As the Crow Flies

Chapter 6

We reached the bottom of the stair well, back to the cold, white hall way lined with those prison-like heavy, steel, windowless doors. I kept my eyes low, still seething about the possibility of Payton putting me back here. We reached the third door on the left, and if he hasn't been moved, I knew Gabriel would be on the other side. I waited as they opened the door, multiple locks clicking loudly. As the light shone inside, I realized the room was empty. Maybe I'd remembered the wrong door? Or was it that he was injured, sick, or dead? I worried I was the one responsible for any type of suffering he endured as they shackled me against the weeping wall. After they bound me securely, they left, the door swinging slowly closed behind them, the echo of the heavy locks ringing in the darkness.

I sat in that freezing, wet cave for hours before someone came to the door again. As it opened, I saw they were bringing in someone else. I could only see silhouettes against the light from the hall, and couldn't tell if it was someone I knew. They were take to the far corner, dumped on the ground, bound, and left in the cold.

After the guards left us in the dark, once again, I called out to them, "Hello?"

A muffled moan was the only response. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I asked, knowing there was nothing I could do for them, but wishing there was.

"No worse than Ive been before" they responded, and I immediately recognized the voice.

"Payton!" I reacted angrily, still under the assumption they put us here, "What the hell are you doing here!?"

"What the hell do you think? Getting my ass kicked for stealing food." They responded, mirroring my tone. "What got you in here?"

"I thought you turned me in for asking you about the northern prison..." I responded, ashamed that I'd assumed the worst of someone I barely knew.

"Oh that's rich, thanks for the faith." Sarcasm oozed from their tone and I could feel their resentment in the air.

"I'm sorry, that was the only thing I could come up with. I didn't realize you'd snuck food into the bunk house." Apologizing wasn't my strong suit, I didn't like to admit when I was wrong, but here, that was clearly the case.

"It's fine...I'd probably have assumed the same." They replied after a short pause. "So what else could you be here for?" Payton asked.

"I have no idea, unless one of the guards overheard our conversation, there's nothing I can think of." I was genuinely confused at this point at who I pissed off to end up back in the hole.

"Well you'll find out soon enough, Miss Freilin said she'd see you next after she was done with me." Payton informed me with a hint of amusement.

"You think that's funny?" I asked.

I received a small laugh in respose. " You stay here long enough, and you'll learn to understand my sense of humor."

I scoffed at her, and pondered again what could've gotten me in enough trouble to see Miss Freilin. I did't have long to think before the guards came back to escort me to her office. As we walked, I thought about Payton. Their dark sense of humor about our situation didn't help the impression they were building in my mind but I did still feel bad about assuming they turned me in.

We approached a tall, wooden door at the end of the hall with an ornate brass knob. One of the guards knocked quietly, and once the door was opened, I was pushed through, hearing it close quickly behind me. I looked around the room, noticing the floor to ceiling bookcase on either side of it, and the large wooden desk at the center against a huge window overlooking the prison yard. Miss Freilin was sitting in a tall-backed leather chair behind the desk, typing with fast movements on a small laptop. After a moment of me watching her, she closed the laptop, leaned back in her chair, and looked at me.

"Good afternoon, Elora." She said. I always hated her tone and how it gave me chills down my back.

"Hello Miss Freilin." I responded respectfully, still curious as to what she wanted with me.

"Have a seat." She gestured to an elegant arm chair situated directly across the desk from herself. I was uncomfortable being that close to her, but wasn't exactly in a position to refuse.

"I am curious to know, have your powers presented themselves again?" She talked as if we were old friends, her tone casual and calm.

I eyed the scar still slightly visible on her neck before replying. "No, I haven't experienced it again yet."

"Curious. You didn't seem to have a problem using it in the attack on me." She said, a stern frown on her face, and continued. "Your power is very unique, not many Malums present with the ability to project electricity. It's not impossibly rare, but you're the first this camp has seen. Knowing that, you present a risk to the security of this establishment."

Still not seeing where this conversation was going, I asked "What does that mean for me?"

"Increased security will be required, and you will be closely monitored. As will your socializations." The last part caught me off guard, and I reflected on my talk with Payton in the yard. Did she know about it?

"Why are you telling me this?" I inquired, genuinely curious as to why she would seemingly give me warning rather than let me screw myself over.

"You have made some friends in your short time here, and you should know that we are taking a keen interest in you and your little group. We don't want any trouble from you. We'd hate to see someone get hurt." She smiled an eerie smile, and I knew then that that last line was a veiled threat. She must know something about what I asked of Payton.

She pressed a small button on her desk, and the door opened behind me. The same guards came in to escort me out, and I obediently followed. As we headed back towards the yard, I replayed her threat in my mind. Who would she hurt if I managed to piss her off? Possibly Winny, we'd become quite close in a few short days, and then I thought of Gabriel. He'd already gotten hurt and punished because of me once, I couldn't let it happen again. I had to keep y head down for a while and let Miss Freilin and the guards lose interest in me.

As we reached the yard, I looked around for my friends. Unable to spot them right away, I wondered where they could be. As the guards stepped back inside, closing the door, I headed further out, continuing to scan. I finally spotted Winny's wild red curls in the shade against the bunkhouse. She was talking to someone who's back was towards me, they looked familiar, but only seeing the back of their head didn't give me much of a hint as to who it was. As I got closer, Winny noticed me, her face breaking into a bright smile as she wildly waved. Her counterpart turned to see who she was waving at, and I was met with the lightning bright eyes of none other than Gabriel.

...

"What's been happening this whole time?" I wondered of Gabriel as we sat at the lunch table together.

He kept his head low and spoke quietly, "Exactly what you'd expect I guess. They kept me in the hole another three days after you left. After that, I was taken back to the hospital wing where they continued testing on me and I got visits from Freilin more often, her assessments more abusive than ever. You know, you really pissed her off, attacking her like that." He looked up at me, a pained expression in his eyes that I felt responsible for. My gut wrenched at the thought of him being tortured for what I did.

"I'm so sorry she took that out on you." Even as the words came out of my mouth, I knew they would fall flat.

He shook his head, "You have nothing to be sorry for, you weren't the one doing it. I have been here longer, I knew she'd take it out on whoever you'd spent time with. That happened to be me, it is what it is." He quickly changed the subject, turning to Winny and asking about anything interesting to happen in the yard. I ignored their conversation, distracted in my own self-pity, until I heard Winny mention Payton.

"Payton got taken to the hole, no one knows why. The rumor is that she got caught trying to escape." Winny continued with Gabriel.

I bursted in, "I saw her in the hole, she said she stole food and snuck it into the bunkhouse."

Winny and Gabriel turned towards me. "That doesn't make any sense, people steal food all the time, no one's ever been held a whole day for it." Winny commented.

Confusion must've been painted on my face because Gabriel piped in, "She's tried to escape before, I wouldn't be surprised if that was what she was in for."

My mind began spinning. She would try to escape? I had to know more, which meant I had to talk to Payton. I needed to see her as soon as possible. But how? She was under lockdown.

"How can we get more information? We need to know more about what she was planning." I said without looking at them.

"What are you talking about?" Gabriel asked.

"If we're ever going to get out of here," I whispered, "We need to know her plan."

Everyone got silent, Winny's eyes wide in surprise. "You want to try to escape?"

"Well, this isn't exactly Positano." I joked. No one laughed. "Guys, you cant tell me you've never considered it."

Gabriel looked at Winny before looking back at me, "There's something you should know. The last person who managed to get out was captured after two days, brought back, and killed in front of the whole yard by firing squad."

My jaw dropped. They did a public execution? What century is this!? I couldn't believe it, I was disgusted, "Just one more reason to get the hell out of here." I mumbled.

Lunch finished and we headed back out into the yard. We found a shady spot not already claimed and sat close together, all trying to fit in the small space. I thought some more about the possibility of trying to escape, wondering if it would ever actually be possible.

Gabriel was sitting closest to me, and I caught myself admiring his good looks once again. Even having spent time together, our time apart made me forget how handsome he really was. I felt my heart flutter when he looked my direction, flashing his pearly white smile. Once again, I quickly looked away, chastising myself for developing a crush on someone who's chances of being single were slim to none. I imagined what the girl waiting for him on the outside looked like. Probably very unlike me, long blonde hair, eyes like his own, delicate features and a caramel tan. I considered him out of my league.

All of a sudden, I noticed a grey van pull up, it looked oddly familiar. As I struggled to place it, out of the van stepped a tall, large man. He looked around, and as he turned to the yard, even from a distance, I realized I was looking at my own father. I gasped, causing the others to look up at what I was staring at.

"Who's that?" Gabriel wondered aloud.

I couldn't find my voice to answer, and without thinking about it, I found myself scrambling up from the ground and rushing to the far fence. It couldn't possibly be my parents. Why would they come here?

I approached the fence, slowing my pace, eyeing my father who had just noticed and recognized me. He headed my direction, stopping about six feet from the fence.

"How are you, kid?" He asked. It sounded so odd, his concern. He'd never said a kind word to me in my life, much less seemed to care about my well being.

"What the hell do you care?" I asked, "What are you doing here? Aren't you guys glad I can't intrude on your life anymore." I wanted to make him feel guilty for pushing me out of the house, landing me in Tenebris Locus.

He looked down and shook his head. "You don't understand, we were always trying to protect you, to keep them from finding you."

I didn't believe him for a second.

"Protect me? You were just protecting me? Never seemed to care about keeping me safe when you were connecting your boot to my gut, or when you'd lock me in the basement without food. Hell, you want me to believe you were protecting me when you kicked me out into the street on my birthday." I was livid. How dare he claim he tried to do anything for me. He only did things that benefited himself.

"I swear, it's the truth." His words didn't sway me. "We are here to try to get you out."

I wasn't sure I heard him correctly. I felt the urge to fly through the fence and punch him in the face. "Listen to me, and listen good," I growled. "I don't want your help, I don't want your protection. I want you to go, and never try to find me, help me, or protect me ever again." I wanted my words to hurt him, I wanted to make him suffer, and the thought of him living with the guilt I was trying to cause gave me some satisfaction.

He once again looked down, putting his face in his hands. "I wish things had been different. I wish I could explain.."

I stopped listening. I flipped him off as I backed away, turned, and walked back to my group. I was furious. I felt my hands tingle. I focused on that instead of my own seething anger. The sensation grew stronger and stronger. I heard my father calling my name, irritating me more, and causing even more tingling in my palms. Finally, it reached its max and I screamed into the air as I shot a bolt into the ground. Guards surrounded me in seconds, pushing me to the ground and holding guns to my head.

I heard running coming in our direction. "Wait, wait, wait." Gabriel's voice rang out. "She was just frustrated. She's only ever used her powers twice, she didn't even know she had them, ask Freilin." He tried to convince the guards to let me up, arguing my case.

Not wanting him to get in trouble for me again, I piped in, "Gabriel, it's fine. I knew what I was doing." He looked at me being held on the ground, a determined look on his face. Damn, determination looks good on him. He continued to talk to the guards, eventually getting them to let me up. I brushed myself off and apologized, letting myself be guided away by Gabriel.

"What happened, who was that? He asked me once we reached the shade again.

I kept silent, staring at the dirt. He leaned into me, and asked again, "Hey, talk to me. We're stuck here together and might as well know each other's stories. What happened?"

His words and genuine care in his voice convinced me to open up a little. "That was my dad." I started, "An abusive piece of crap that kicked me out onto the street the day I got captured by these guys."

He nodded his head, "I see why you wanted to blow something up." For some reason, I found that humorous, and allowed myself to let out a small laugh. He smiled at me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I'd never been this close to him, much less embraced by him. It felt nice to be comforted by someone, something I wasn't used to. I noticed I had tensed up at first, and forced myself to relax into his hold.

We sat together for awhile, waiting for the sun to go down. As the day ended, I pondered how much had transpired. I was even more determined, after seeing my father, to get us all out of here and live the life he never gave me, and would never have himself. I needed to talk to Payton as soon as possible. I was hopeful she'd be released soon, and until then, I would need to find a way to track my ideas and plans without getting caught. I continued brainstorming how to hide my plans, and also how to get everyone on my side. We'd all have to work together, and if we did, I knew there was no way they could stop us.