Frost Arch (37 page)

“Twenty?” I blanched.

“Bludvok won’t hold them off for very long.” Jack growled at me. He hurried to the little window and popped it open. The freezing air blew in and I shied away from it. Jack tied one end of the custom made rope to the foot of the bed and threw the other side out of the window.

“Jack, I can’t do it. I’ll fall.” I fretted.

“Don’t worry.” Jack soothed me, “I’ll be right behind you, I promise, but you need to hurry.”

Jack was right, the sound of scuffling was heard downstairs and another enormous yell which shook the building so violently that I had to grab Jack to balance.

“Quickly.” Jack whispered.

“Marcus! Do something about this, will you? Use your Power, for god sake, you useless man!” The Guard’s voice bellowed.

“Yes, sir!” An adolescent obeyed. I had an inkling that everyone downstairs would be quite deaf by now.

I didn’t know what was happening anymore but it seemed that amongst the twenty guards there was someone who could possibly get past Bludvok.

After several bangs and crashes there was silence.

“Hurry men! With this racket they will know we are here! You lot take the left side, we will take the doors on the right.” The guard’s voices were alarmingly close now.

“What happened to Bludvok?” I squealed.

“Avalon! Go through the window!” Jack said panicked, sweat forming on his brow.

Without further ado I threw my bag out of the window which landed with a crunch in the snow, then grasped at the bed sheets we had tied together and slowly lowered myself out.

“Oh no, Jack!” I squealed as I clung to the sheets and got my footing on the stone wall.

“Hurry!” Jack hissed. The footsteps were getting closer to our room, like oncoming thunder.

Holding my breath I began to lower myself down the wall, the freezing night air whipping my thick black hair across my face. I tried my hardest not to look down to the cold street below. I heard the guards tearing up rooms several doors down from our own. Panic was flooding through me but I focussed all my attention to the task at hand; getting down the rope.

I slid down a few feet and looked up to see Jack watching me intently as I made my way towards the ground.

“Please hurry.” He begged.

“I’m trying.” I whimpered, sliding down further.

“Just jump!” He hissed.

“I’ll break my neck!” I snapped edging down the sheets as fast as I could go. I was halfway down now. I could probably jump without hurting myself too badly at this point.

“I’ll heal it.” He whispered irritably, climbing out of the window and perching himself on the ledge.

The next few seconds that passed seemed to go in slow motion. I heard, but could not see the door to our room being burst open. All was silent for several moments and I looked up and watched Jack stare back into the room from his position on the ledge. Jack’s face was blank, which frightened me because he showed no fear.

“Get him!” A man roared from inside the room.

“Jump.” Jack’s voice carried down to me as clear as day.

I obeyed and let go of the bed sheets instantly. I felt the icy air rush past me for only a split second before I fell to the ground with a crunch, the snow barely cushioning my fall on the icy sidewalk. I groaned and rolled to my side, my back and bottom throbbing from the impact. It had been higher than I thought, yet there was no lasting damage. I looked up in time to see Jack leap from the high window ledge, barely escaping several pairs of hands grappling for him. He fell towards the ground head-first and the dread that filled me seemed to choke the very air from my lungs.

“No!” I cried, but a second later Jack had hit the sidewalk with a sick thud next to me.

I froze, unable to move, fear pulsating through me as Jack lay motionless. I extended a shaking hand towards his face. His eyes were closed and his face perfectly serene. I ignored the shouting from the window. I knew that they would be running for the exit to catch us on the street.

“Jack?” I held back the panic and tried to think reasonably. This could not be happening. I would rather be taken away and have myself beheaded.

Chills ran through my spine as I saw a slow trickle of a thick red substance oozing away from Jack’s head. Blood.

“No!” The words barely escaped my lips.

“Ugh.” Jack groaned and squeezed his eyes shut tight.

“Jack?” I said in a quivering voice.

Jack rolled to his side and punched at his shoulder, seemingly popping it back into place. Next he placed his hands over his chest for a few seconds, his face screwed up in pain. I knew that he was mending some broken ribs. I wondered how badly he had hurt himself.

“Are you okay?” I said, worried, “I thought you were dead!”

“Avalon, don’t worry. You need to get a move on.” He said sitting up before hoisting himself onto his feet and staggering slightly. He winced in pain as he felt around the back of his head where a bloody gash was pumping out vital fluids. A moment later though Jack was as good as new, though he looked very pale.

“Don’t ever do that again.” I said angrily, punching him several times before picking up my rucksack from the ground and throwing it over my shoulder.

“Come on.” Jack urged me. He grabbed my shaking, frozen hand in his big warm ones and dragged me in the opposite direction of the tavern whose window we had just jumped from.

I heard yelling behind us, and I knew that the guards were hot on our tail.

“Faster!” Jack yelled, still dragging me along behind him. It was easy for him to say, his legs were long and strong. Mine were short and clumsy and I was having trouble keeping up. I tripped several times, and only Jack’s hand in mine kept me from falling to the ground. It was hard to believe that just moments ago Jack had suffered from several broken bones and possible brain trauma. He really was amazing.

A cold sweat had drenched my face and Jack steered me through dark, deserted streets and alley ways. At one point I thought I had even caught a glimpse of Seth Swaggart, and I was reminded of my imminent doom. Perhaps it would be now, this very night. My heart pounded uncomfortably and I felt myself begin to run that little bit faster.

Jack looked over his shoulder to see how close our pursuers were. I wasn’t that brave, I didn’t want to know that they were catching up, thought it seemed they were for Jack swore loudly and I saw panic glisten in his eyes.

I was then made aware of what it was exactly that had plastered that look of panic upon Jack’s face. Someone’s Power no doubt, in the form of a bolt of lightning cracked past my ear, missing me by inches.

“Jack!” I cried, panicked.

“Just keep running!” Jack urged.

Another crack of lightning hit a spot where I had been only seconds before, missing me by a hair. They were trying to electrocute us with their Power.

As if I didn’t have enough on my plate, Jack led me around a corner where a long, narrow pathway led into pure darkness. It could have been a dead end for all we knew, but we kept running, our boots slipping and skidding on the ice compacted to the pathway. The timing was almost unfair. As the guards rounded the same corner I slipped upon a rather icy patch and fell to the ground backwards, taking Jack with me. I skidded on the slick surface and slipped again when I tried to get up. Jack grappled with me and was about to pull me to my feet, but it was too late.

A jolt of electricity, perfectly aimed, came crashing down upon my body. The shock was intensified by the melting snow and ice around me. Pain seared through me and my body writhed and jerked. I then found myself unable to move. I lay upon the cold, hard stone street in an absurd position, my muscles completely locked and barely conscious.

Jack didn’t even have time to react before the same fate befell him and he crashed to the ground as lifeless as myself. It was then that I lost consciousness. As simple as that … one hit and I was down. Darkness consumed me.

When I awoke it was extremely dark and the smell of rotting meat reached my nostrils and made me gag. I tried to move but found that my ankles were shackled together. The chains clinked miserably as I sat up, my body aching and feeling stiff. I was sure that being electrocuted and paralysed at the same time hadn’t helped. My breathing was short and fast, my skin was covered in goose bumps and the floor was hard, cold and seemed to be covered in some sort of hay. Was this bedding? It was so dark I couldn’t even see my own hand in front of my face. I licked my lips and decided that I was ridiculously thirsty and hungry. Where was Jack? Was he okay? Where was I? Questions buzzed through my mind. I had come to the conclusion that I was in some sort of dungeon. Was I back at the manor? I had never seen a place like this in the building.

I was freezing and noticed that I was not wearing my coat. It had been taken from me. So cold. I was shivering violently. Should I call out? Perhaps Jack was here too, sitting in the dark, waiting, scared.

Suddenly movement was heard somewhere close by. I froze and listened hard, holding my breath.

Chink, Chink.

There was most definitely someone there.

I weighed my options and took my chances. I was in a dungeon by the looks of things, so most likely the only other people to be here were prisoners too.

“Jack?” I whispered; my voice was hoarser than I expected, as though I had not spoken for days.

The noise I had heard stopped abruptly and all was painfully silent for several long moments. My guess was that it in fact wasn’t Jack who occupied this cell with me. How I wished for some fire at this very moment, just so I could see. I scrunched up my eyes and held my breath, concentrating harder than I ever had before.

Nothing. Not even a spark. What had once come so naturally seemed beyond me.

I was completely unaware of time as it seemed to slip by in the darkness. I had no way of telling wether it was morning or night, or how many minutes had ticked by as I sat against the cold, hard stone. It felt like hours. The silence was almost deafening. The only thing I could hear was a dull ringing in my ears as I waited for something to happen. Every now and then I heard a faint scuffling in a far corner, but I was far too scared to investigate, or to draw attention to myself. I didn’t know who or what was down here with me.

Hours seemed to creep by in the darkness. I fell into an uneasy sleep with my back propped up against the damp wall, and when I woke I was curled into the foetal position upon the straw lined floor. It was still pitch black, yet my eyes seemed to have adjusted slightly to the pressing darkness and I could make out darker shadows and objects within the space.

It was much bigger than I had expected and I could faintly make out several things. Many rows of thick iron bars were before me, and the cell I was in seemed to be extremely long and run the length of the stone wall. Scattered around the cell was at least twelve body-shaped figures huddled in corners. Prisoners. I found it highly odd that they didn’t make a noise, or talk amongst themselves. In fact, they weren’t moving at all. The only huddled figure that seemed to be breathing was the one closest to myself, a mere three meters away. I suddenly realised what the stench I had first noticed was. Rotting flesh. This cell had eleven dead bodies in it. Recently deceased by the smell of it. I gagged and clapped my hands to my mouth to prevent myself from screaming or sobbing. What kind of a place was this? Would I be left in this cell until I starved? Who were these people that had died down here in the darkness?

I could not stop the tears from flowing and cascading down my dirt encrusted cheeks. I still wasn’t used to these normal, wet, salty tears. They seemed foreign and odd.

Once I had calmed down, I made sure that I only breathed through my mouth, as to not inhale the stench of death. I turned my attention to the only other living body in the cell with me. They seemed determined to draw as little attention to themselves as possible.

My stomach rumbling with hunger I very slowly crawled across the floor, the chains around my feet clinking.

“Excuse me?” I whispered, my voice breaking and my throat aching from thirst.

No response. The person shied away from me as though I were about to attack them.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” I said softly, “I was just wondering if you knew where we were?”

Once again they did not speak and merely covered their face with their hands. I couldn’t make out the age of this person, nor could I tell what gender they were. Daring to sniff the air, a new smell of urine and excrements reached my nostrils. I gagged again and backed away.

A new thought occurred to me. Perhaps this person wasn’t talking to me because they couldn’t talk.

“Human.” I breathed.

I was being kept in a dungeon with eleven dead, and one barely alive human. My situation couldn’t possibly get any worse.

I broke from my trance when a loud noise from somewhere above made me jump. Thumping footsteps could be heard. A trap door opened beyond the cell bars, from the ceiling and several pairs of feet began descending stairs into the dungeon. Light poured in from the trap door and illuminated the men who made their way into the prison. The human huddled against the wall whimpered and seemingly tried to make themselves blend in with their surroundings. I could now see that the human was a young female, who looked about fifteen or sixteen years old. She was so disturbingly skinny that she looked androgynous, with no shape or curves on her body what so ever.