After the Walls

Chapter 27

A cool draft swirls around me as the prison door creaks shut. The guard's heavy footsteps dissipate down the hallway. Tears, at last, prickle at my eyes. A choked whimper falls from my lips, and I slump against the wall. A rogue, lonely candle jumps and twirls down the hallway, spitting only slivers of light into my otherwise shadowy cell. Panic stirs in my chest, followed rapidly by scorching anger. Ruben's blank stare burns in my mind. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Elle?" Ajax's voice cuts through the silence and darkness. His hand reaches around the wall, sticking through the gap in the door.

"Ajax." I take his calloused hand in mine, almost sobbing at the tenderness of my friend's touch; the comfort it brings. "He's a ghost, Ajax."

"It sounds like Edward has messed with his brain in a similar way to how he did with Aston; when he messed with his memories." He gives my hand a weak squeeze.

"Edward is becoming unhinged," I say with a sniffle. "I need to shove that Devil's Ivy down his throat and perhaps, kill the shadowteeth."

"If you kill the shadowteeth, you will need to prepare for his retaliation."

My pulse thrums. "I'll find a place for you and Aston to hide."

He lets out a chuckle. "We aren't going to cower away while you go into battle against the psycho."

"I can't afford to lose anyone else," I say with a quiver in my lips. "He's got Ruben. Fine. But not you two as well. He can't have everything."

"He already has us all, Elle." He lets go of my hand, gesturing to the dungeon around us. "This is our fight, too."

I mush the inside of my cheek between my teeth. "Fine. But I can't promise you'll make it out alive if you're in the thick of it." Even uttering the words makes me want to throw up. "But you know I'll do anything to protect the ones I love."

"We know the risks of battle," Aston pipes up from across the hallway. Candlelight gilds his bruised face.

I nod, furrowing my brow, and a smirk tugs at my lips. "Fine. Let's come up with a plan."

--

My head leans against the cold stone wall. Mildew and fungus spores grow up the cracks and grooves in the stone and the whole place smells of mould and dampness. I close my eyes as the door in the hallway opens. The guard coughs, clearing his throat as he marches down the hall. My heart pounds in anticipation. He lets out a low grumble as he checks on Aston, then Ajax, who both feign sleeping in their cells.

When he turns to my cell, those soulless eyes on me, I resist the urge to flinch. Instead, I let out a groan. "Sir, I'm in pain," I say with a groan.

"That's not my problem, wench," he growls.

"Please. Come here," I say, rolling my head to the other side. "I need to tell you something. It's a secret."

He hesitates, before taking a step closer. Wait. Wait. Now. I launch myself at the door, reaching through the bars, and grab the man's throat. I slam his temple in the iron bars. His groan rattles in my head as I smash his skull against the iron bar again and again, blood and brains spatter my face and clothes and I let out an inhuman noise, shutting off my humanity until it's over. He goes limp in my grasp and the bile and madness threaten to burn me alive. I whimper, letting him go. He slides gracelessly to the floor. My breathing is ragged and shaky. But the key is just an arm's reach away.

After grabbing it, and letting each of us out of the cell, we pull the weapons from the guard's belt. A small knife, handcuffs, and even a box of matches.

"The Devil's Ivy should still be in my room upstairs," I say, tucking the weapons into my tattered boot.

"Someone is bound to see us," Aston says.