CHAPTER 12 - ESCAPE - SIRI'S POV
1184 Words
The dungeon walls pressed in, cold and damp, and the stench of death, blood and urine filled my nostrils, almost making me gag. I was thrown ruthlessly into a small cell, where I remained for the rest of the day.
After checking my cell for any loose bars that were silver and burned my hands, and patting down the stone bricks for a hidden passage or hole, I gave up and curled up on the mattress on the ground.
I remained in my cell, freezing from the cool air drifting through the dungeons, and barely slept. I tried linking the Queen again, and even the King, but no one responded. I was thinking of linking my other friends, but I was frightened to involve them in case they too ended up here, and so I endured.
I was woken by the sound of my cell door smashing open and two guards came in. Terry, and Rick. I'd seen them around the pack but had never interacted with them beyond formal greetings.
They were dressed in their prison uniforms and looked at me with disgust.
''The King has ordered your punishment,'' Terry told me. ''You will be beaten everyday for a week, before you are to be either killed or turned out as a rogue.''
''But that will depend on you admitting your murder of the Prince.'' Rick continued, ''Confess, and you'll be freed, deny it, and you'll hand.''
''I NEVER TOUCHED THE LYING b***h!'' I shouted furiously, ''AND THAT BABY WASN'T THE HEIR!''
''There really is no point in lying to us,'' Rick rolled his eyes, as he started walking towards me, ''We're not the ones you need to convince.''
Rick grabbed my hair, and started dragging me from the cell. I screamed and tried to claw his hands, but Terry injected me with something.
''That will prevent you from linking, healing and shifting.'' He told me. ''Wouldn't want you shifting and busting out.''
They’d dragged me into another room, and I knew I was in trouble. This was no ordinary room. Chains hung from the ceiling. Whips were placed on the walls, next to other torture devices. A long table sat close to the back wall and had restraints on each corner.
The guards began to beat me until I could barely move.
My hands and arms stung from shielding my face. My head throbbed from the cracks and bruises to my skill. My throat burned from the screams I'd echoed through the room.
Fear gnawed at me. The guards were merciless and didn't stop until an alarm sounded over head.
''You're lucky it's lunchtime b*tch.'' Terry said, with a wicked smile, as he tossed the belt he'd just beaten me with, onto the ground, while Rick, grabbed me by my hair once more, and began to drag me back to my cell.
''We'll see you after lunch, you child murdering b*tch.'' Rick told me viciously.
I curled up, shaking violently, I couldn't even cry. My voice was gone. I'd been foolish to think my ex-mates would check the surveillance footage. I'd been foolish to think the Queen would save me. I was on my own. And I would make them pay.
The guards returned an hour after lunch and this time, it wasn't just punches, kicks, or beatings with the belts. They were screaming insults as the whips came down on my skin, breaking my flesh.
I closed my eyes, and tried to imagine happy things, but nothing came to mind as the pain intensified. The pain was excruciating, as they burned my feet with silver, or sent electric shocks through my body.
The beatings continued until the hours bled into darkness, and only stopped when the men said they were off duty, and were going to the Goddess festival, but promised to come back tomorrow and said they were going to have some fun with my body, claiming they hadn't already r*ped me because today was about the Goddess, but I free game tomorrow.
I was dragged back to my cell, and one of the men pissed into a cup and said that was the only thing I was getting to drink, so I should enjoy it. They both left laughing, and I vowed to rip them apart one day.
A single, flickering candle cast long shadows on the floor, and I looked up nervously. Was someone else coming to beat me?
The door opened, and a new guard. A young man came in, and for the first time, I had a flicker of hope. This was TJ, a friend I'd grown up with, but I was confused. He didn't work in the dungeons.
''Siri,'' He whispered, as he squatted next to me, ''I'm sorry, I couldn't come sooner. I needed to wait for everyone to be distracted by the festival. Come on, I'm here to get you out.''
''How?'' I whispered, my voice cracking, before I spat up blood.
''There's a hidden passage, come on, hold onto me.''
I wound my arms around his neck, and he lifted me from the ground, and quietly we snuck away down the corridor before going into a hidden passage in the dungeon behind a massive statue of a wolf.
TJ led me down the path to freedom. My eyes, tired and scarred, until I saw an opening that led into the forest.
''I can get you to the border, but I don't know where you'll go.'' TJ told me.
''I was already meeting someone,'' I told him, though my throat burned in pain as I spoke softly, ''Though I don't know if he'll still be waiting, I'll missed the deadline.''
''Let's go check anyway.'' He agreed, and started pulling me along. ''Either way, we need to get you out of here.''
''Why did you save me?'' I asked after an hour of walking. Well, he walked. I stumbled.
''You saved me once remember?'' He asked. I thought back to the day his father was beating him a few years ago, and I'd protected him, and even asked the King and Queen to banish him when it came out that he would even beat TJ's mother. ''And I don't believe what they're saying about you. I know you'd never hurt a child, and... I hate the prince's. They were selfish and cruel to everyone growing up, but you were always protecting us.''
''What?'' I said in shock, ''They were always so kind.''
''No, they weren't,'' He told me, ''They only acted that way when you were around, because they wanted to impress you. You were kind so they pretended to be, but when you were gone, they were monsters. I'm glad you rejected them. I won't let them hurt you.''
''Thank you.'' I told him, ''But what will happen if you get caught? You should leave with me.''
''I can't. My mother is ill,'' He told me, ''And I've masked my scent. No one wil know I helped.''
''I hope not.'' I touched his arm, ''Link me if that happens and I'll come back and free you, as you've freed me.''
''Deal.'' He smiled.
- Writer
