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[CraazyOne]

Part VII

A mild breeze sifted through the forest leaves and brushed its soft, warm breath against my cheek. Crickets played their soothing lullaby and fireflies hovered in the air as they flickered like living night lights mimicking the shimmering stars ovehead. Everywhere shadows were deepening and animals were settling down for the night or scampering about on their secret errands; but we were still, quiet, and alert: waiting. Staring into the darkness settling beneath the trees, Trent stood like a sentinel at the edge of the clearing that surrounded his cabin. Simon had caught a cricket and was holding it up in his hands for Sammie to study; the boy looked like a miniature scientist as he bent intently over the insect. Phil leaned against a tree out in Trent's yard as he paged through the village's small, weekly paper. Lost in my own thoughts, I sat on the steps leading up to the cabin door with my knees drawn up close under me and my chin in my hand. Daniel had been standing beside Trent, exchanging a few words with the man; now, hands shoved in his pockets, he strolled casually back toward where Simon and Sammie were sitting, just a few yards from me.

I wanted to get up and pace restlessly, to run from this place, to escape this atmosphere heavy with suspense. Impatience and fear twisted in my stomach, making it hard for me to force myself to sit still and wait for Trent's orders. Finally, I saw him turn and stride over toward me and I sat up expectantly.

"Ready?" he asked.

"If you call going off with no experience whatsoever as 'ready'," Phil inserted, walking towards us.

I tried not to let that make my blood boil, but it bothered me all the same. "Maybe I'm more prepared than you think," I snapped, knowing of course that that wasn't true. I was feeling defensive around boys taller, older, and much more experienced than I was. Maybe it was just me, but I continually felt as if I were being tested. Just a few hours earlier, after dinner, Sammie had called me over to the table from across the room, only to ask me to clean up after him and Daniel. I'd bristled a little and insisted he clean and put away his own plate. Sammie had remained quiet while Daniel, in the seat next to him, watched me with a huge grin on his face. I couldn't get really angry at Sammie, and in the end I realized it had to have been all Daniel's idea. He enjoyed teasing everyone and didn't mean any harm by it, but I couldn't help but feel frustrated.

Phil's comment just seemed like another challenge, though my counter made him frown almost in surprise. He probably hadn't meant to sound cruel; he was just concerned about my safety. It was then that I realized self-consciously that all eyes were trained on me. None of the boys had expected Trent to use such a strategy tonight, and when he'd first presented his plans, they'd all gaped and stared at me. I couldn't deny I was frightened, but at the same time it all did make sense. Eustace's men wanted me, after all. In the end, the boys had trusted Trent as they always did, even if they didn't like staying behind.

"Come, let's go," Trent said, his face impassive as he turned and headed toward the forest. I rose to follow him and Simon clapped me lightly on the back. At his side, Sammie was silent and motionless, his dark eyes filled with worry.

"Be careful," Phil muttered as I passed by.

I had to hurry to catch up to Trent, who took full advantage of his long legs as he strode through the woods like a phantom. Snapping twigs, crunching leaves, and kicking pebbles each step I took, I sounded clumsy in comparison. Just as the shadows swallowed us both, I heard Daniel call after us.

"Bye, Spike!"

I flushed slightly and Trent shook his head. Apparently that was my nickname, whether I liked it or not.

With Trent quiet and stern at my side and the trees standing straight and tall around me, I felt small and vulnerable. My heart beat out a wild rhythm against my chest and my knees felt weak as I forced myself to keep pace with the man beside me. Trent said nothing, and I didn't feel like talking anyway. The air seemed to be strangling me; my voice would have been a mere choked whisper.

After a few minutes, I caught sight of two figures in the darkness ahead. Both stepped forward as we approached. I cast an anxious glance up at Trent, wondering if he were planning on some form of negotiation, but his gaze was focused on the man and woman in front of us. With a shudder I realized the man seemed vaguely familiar...he was the one who'd attacked me in the forest the night my family had been murdered. Emotion caught me in such a tight grasp that I could scarcely breathe, let alone notice that Trent had set a heavy hand on my shoulder. He said something in his deep, stern voice to the man in front of us and I wrenched myself out of the metaphorical whirlpool I'd been sucked into.

"Here she is." The way Trent said that confused me, but my brain felt sluggish.

A sly grin twisted the man's face as he studied me. "She looks even worse than the first time I saw her. Not much for the Overlord to get so worked up about." He glanced over at the tall, thin woman beside him, who rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Trent, so we can get her back to Eustace before he throws another hissy-fit because you made us wait so long."

My heart stopped beating. Before I could react, Trent moved his hand to my arm and jerked me forward.

"What?" I shrieked at Trent. "You--you freaking--" But my voice faded away; I was at a loss for words. Anger, humiliation, and fear all twisted through my heart like a knife tearing through an old wound. As I struggled against the three of them, the woman slid a coil of rope from around her waist and the other man tied my wrists together.

Then we were trudging through the forest again. Trent took the lead, the other man walked beside me, and the woman gave me a shove from behind, forcing me to stumble behind the man I'd trusted when my world have crumbled around me. Sorrow and rage began to wipe out my other emotions like a thick, dark fog. What an idiot I'd been to believe all the lies.

The worst part about the night wasn't the fact that we walked on and on with hardly any breaks. I couldn't really feel my legs and I certainly couldn't have slept. The worst was the fact that as we traveled through the dark countryside the only thoughts that kept me company were painful. I had all the time in the world to recall how I'd trusted Trent from the start and how I'd even abandoned my family to run off and warn him. Maybe if I hadn't my family would have been able to sneak away. Maybe the whole reason they'd been killed was because they'd lingered when they couldn't find me. I'd thought Trent was right when he'd accused the Neutron Knights of killing my family, but all along he really had been on Eustace's side. He'd only spared my life because, for some mysterious reason, Eustace wanted me alive.

That night ran on and on like a nightmare. My imagination haunted me with memories of my family and a dark vision of what their last minutes must have been like. Sometimes I wanted to curl up and sob my heart out, sometimes I wanted to scream, and sometimes I wanted to burst out of the ropes that rubbed against my skin and shove Trent's own knife into his gut. My desire for vengeance was only matched by the hatred I felt toward myself.

At last, I sensed that my captors had come to a stop, and I lifted my head with only the faintest hint of curiosity. Gazing through the last few trees, I caught a glimpse of a massive stone castle resting in a shallow valley below us. Its grey towers stood in stark contrast against the background of a moonless, velvet sky. The whole effect was very Medieval, and if I'd been in a very different situation, with no painful emotions to occupy me, I would have laughed at Eustace's arrogant idiocies. If his abode--or rather, this one abode out of his many different ones--was any reflection of his personality, I thought to myself rather indifferently, then he was even worse than the rumors had said he was.

Again the woman shoved me ahead and I plodded out of the forest and over the edge of the valley after Trent. The ground dipped downward gently to the base. I was surprised that Eustace hadn't gone ahead and given his castle a moat to finish the effect: instead, we walked right up to the enormous wooden doors. Standing in the shadow of the building, I began to feel a bit of fear, but it was nothing compared to the other overwhelming emotions I was experiencing. Trent thudded a fist against the door. We stood waiting for several moments, and then one of the doors swung inward and my captors hastily led me inside. From the short look I got, I realized the entry hall was styled in a tacky imitation of Medieval decor. But I was quickly pushed to the left and down several flights of stone steps that led to a dark, enclosed space. I could see nothing, but my boots echoed on the stone floor, making me guess that although the space felt closed, it was large. The air felt heavy and cold and smelled damp and stale; this had to be the castle's dungeon. I stepped in a puddle of water as I trodded forward and was glad my boots were thick. The only sound I heard other than our collective breath and footsteps was a faint dripping sound. Apparently this dungeon was vacant...for the moment.

The dim, silver light at the end startled me. As we approached, I discovered that it was starlight streaming in through the tiny open window cut in the very top wall of the last cell.

Trent moved away, allowing the man behind him to open the cell door with a creak; the light flowed more effectively to some of the darker corners of the dungeon. Even at that moment I could appreciate the fact that at least I wouldn't be left in total darkness. I was able to quickly scan the cell as the woman behind me sliced through the rope around my wrist with a knife: there was a mat on the floor and a small wooden chair against one wall, but otherwise it was empty. I was surprised I even had that much.

"Here's where you'll be staying for the moment," the woman informed me emotionlessly. "If you cooperate, though, you'll have much more comfortable living and sleeping quarters."

Then she knocked me forward into the cell and the man banged the door shut and locked it. Wordlessly, the trio slipped back through the dungeon toward the staircase, and I was again left with my thoughts.





~Rachel~

[RocksmySocks]

AHHHH, I KNEW Trent was up to no good!!!!


Tricky jerk! Now you're in serious trouble! And wait...the other boys. Are they in on this, too? Or innocents like yourself?


Great chapter, Spike! I hope you can update us soon, because I need to know how you get out of this mess!


-Rat Lady :ahoy:

[CraazyOne]

AHHHH, I KNEW Trent was up to no good!!!!

LOL. Funny thing is, I didn't realize he was up to no good until just recently... Then all of a sudden random inspiration hit me again. Ha. That's the fun part about just sitting down and writing this story without planning it out much.




~Rachel~