Chapter 149

For long bouts, I beat at the metal of the frame and on the stone, wall holding it. I screamed and yelled until my voice died, until I could barely hold myself up from how tired I was, but I didn’t stop until the darkness fell again and tossed me around.

As I was catching my breath and trying to fight back my exhaustion, the light began to glow outside the cell again. It was weak, like a small candle, but it gave me something to see by. My hands were bruised and bloody. I didn’t even understand how I was still conscious, but I gripped my hands tightly.

I had to get out of here.

I had to know.

I had to get to Candido and make sure that we would be together. If this was just a trick, I was going to do everything I could to make sure that it never ended. The Moon Goddess might be punishing me for being greedy and selfish, but that was fine. I was going to be greedy and selfish and spoiled if I had to. I had already had to watch Candido almost marry Sibyl, I wasn’t going to let that happen in any way again. I was going to get what I wanted, however I had to, and the first thing I had to do was get out of this cell.

I slumped down again, grunting as the wall pushed me back. Then, I heard something crack. A spark of light shot through the air, catching on the crystal hanging in the hall. The light flared once, but returned to the almost fading candle strength of before. I grabbed a part of the gate and the cracking sound grew louder as I pulled and pushed.

I yanked and jerked it until A sharp crack echoed through the air and the gate fell onto the ground, heavy and half off track. I screamed in triumph and dragged it back and away from the frame until there was just enough space for me to slip through. Had I not lost all of that weight, there was no way that I would have fit through there. I reached for the light, but it was embedded in the wall. The further I got away from it, the dimer it got. I felt my way along the stone. The wall ended and the hallway went dark.

I cursed as the floor fell out from beneath me. I felt like I was falling for miles before I skidded and landed in a deep darkness that felt familiar like the caves. It was dark, and the crystals in the wall started to glow faintly, just like the time we went in and found Bella in the caves. Slowly, I walked, following the path, and descending deeper into the dark.

I wished Candido was here with me, but I felt closer to him somehow. I felt aware even though I was so tired and my knees wobbled with every step. My senses felt sharper, or maybe I was just more aware.

I turned down a pathway, hoping not to run into anything. There was paneling on the wall. The glowing crystals seemed to be organized neatly. Then, I reached a dead end.

It was starting to feel eerily familiar, as if maybe I could turn around and see myself, Candido and the others creeping down the cave’s path behind me.

I turned back and went the other directions, following the path until I could hear something. I leaned around the corner and my heart lurched. I pulled back. I didn’t know what the creature was, but it had too many scaled or shells, or whatever. It was nothing like the big furry beast that had chased us through the caves or the forest. Was that a creature of the night or a demon? I tried to hold my breath and shuffle away, but my foot kicked some rock and the scuffling, clicking sounds that had been coming from the larger area stopped. I felt the air shifting and turned to run as it shrieked after me. Light flashed through the cave. I felt the heat of it burn across my back just as I turned the corner and the wall turned into molten rock. I couldn’t breathe. My legs were flying as I kept running.

There was no way I could fight that thing. The hair on the back of my neck rose as the ground started to shake. I turned down the opposite path and kept running. I felt something smaller but no less dangerous coming up behind me and darted out of the way. Sharp claws screeched against the wall in front of me. I felt the swipe of air over my head and rolled forward.

I turned and found myself in a much large cave. There were swords and other weapons around, like it used to be an armory. I grabbed one of them, hoping that maybe with some sort of weapon I would feel more prepared.

Another creature appeared. I swung at it, clumsily and whacked it in the face. It wasn’t dead, but it seemed stunned enough that I could run past it. I crossed the room to the other corridor as the ground continued to rumble. Something was coming up behind me. Something was coming down the hall, half chasing me. Maybe it smelled blood.

A vampire hissed at me, lunging at me with a maddened look in his eyes. I dodged it and swung again. It caught the blade and yanked it from me before lunging at me again. I darted back and tumbled head over heels down a sharp incline. I landed at the bottom just as a large, furry creature with glowing eyes swiped the vampire up. Its mouth glinted with thousands of teeth. Its jaw seemed as large as a doorway as it bit down on the screaming vampire and tore it in half. My stomach lurched at the stench of blood.

I scrambled to my feet and ran. The ground dipped down into water. Something grabbed me by my leg and I screamed.

“Let me go! Let me go! Candido—”

I was dragged underwater. Pain shot up my leg as the thing tightened its grip. I grabbed for it, but my finger slipped over slippery skin. Then, I saw eight large glowing eyes through the darkness, barely illuminating an enormous creature with a hundred limbs, looking at me with hunger.

Something cut through the water, just as large as the other creature and slammed into it, jerking me further down into the water as my lungs started to burn. I thrashed against the currents as the two monsters fought and the water shifted and heaved around me.

I struggled upward against the currents, but they wouldn’t let me go. The monsters let out watery roars and growled. I felt them slamming into stone and the vibrations carried through the water, creating more currents that I couldn’t escape.

I slammed into a stone wall and felt my consciousness starting to fade. I opened my mouth. My eyes stung. The water was bitter and disgusting. Then the water sloshed and heaved again flinging me up and out. I landed on something, coughing and sputtering, trying to get the water out of my lungs. I shivered, straining my hearing for something.

The silence felt terrible. Then, the ground gave out beneath me, and I went tumbling down into darkness. The ground curve and turned slick beneath me like a slide, but I couldn’t see anything. I screamed and flailed, reaching for something to slow me down or stop me. By the moon, I couldn’t take any more of this.

“Help me!” My voice echoed as I fell and fought to stop falling. Lights flashed around me, like the moon was piercing through holes in the rock. Then, I was free-falling again. I braced for hard, jagged edges, but there was nothing nearby or around me it seemed.

Still, how far down was I falling? I felt my stomach lurch into my chest as I seemed to be accelerating like I was on a rollercoaster and still dropping. The further I fell, the louder I screamed. I braced for a hard landing then I stopped abruptly for just a moment, like I had landed on a wall of jello. I turned my head spitting out the odd goo. Then, it melted and dropped me onto a cold stone floor.

It was silent and still around me. A bit of hope filled me.

“Had a nice swim?” Ian’s voice came from somewhere. “At least you’re cleaner, I suppose.”

I looked up and saw the cell door I had escaped through and the same softly glowing crystal above my head.

All of that running, the terror and the fear, and I was back at my cell.

I curled up on my side, shuddering and crying at how hopeless it seemed. My sobbing echoed down the hallway, but no one appeared, and nothing came.