daring to breathehe slinked his feet across the cold stone. Finally, cell '10'. The large joy-filled balloon in his chest was popped: He needed a key. Shannon cursed under his breath. The key was surely with Caspian or his other vampire minions.
"I'm coming for you Jay...", He whispered with his cheeks pressed against the door, he didn't know whether his brother could hear him or not. He was about to turn and think through a ploy for entering the cell when he heard a heavy foot fall behind him. He felt hot breath on the back of his neck causing the little hairs to pick upwards with apprehension.
"Well, well, well... If it isn't little Shannon Leto on a rescue mission. You know I was kind of hoping you'd use the front door, but oh well, the thrill is in the chase". It was Caspian. Slowly Shannon turned to face the man. He was cornered like a hare with a pack of hounds.
"P-please... Just let me see him..."
Caspian smirked, "Don't worry Shannon, you'll see your precious brother soon", One of the many minions surrounding Shannon grabbed him and threw him to the sharp ground. Caspian withdrew a bunch of jangling keys from inside his large coat.
Shannon was now on his knees. His hands had been bound together, a rag across his eyes was tied at the back of his head: Blinding him. He still attempted to struggle, earning himself several hard blows with boots to his body.
Caspian opened the door separating the two brothers. "Jared!", He called, falsely sycophantically, "You have a visitor".
Shannon could not see a thing all he could do was shout "Jared!" but the screams were killed by the dirty cloth that had been shoved inside his mouth, only muffled cries escaped his lips. Now he was being shoved into, what he presumed was the room in which Jared was contained.
"What do you want us to do with him?", Asked one holding Shannon
"Tie him up over there... I'll deal with them both later", He waved his gloved hand, "Remove their gags and blindfolds though, I'm guessing they've been dying to talk to each other"
~~~~~~~~~~~*
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