Midnight Fire - Rise of the Dark Angel - Book One (19 page)

**********

             
Phoenix laughed as she dodged around a tree, thinking
she’
d found the perfect hiding spot. The pa
st couple of weeks had flown by
and she was completely infatuated with Jayden. He was perfect in every sense of the word. He gave her his undivided att
ention
and completely ignored Jessica,
raising her opinion of him even more
.

             
John finally stopped hovering over the two of them
as he began to trust Jayden
.
S
he
was happy
as their friendship grew. Jayden was
very
knowledgeable and made a fine addition to their group, proving himself a good hunter and builder. Anything the elders asked him to do he was able to accomplish in what seemed half the time as other people.

             
Phoenix found herself
staring
at him wherever he was and then daydreaming about him when he was away. She loved
how he’
d always come and find her
wherever she was at
.
The
nights seemed to go on forever
without him, waiting for the morning
.

             
She couldn’t believe how much she cared about the
guy who had
stumbled u
pon her. She was glad he had
.
She
finally understood why people marrie
d so young in their group. She’
d be happy to spend every waking and sleeping moment at his side.

             
“Come out, come out wherever you are,” Phoenix heard Sadie calling. They were breaking the rules and playing instead of gathering
but
the day was so beautiful and the men were on the other side of the forest hunting. They wouldn’t hunt unless the girls were far from them.

             
Phoenix spotted Sadie a few yards away
,
peeking
into some bushes and decided to scare her. She crept behind her friend and poked her in the back. Sadie jumped what seemed a mile in the air and then laughed with relief when she discovered it was
only
Phoenix.

             
“You nearly gave me a heart attack,” Sadie finally said.

             
“I couldn’t resist, you know I always find the best hiding spots,” Phoenix taunted her.

             
“Yes, I don’t know why I bother to still play when you always win,” Sadie grumbled.

             
“Because you’
re my best friend and you love me,” Phoenix told her with confidence.

             
“You’
re
right
.
We haven’t been alone all week
so you have to sp
ill on what’
s been going on with you and Jayden,” Sadie demanded. Her voice dropped to a dreamy level, as usual when Jayden’s name was spoken. All the girls said his name almost reverently.

             
“Oh, he’
s about the most perfect person in the world. Seriously
,
I thought I loved Brian
but
I now realize he was right and it was nothing more than the fact
he was like a brother
a
nd protector.
H
ow I feel for Jayden is beyond description. He just looks at me and my stomach
starts to tingle,” Phoenix said
and giggled when she realized how silly she sounded.

             
“Oh
my gosh
,
Phoenix
,
you sound like one of the annoying girls we always make fun of,” Sadie said with laughter in her voice.

             
“I know, I’m a bit disgusted with myself,” Phoenix told her and they both laughed.

             
“You know what
, though,
I’m starting to feel the same way ab
out Brian. When Jayden got here
he was acting a bit jealous and I thought he was regretting his decision not to be with you.
H
e was ranting and raving
about how
if Jayden hurt you,
he
and John
were
going to kick his butt
and I realized he was acting like an overprotective brother, not a jealous guy,” Sadie said a bit shyly.

             
“So has anything happened?” Phoenix asked.

             
“Yeah, he kissed me last night,” Sadie said, her face turning a deep shade of pink.

             
“I can’t believe you waited until now to tell me. Why didn’t you come immediately to my room?” Phoenix demanded.

             
“I know it sounds stupid now
,
but
I was worried you may be upset because you had a crush on him for so long and I was feeling a bit guilty about it,” Sadie said with worry in her eyes. Phoenix grabbed her up in a hug. She loved Sadie so much and wouldn’t ever do anything to stand in her way of happiness.

             
“Sadie, even if I wasn’t over him, if the two of you liked each other that way I wouldn’t have anything bad to say. I love you to pieces and you
deserve anything you want. You’
re truly the kindest person I
know. So
,
no more feeling guilty unless it’
s because you wait too long to tell your best friend everything. Now
,
I want to hear every single detail,” Phoenix said.

             
Sadie looked at her for a
moment
, as if to judge if she was speaking the truth. When she determined for herself that Phoenix really didn’t care
,
her shoulders relaxed and she was excited to share what happened.

             
“So we left the circle. As you already know
,
it was unusually long and boring last night and he asked if I wanted to go for a walk through the tunnels so we could stretch our legs. I was beyond thrilled and of course said
,
yes,” Sadie started. Both girls giggled once again as if
him
even asking was ridiculous.

             
“We were walking toward
the cars, where hardly anyone ever is and his hand reached down and grabbed mine and it just felt right. I could’ve sworn electricity shot through the tips of my
fingers all the way down
to my toes
. Just the touch of our hands together
gives
me
goose bumps
,” she said with a laugh. Phoenix knew
how she felt
because every time Jayden touched her
,
she felt the same way.

             
“He was talking t
o me about their day of hunting
and some other
stuff, which didn’t even matter.
I was so
happy just to be alone with him
and the sound of his voice is almost mesmer
izing. Then
,
we reached the cars
and neither of us
were
ready to head back in so we sat on the bed of one of the trucks and talked for hours. I’ve never done that with anyone else but you. He never let go of my hand the whole time and he started rubbing the back of
it
with his thumb
.
I
t felt like fire was running
up
my arms,” she said with a sigh. Phoenix got
goose bumps
just listening to the story.

             
“
H
e was talking and all the sudden we were both silent and looking into each other
’
s eyes. It was so roman
t
ic
.
I never wanted the moment to end. He slowly st
arted bending toward
me
and I thought if he didn’t kiss me
I’d either go up in flames
or simply wither away,” Sadie said and was sile
nt for a moment
,
remembering
.

             
“Sadie
Sting if you don’t
finish this story right now I’
m going to burst,” Phoenix said, shaking Sadie out of her reverie.

             
“He kissed me,
really soft and gentle at first
and then his
tongue
brushed
over my lip
and that fire turned into a volcano. I swear
,
I saw flashes of light
behind my eyes. It was magical. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close and we kept kissing for a really long time. He finally pulled back and his eyes were the most
mesmerizing thing I’ve
ever seen before,” she finished dreamily.

             
“Oh
, Sadie that’
s so romantic,” Phoenix said a bit enviously.
Jayden hadn’t kissed her since their night at the hot springs. It was most likely because John never let them out of his sight.
Maybe, since he’d finally backed off a bit
,
Phoenix would get another kiss. She wanted those tingles to run down her body. It was the most amazing feeling in the world.

             
“It was incredible. We finally realized how late it
had gotten
so we
slowly walked back to our rooms
and he gave me another quick kiss outside my door. I had a hard time sleeping last night and the guys left early this morning so I can’t wait to see him again and maybe sneak off alone,” Sadie said.

             
“I’m so jealous of you right now
. Not because you kissed Brian but because Jayden hasn’t touched me since the night at the hot springs
,” Phoenix said with a sigh. Both girls sat there
,
thinking about boys for a while
,
then knew they’d better get to work and accompl
ish something for their day out or they’
d get into trouble.

             
Chastity had been at the prison for a couple of weeks and was
ready to get out of there
. She’
d been planning on only being there for a night
but
had
n’t been
able to talk any of the prisoners into escaping with her yet. She realized
she’
d have to earn their trust, which she was beginning to do.

             
The other women
were
slowly starting to depend on her, realizing she was a lot stronger than
them. She was the one who could
ta
ke the beatings from the guards
and she
took
a lot of their work load. The hardest part for her was trying to make it seem as if it was actually hard. The second hardest part for her was not killing every soldier there. She had yet to find a lick of humanity in a single one of them.

             
“This is
n
’
t your break
time. G
et back to work
,
now,” a guard shouted at her when he realized
she’
d paused for a moment. She had to look down so he wasn’t able to see the fire burning in her eyes. He took her bent head as submission, which was lucky for him because she didn’t think she’d be able to take being poked in the back one more time with one of their worthless weapons.

             
Their
sergeant
was very lucky
he hadn’t tried to rape her yet
because that’s where she would’ve drawn the line.
Beating her
didn’t do them any
good
as it
didn’t cause physical
pain
,
but
if the man tried to touch her body she wouldn’t hesitate to take his life. She looked around at the other women, feeling
true sadness for what they’
d gone through.

             
The men felt
it their right to take the wome
n into their b
eds any time they felt the need
.
T
hey enjoyed it when the women fought them. Most of the prisoners learned
taking
their abuse was far
easier than put
ting
up a struggle
.
T
hey all seemed
so
defeated. Chastity knew she could no longer stand aside while the soldiers used their power to abuse decent people.

             
The longer she stayed with the prisoners the angrier she became that Josiah chose to do nothing. How could he watch the kind of suffering they were going through without stepping in? It was wrong. N
ow that sh
e’
d been
with
them and gotten to know them she couldn’t turn her back.

             
She finished her chores for
the
day and was marched through the showers with the other women who were set aside for the
sergeant
. They were the few
who
were actually kept clean, even if it was done in the most despicable way possible. The women got used to the cold water and the humiliating scrubbing, though Chastity didn’t see how anyone could ever accept
the
torture. They
arrived at their pathetic room
,
then
were
finally
left
alone.

             
“I can’t take this anymore
and I mana
ged to smuggle in a weapon. I’
ve found a
n
escape route and with the
sergeant
and most of the guards gone toni
ght
,
looking for that camp
i
t’
s
a
perfect night to escape,” Chastity spoke to the women with her.

             
They each looked at her with
intense
fear in their eyes
but
for once there was also a glimmer of hope.
She made eye contact with them, encouraging
their
trust in her, conveying with her body language everything would be okay if they listened to her.

             
“But if they catch us you know what the consequences will be,” one of the women spoke up with terror ringing in her tone. If the wome
n were caught escaping they’
d wish for death because the guards were allowed to do with them what they wanted for as long as they wanted. There were stories throughout the camp that
talked about a few women who’
d tried and failed
to escape
and it was horrible enough no one had made an attempt for a long time.

             
“I guarantee we won’t get caught
but
if for some reason
it were to happen I’
ll tell the guards I threatened you with weapons and were using you as human shields. I promise you won’t be harmed,” Chastity
said
. She knew
there was no way she’
d allow any harm to come to the women
she’
d grown to like.

             
“I
want
to get out of here,” another of the women finally spoke up. She looked around as if afraid the guards were going to burst through the doors at any moment because of her words. Prisoners weren’t allow
ed to
even
speak of leaving the camp
. They weren’t considered human among the sadistic guards.

             
“Let me explain my plan
and you can tell me what you think,” Chastity said. When no one spoke she told them how she planned on escaping. She gave them enough information they felt secure with her plan
but
not enough
they’
d figure out who she really was. “Now try and get a couple hours sleep so y
ou’
ll have full energy for our journey. This will all begin about two in
the morning,” she told them
.

             
They all
laid
together, as they did nightly trying to
preserve their body heat
and finding comfort amongst
each
other
. She walked to the other room and waited.
She didn’t need much sleep and wanted to stay alert. She didn’t want to wake the women when she went out to accomplish the first part of their escape. If they saw what she did, it wouldn’t take them long to figure out something wasn’t quite right about her.
She couldn’t afford
for them not to trust her fully
.

             
When she heard the guards do their one-thirty pass she waited. Luckily
, the other women were sleeping
so they didn’t see how easily she broke down the door. She silently approached the two passing guards and they were dead
with a quick and silent snapping of their necks
. She quickly
moved their bodies out of
sight
. She went through the camp and quickly
took care of
each guard who was awake.
T
hen
,
the fence not far from their cabin was destroyed, giving her and the other women a spot to esca
pe from. If it was only her
,
she could’ve simply scaled the fence
but
she
had to think of the human women
.
I
t would look t
o
o odd for her to stumble into her brother
’
s group
alone
. She had to have the other women with her to validate her story.
She couldn’t leave them behind, either. She knew the guards would torture them, trying to get information how she was able to escape.

             
She slid back into the cabin and woke the women up. They looked at her with their trusting eyes and she prayed she didn’t somehow g
et them killed. They’
d have to move quickly because they had a long
journey
and she needed to be far from the camp before the
sergeant
and his crew got bac
k.
T
hey
would
be
seething
when they found the dead soldiers
and it wouldn’t take them long to begin
a
manhunt.

             
“It’s time to go.
I got the door open and there’
s no one about right now. I found a w
eak spot in the fence and that’s where we’
ll escape through
but
we have no time to waste,” Chastity told the women and was happy when they quickly jumped up. All five of the
m
were going to come with her.

             
“I managed to ge
t some bread today
and a couple bottles of water without
getting
caught
but
wait until we’
re outside
these walls and then we’
ll have to be conservative with what we use so we
keep energy. I heard there’
s a refugee camp in the mountains a
nd I know the general direction so that’
s whe
re we’
ll head,” she told them
and quickly led them outside.

             
The women huddled together and she could see their hesitation. The few yards to the fence
was the scariest part for them
because it was that small stretch
they’
d most likely be apprehended
.
T
hat would be all it would take for the full wrath of the
guards
to come down on them.

             
“Don’t worry,
it’s
all clear. W
e must go now,” Chastity told them. The women followed her and they made their way quickly through the fence. “Run in that
direction
but
remain
quiet. I’
ll catch
up in a second.
I want to fix this fence
so it’
s not so obvious to any passing guards,” she told them. They didn’t
waste
any more time
and
took off running towards the cover of the trees. She quickly straightened the fence, knowing she did a good enough
job
the women would have a good four hour lead on the soldiers before they discovered their men dead and the women escaped.

             
Chastity quickly caught up
with
the other women and led them deep into the woods. She knew exactly where they were going and the shortest route to get there
but
it was still a three day journey and that was only
if they moved quickly. They’
d only be able to
sleep minimal hours and she’
d have to be on constant alert for the soldiers
.
T
hey were going to be beyond furious, espe
cially since it was women who’
d gotten the upper hand on them. They looked at women as the lowest beings and they
would
want revenge.

             
Chastity led the women quickly through the woods and
no one
complained about the fast pace. They wanted
to get
as far from
the
prison as possible
.
E
ven if they were caught and tortured they’d already received
freedom, making
it all worth it. There was a light shining in their eyes Chastity hadn’t seen from any of the prisoners over
the
last couple weeks. It was a beautiful thing to behold and she vowed she wouldn’t let anything bad happen to them.

             
They moved non-stop until about nine in the morning, judging from the sky
,
then found a stream with a couple fruit trees next to it. The women looked lo
ngingly at the stream and fruit
and then over
at
Chastity. She found it very sad
they’
d pass right by what they wanted so much if she were to tell them no.