Wonder Lost

Escaping

Isabella Jacobs had been imprisoned for five days already. She was slowly beginning to starve to death.

Liam Aroh was keeping her hostage, along with her brothers Will and Simon, and her... friend, Leo Accard. Two months ago, she and Leo had gone on a quest to find 13 letters for an organization called the Cosmos. During that journey, Will had accompanied her when Leo was captured, and he was the person who killed Maximus, Liam's brother. She hadn't seen Simon in two months.

Fortunately, Liam was allowing her outside of her cell for only an hour in the evening, for some strange reason. Most of his plans were hard to stop or prevent, but Isabella found a few loopholes.

After a while, the sky turned to a beautiful shade of purple and Isabella got ready. She changed into black clothes and looked out of the window. The sky was getting darker, and Isabella glanced at the clock: 8:54 PM. She opened her bedroom door slightly and quietly sighed in relief.

There were couches blocking the guards from seeing her and only two guards were on duty. Isabella heard a loud knock on the door, and when the guards opened it, Liam stepped inside. He gave the guards a slight nod and strode into a corridor. Isabella crouched down and followed him.

Liam walked into an office with a black haired man sitting in one of the chairs. He closed the door behind him, leaving Isabella to only listen.

“Where have you moved Leonardo, Zacharia?” Liam asked.

“He is in the dungeon, in Cell 131, sir,” Zacharia replied.

“And what of William and Simon Jacobs?” Liam asked curiously. Zacharia hesitated.

“William is in Cell 523 and the traps have been set up to your liking. Unfortunately… the traps were disabled when Simon escaped,” Zacharia said slowly.

“Simon escaped?” Liam asked dangerously. Isabella heard a sword being unsheathed and Zacharia screaming. She ran back to the main room and crawled back to her room. She sighed in relief and smiled at the thought of Simon escaping. Isabella watched as Liam emerged from the corridor, and exited the building.

Isabella packed her backpack and snuck out again. She went to the same corridor and found stairs leading to under the castle. She walked down the stairs and saw thousands upon thousands of cells with rotting corpses. On a wall was a key hanging, and Isabella grabbed it. She ran down the hall, looking at all of the numbers of the cells. 67… 74… 91… 120… When Isabella got to Cell 131, she found Leo, lying unharmed in the cell.

“Leo!” she cried. Isabella unlocked his cell and ran into his arms.

“It’s okay, Isa.” They stood there until Isabella heard heavy footsteps behind them. Leo and Isabella ran to Will’s cell and Isabella unlocked it.

“Come on, Isabella,” Will urged. They ran to a corridor and saw a narrow passage with red lasers crisscrossing the walls. Isabella went first, and managed to get to the other side. Leo did the same.

“Come on, Will!” Leo shouted. Will proceeded down the corridor, dodging the lasers. Isabella saw a dozen men running towards them and recognized one of them as Liam. One of Liam’s servants screamed as he tripped, and Will stumbled. He fell, enabling four of the lasers.

“No!” Isabella cried. She tried to run to Will, but Leo held her back. He held her waist as she pounded against his chest.

“Leo, no! Let me go!” She sobbed into his jacket, breathing in the faint scent of rosemary and chamomile. Isabella lifted her head and watched as Liam approached Will from behind, sword in his hand. He raised it above Will’s chest, but Leo covered her eyes with his hands.

“Don’t look, Isa.” She heard an explosion and flew backwards, Leo holding her tight.

“Isa,” Leo whispered, “we have to go. This will buy us time. Come on.” Isabella walked with Leo, watching the smoke from the corridor in case Will emerged. As they exited the castle, the smoke cleared and Will’s body was nowhere to be seen.

When Leo and Isabella walked a fair distance away from the castle and into the forest, they sat down on the soft grass. After a while, Isabella saw the moon through the trees.

Isabella took out a yellow rose.

“I’m going to see if we can get help,” Isabella said. “Azalea.” The rose turned into a holograph of Azalea who smiled sympathetically.

“My dear, Isabella. I am sorry about William. You must rest now. There is a house across the ocean, and you will be protected by Laurel in it. Before you search for it, go to sleep here. I am guarding you from Liam, and he will not be able to find you in this forest as long as you are quiet,” Azalea said.

“Thank you, Azalea,” Isabella said.

“Good luck, Isabella and Leonardo.” Azalea tossed the rose into the air and the hologram disappeared.

“Who was that?” Leo asked softly.

“Azalea is the spirit of Spring. Her sisters are the spirits of Winter, Fall, and Summer. They helped me in a dream when you were kidnapped by Maximus.” Isabella lied down in the grass, with Leo wrapping his arm around her.

Isabella stood in the midst of what looked like a funeral. She saw Will, Simon, her parents, the triplets, and Rose. Isabella saw herself on her knees, Simon holding her shoulder. Their heads were pointed down and her body was shaking from crying. Isabella read the name on the tombstone:

LEONARDO ACCARD

Isabella gasped and tried to run from the tombstone, but she felt like she was 50 feet underwater, every step harder and harder to take. She saw a face in the sky, and it looked strangely like her 10-year-old self. It started to cry, and she realized it was the time when her grandmother died. Tears poured from the sky, hitting Isabella like ice. Before she could take two steps, her hair and face were drenched and she woke up.

“Leo!” Isabella cried, sitting up immediately. Leo stirred and his eyes fluttered.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Leo asked.

“Yeah, just a bad dream,” Isabella mumbled. She felt the icy tears falling down from her dream and looked at the cold rain falling from the sky. She shivered.

“Let’s go find the house before we get hypothermia.” Leo scouted ahead, sword in his hand. Suddenly, he grabbed Isabella’s hand and pulled her behind a tree.

“What is it?” Isabella whispered.

“Liam. I think he heard us,” Leo replied. Isabella crouched near the floor and watched as Liam and his two servants emerged from a tree. They separated, and Liam headed right towards them. Isabella pulled Leo down to grass level and neither of them moved for fear of being caught. Liam paused before them, sniffing the air.

“Hmm…” he mumbled. He drew his sword and stabbed the ground next to Isabella's face. Disappointed, he sighed in distaste.

“I will find you, Isabella Jacobs,” he said, walking away. “And my vengeance shall not be forgotten.” After a couple minutes had passed, Leo stood up.

“Are you okay, Isa?” he whispered. She nodded, sitting up. The rain turned to heavy snow, coating the ground with white fluff. Isabella, wearing only leggings and a tank top, shivered and stood up.

“Do you think we can find Simon?” Isabella asked.

“It’ll be hard, but I promise we will find him. Now let’s go find the house.” Leo unsheathed his sword and led the way. They walked in silence for a couple of minutes, but Isabella couldn’t feel her arms or fingers. She doubted she could shoot an arrow at this rate.

“I think we’re almost there. When you see the coastline, we’ll split up and look for the boat.”

“O-okay, L-L-Leo,” Isabella managed. Leo turned around and stopped.

“Isa, why didn’t you tell me you were this cold? Come here,” Leo said, taking off his jacket. It was a light but warm black coat.

“N-no, Leo. You k-keep it.” He refused to put it back on, and he put it on Isabella. It smelled like lemons, oranges, and cinnamon and she happily breathed into it. “Thank you.”

They kept walking until Leo smelled saltwater. He walked in the direction of it, and soon they found a large ocean.

“Here it is,” Leo said. “Now we just have to find the zipline.” Leo followed Isabella as she walked along the coastline. As they were walking, Isabella enjoyed the sound of water chugging against the coast, and the sight of schools of fish swimming to the surface of the water. She was listening intently, and she would have fallen into the ocean if Leo hadn’t caught her.

“Isa!” he cried. He grabbed her arm and stopped her before she got to a cliff overlooking the beach. “Be careful. Now where’s the zipline?” Leo asked. He noticed that the snow had stopped falling and that it was starting to melt.

“Over here!” Isabella called. Leo walked over to her and found a small boat with short sides. It was light brown and just managed to fit Isabella and Leo as they sat down. The boat rocked into motion and they started to sail. After a couple of minutes, Isabella dipped her hand into the cold water.

Isabella loved the ocean, and Will used to take her to the water. He taught her to swim fast and how to hold her breath for long periods of times. She once dove into the water and came out after 60 seconds had passed.

Suddenly, the boat jerked forward. Isabella screamed and gripped the sides of the boat. She turned her head and saw waves almost as big as her two story house. Isabella looked down, peering into the vast sea. She didn’t see the bottom.

“This ocean seems fishy,” Isabella said, smiling. She dipped her hand into the water again and found it warm. She took off Leo’s jacket and handed it to him. “I’ll be right back.” Isabella took a deep breath and dove into the ocean.