The afternoon sun had
already vanished into the western horizon by the time Danni trudged back to the
cell she shared with the other five female tribe leaders. After her meeting
with Ravenscroft, she had been summoned to the kitchens where she had a
pressing appointment with the parsnips and potatoes that would be eaten that
night with dinner. The guards would get the potatoes, the prisoners the
parsnips.
“Hey you.” Silver nodded
at Danni the moment she was ushered back behind the steel bars. The guard gave
Danni an ugly, mocking sneer, then slammed the gate behind her, rattling the
keys for added affect.
“Hi.” Danni offered the
slightly older young woman a shaky smile. “Where’s everyone else?” She inquired
after the empty cell. Normally when she got back from kitchen duty the rest of
the girls were back from their day at the mines or wherever Alana had assigned
them for the day. But today the cell was vacant save for Silver and herself.
Silver shrugged and
slipped off her bunk, strolling over to the cell’s lone mirror. She took a
minute to flip her long dark braids over her shoulders, then turned her
attention away from her reflection and back to Danni. “I only got here a few
minutes ago. Xenia and Aya were in the mines today. I don’t know where Grieco
and Jenis went this morning.”
Danni nodded, slowly
easing her aching body onto the bunk below hers. Out of habit, she tried to
push one of the shorter locks of hair away from her face, but found it still
would not tuck behind her ear. She gave up and allowed it to fall across her
face, tickling her skin. “It’s already dusk.” She commented, looking over to
the window. “Aya and Xenia should be back by now.”
“I know.” Silver’s lips
tightened and for once Danni realized that she was nervous about something. Her
pale blue eyes reflected as much and if Danni had been paying half as much
attention to her cell-mate as she had been to her sore muscles she would have
noticed that the moment she stepped inside.
“What’s wrong, Silver?”
Danni questioned, her tone sharper than she intended. “Has Alana summoned them
to her office or something?”
Silver quickly shook her
head, though the worried light did not leave her eyes. “No, Danni. It’s nothing
like that.” Silver pursed her lips and adverted her gaze. “It’s just, well…”
She trailed off, reluctant to finish what she had begun.
“Just what, Silver?”
Danni prompted as her stomach did nervous flip-flops inside her. “What
happened?”
“I don’t know if I should
tell you Danni.” Silver’s voice dropped to a low whisper. “We sort of made an
agreement that we wouldn’t.”
“We?” Danni felt herself
growing annoyed with the games Silver was playing with her. “Who’s we? You and
the rest of the girls?”
“I, uh…” Silver
stammered, backing away from Danni slowly.
“Tell me, Silver!” Danni
insisted. “I don’t care what it is, you have to tell me.”
“Alright. But you asked
for it.” Silver’s face suddenly broke out in a huge grin, the panicked
expression fleeting from her eyes replaced with a mischievous light.
“Yes, I did.” Danni
studied her suspiciously.
Silver stepped several
feet closer to Danni, drawing her close. “We’re getting out of here.”
“We are?” Danni’s eyes
widened in surprise. “When? What happened?”
Silver grinned. “Jenis
was talking to Simon and suddenly he blurted out and asked her if she wanted to
escape. Of course she told him that she did, that she wanted to get back to her
own tribe and make sure everyone was alright, and then he told her that he
could arrange it for her.”
“Seriously?” Danni wanted
to be happy for Jenis, but doubt gnawed at the back of her mind.
“But not just Jenis,
Danni. He’s going to take the rest of us too.” Silver beamed with pride.
“Tomorrow night.”
“Tomorrow night? But I
won’t see Ravenscroft before that! I have to let him know.”
“Ravenscroft?” Silver
stared at her in surprise. “Are you serious Danni? Are you more concerned about
some guy you just met or your own tribe? Bray? Your friends?”
Danni dropped her head,
the painful reminder of Bray’s execution coming back to her. “Bray’s dead.”
Danni whispered hoarsely. “The Guardian killed him.”
“Oh!” Silver gasped,
pulling Danni into her arms. “I-I had no idea. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“No, of course I’m not
okay.” Danni dashed the tears away from her eyes. “But for awhile I thought I
was going to be.”
“Oh Danni. I’m so sorry.”
Silver’s eyes reflected sympathy. “I can understand you not wanting to do
anything right now, but you’ve got to put things in perspective. If we escape,
if we escape tomorrow night as planned, than you can be reunited with the Mall
Rats. You can pay the Guardian back for what he’s done to you.”
Silver’s words sounded
good to Danni but she still could not bear to even think about escaping without
Ravenscroft. In their few brief meetings she had grown closer to him than she
had thought possible. At times she felt like she knew him even better than she
knew Bray, and they had been together for six months. It was strange, and she
couldn’t explain it. All she knew was that she would not leave if he wasn’t.
“It sounds real nice,
Silver.” Danni admitted, her voice soft. “But I can’t go with you guys if I
don’t get word to Ravenscroft first. I owe it to him to try and figure out a
way for him to come too.”
“Simon said that it would
be too dangerous if we tried to bring some of the male tribe leaders…” Silver
bit down on her lower lip nervously.
“Then I’ll stay here.”
Danni stated firmly.
“No, Danni! You have to
come.” Silver shook her head, clearly getting upset that Danni was even
considering not coming with them. “You just have to.”
“Not without
Ravenscroft.” Danni said with finality. “I’m not going anywhere without him.”
~*~*~
“Don’t you guys ever
stop?” Ravenscroft chuckled as he entered his cell in an unusually amiable
mood. Ravenscroft was not generally a surly fellow, but somehow his cell-mates
always had a way to put him in a dark mood – especially when they were fighting
and playing cards.
Billy Boy shot him a
strange look, then glanced back to his cards. From where Ravenscroft stood he
could see the Jackal’s cards and could tell that Billy Boy was going to loose
pretty badly if he didn’t pull off some miracle. Luckily for him, Billy Boy had
the best poker face and he might just convince the others that he had a Royal
Flush in hand.
“How was your date?” Max
smirked after tossing in his bet of food rations.
“You mean my meeting with
Danni?” Ravenscroft looked down on he Demon Dog as he passed.
“Danni?” Ejay shot
Ravenscroft a surprised look. “Danni of the Mall Rats? That’s who you’ve been
meeting with these past few days?”
“Yeah, that’s her.”
Ravenscroft nodded, a warm flush filling his body at the thought of the
beautiful dark-haired young woman.
“He’s lying to you,
Ejay.” Erik smacked the other boy upside the head. “Ravenscroft was not with
Danni and there is no way he’s the father of her baby. She was with that
fruitcake Bray.”
“Bray.” Billy Boy snorted
in disgust, rolling his eyes.
“Well,” A wicked smile
spread across Ravenscroft’s face as he slipped into the role of the secret
lover. “Bray never knew about Danni and I. We kept it real quiet.”
“Danni’s too good for the
likes of you.” Saul spat, rubbing at the bristle that was beginning to sprout
along his jaw line. “She would never lower herself to your level.”
“Well, obviously Bray was
not fulfilling her needs.” Ravenscroft chuckled, trying to ignore the strange
twinge of jealously that went through him at the thought of Danni’s deceased
lover. He had nothing to be envious about. Bray was cold in some shallow grave,
or probably ashes since burning seemed to be more The Guardian’s style.
“What ever.” Erik snorted
waving his words off. “I still say you’re a liar.”
Ravenscroft glared down
at him, the all too familiar blood lust filling him. “You want to say that
again, Mutant.” Ravenscroft dripped with venom.
“Yeah.” Erik rose to his
feet, his dark eyes flashing in anger. “You’re a liar, Kat. And I’m calling you
on it. There is no way in hell that you’re the father of Danni’s baby.”
Ravenscroft’s fist shot
out before he could stop it, connecting with the shorter man’s jaw with a
sickening crunch. Erik’s head popped back and he slumped to the ground, blood
gushing from his nose.
The rest of Ravenscroft’s
cell-mates quickly backed off, leaving their poker game as the hurried back to
their bunks leaving Ravenscroft alone to deal with Erik.
He knew that the Mutant
would not be down long. Erik was strong and had just as notorious temper as
Ravenscroft. Ravenscroft mentally readied himself for what he was sure to be an
onslaught of blows both physically and verbally as he waited for Erik to right
himself.
He did not have to wait
long and soon Erik was back on his feet, wiping the blood away from his face,
his eyes glowing with a murderous light. “You’re going to regret that,
Ravenscroft.” His voice was so low and angry Ravenscroft momentarily began to
regret his decision to hit him.
Seconds later, Erik was
at him, launching himself towards Ravenscroft, his fits flying and curses that
would have made a sailor blush flowing from his mouth at the same rate that the
blood was spurting from his nose. Luckily, Ravenscroft was ready and he was
able to block most of Erik’s blows and the ones that did land were not
well-placed and he was not affected too terribly.
“Stop this, Erik.”
Ravenscroft circled away from the rage-filled Mutant. “You’re only making a
fool of yourself.”
“You’re the fool, baka!”
Erik spat out blood as he spoke. “A fool and a liar.”
Cool rage swept trough
Ravenscroft’s body and he allowed it to consume him, taking control of his
actions. Smoothly, he ducked one of Erik’s feeble blows then sent one of his
own, this one at Erik’s ribs. Erik seemed not to feel it, however, and kept
raining his hits on Ravenscroft.
“You know, from what I
hear, Bray’s not the father of that wh0re’s baby either.” Erik sneered as he
deflected on of Ravenscroft’s shots. “I hear that the Guardian had her, then he
cut her up. That’s why she looks so ugly now, that scar and her hair.”
Erik’s laughter angered
Ravenscroft all the more and he knew that he would soon be completely out of
control of his actions, but rather than stop himself, Ravenscroft gave himself
over to the rage, thrusting himself forward towards Erik, everything else
fading around him.
~*~*~
Simon chuckled to himself
all the way to Alana’s office, nodding at all the female guards that he passed
along the way – or at least all the half-way pretty ones. He knew that he had
finally done something that the cold fish would deem worthy – trapping those
silly geese in his plot.
“Oh yeah.” Simon grinned
as he hesitated at Alana’s door only long enough o knock. “You’re good. And now
Alana’s going to have to admit it.”
“Who is it?” Alana’s
stern voice floated through the wood.
“Simon, Lieutenant.”
Simon quickly answered, wishing that he could switch the words around. He was
the one who should be lieutenant, not the Guardian’s cast off wench. He could
never voice his words, however. He did not know who of the guards belonged to
Alana and who might be loyal to him.
“Come in, Simon.” Alana
called to him.
Simon quickly stepped
inside the office, shutting the door behind him. For once Alana was the only
one inside her office, her dark leather chair swiveled away from the door so
she could face the large bay window that overlooked the prison courtyard.
“What do you want,
Simon?” Alana swiftly turned the chair back towards him, her eyes summoning him
up with cool reproach.
“I thought I would let
you know,” Simon smirked. “I have foiled an escape attempt.”
“Have you now?” Alana
arched one of her carefully manicured eyebrows. “And how is that?”
“The girls you asked me
to keep an eye on.” Simon told her, his voice oozing with pride. “The Mall Rat
and her friends.”
“Ah, yes. Danni.” Alana
frowned, her eyes doubtful. “So when did they try and escape, Simon? Before or
after Danni was in her meeting with the Wild Kat?”
“Well,” Simon frowned,
shifting his weight from his left foot to his right. “It hasn’t happened yet.
It will take place tomorrow night.”
“Then tell me, Simon, how
have you foiled it?” Her voice was cool, tinged lightly with annoyance.
“I have spoken to Jenis,
the woman from The Brotherhood.” Simon stated, suddenly feeling quite foolish
for brining this information to Alana before it had already transpired. “I have
tricked her into trusting me. I am going to ‘help’ them escape tomorrow night,
but in actuality I will be leading them straight into a trap.”
“Oh my. Aren’t you the
clever one?” Alana’s voice was tipped with sarcasm. “Tell me, what are your
plans?”
“Well,” Simon began,
insecurities filling him as he attempted to proof the infallibility of his
plan. “I have arranged for all of the girls to be working the wall tomorrow
afternoon. Then, just as they are to finish their shift I will come to them and
lead them away from the prison. As soon as I get them outside the gates we will
be surrounded by guards that I have explained the plan to. Then they will be
dragged off and placed in solitary confinement and all our problems will have
disappeared.”
“I see.” Alana’s voice
was void of emotion. “What time is their shift scheduled to end?”
Simon frowned, feeling a
warm flush creep up his neck. “Uh, seven.”
“Are you sure?” She
stared evenly at him. “Because it doesn’t sound like you are.”
“No, it’s seven.” Simon
bobbed his head up and down while in the back of his mind he questioned how on
earth this measly woman could make him sweat so. “I’m positive.”
“Excellent.” An evil
smile spread across Alana’s lips.
~*~*~
“Look,” Danni struggled
to control her emotions as she stared around the small huddled circle of her
cellmates. Shortly after her conversation with Silver the others had trailed in
and now they were discussing Jenis’ conversation with Simon and their escape
plans. “I don’t trust Simon. This whole thing reeks.”
“Why do you have to be so
negative, Danni?” Xenia scowled at her. “You’re just upset that your little
plan with Ravenscroft didn’t work before Jenis was able to get in with Simon.”
“I told you, Xenia. I
didn’t get ‘in’ with Simon.” Jenis told the blonde tiredly. “We were talking
and suddenly he brought up the escape plan. It took me by surprise. I hadn’t
even begun hinting about wanting to escape.”
“All the more reason not
to trust him.” Danni stated simply.
“But we don’t know if we
can really trust Ravenscroft, and we know we can’t trust Alana.” Aya pointed
out quietly. “This escape plan that Simon has seems to be the best choice. It
will probably be our only opportunity. I say we take it.”
“I do too.” Xenia nodded.
“That’s fine.” Danni sighed
heavily. “You girls can go. I’m not stopping you, but I’m not leaving without
Ravenscroft.”
“What is it with you and
this boy, Danni!” Xenia exclaimed, her eyes snapping. “You don’t even know him.
For all you know he could be working with the Chosen and he’ll turn you into
them as soon as he has proof that we’re plotting to escape.”
“He would have already
done that if he was with them.” Danni narrowed her eyes at the leggy blonde.
Xenia’s attitude towards her had noticeably chilled since her first meeting
with Ravenscroft. She knew that Xenia had been attracted to him, but she had
thought nothing of it at the time. But now she wasn’t so sure.
“All I know is that
fighting amongst ourselves is not going to solve anything.” Jenis quickly
pointed out, hoping to avoid the potential eruption between the dark and
fair-haired young women. “I don’t particularly like the idea of trusting Simon
so much but I really don’t see any other choice. We have to go for it.”
“We should wait until we
hear what Danni has to say first.” Grieco, who had not said anything yet,
stated suddenly. “We still don’t know how her meeting with Ravenscroft went
today.”
“Like hell we don’t.”
Xenia grumbled. “All you have to do is look at her flushed cheeks and the
sparkle in her eyes and you’ll know.”
Danni glared at her.
“Xenia, just let her
talk.” Silver sighed heavily, shaking her head causing her long slender braids
to spill over her shoulders. “I’m getting a headache.”
“Me too.” Aya nodded
sympathetically.
“Well, I’ll make this
short then.” Danni frowned, wondering how she could convey the strong
suspicions that she and Ravenscroft had about Alana’s true identity. “We
think,” She began slowly. “That Alana’s real name is Amber.”
“Amber? Who’s Amber?”
Xenia asked flippantly. “And why would this affect us?”
“Amber? As in the
Amber?” Jenis’ eyes widened in surprise.
“Yeah, the Amber.” Danni
nodded slowly.
“Who’s Amber?” Xenia
repeated, this time sounding a bit more interested.
“Amber was the leader of
the Mall Rats long ago.” Danni explained slowly. “Everyone thought she died on
Eagle Mountain when the observatory had blown up, but it’s possible that she
survived.”
“So why would you think
that Alana is her? That doesn’t make sense.” Aya frowned. “Do they look alike?”
“I really don’t know.”
Danni ducked her head. “I never met Amber, though from descriptions Bray gave
me of her, they sound similar – fair skin, light eyes… I can’t tell what
Alana’s natural hair color is, but it looks like it could be blonde like Amber’s.”
“That still sounds like a
bit of a stretch to me.” Xenia commented with a flick of her long flaxen hair.
“There’s more.” Danni
stated. “Alana called Ravenscroft to her office the other day and I guess they
had a rather emotional conversation. She started telling him about her past,
saying that she hadn’t always been with the Chosen and that she had once been
married. She began to slip and tell him the name of her tribe, but she quickly
stopped herself as she said ‘Ma’.”
“Ma?” Xenia scoffed. “Do
you realize how many tribes start with the sound ‘ma’?”
“Yes, I do, but I can’t
shake this feeling. It’s her. I just know it is.” Danni sighed heavily,
realizing that there was no way she could convince the leader of the Brood.
“It would make sense,
Xenia.” Silver commented thoughtfully. “Once Alana found out that Danni was a
Mall Rat she started taking special care of her. Remember she brought her to
our cell herself.”
“And she has been calling
Danni to her office quite frequently.” Jenis added. “Then you have to add in
the lighter chore load and how she’s letting her see Ravenscroft.”
“Those could all be
coincidences.” Xenia stated, though her voice started to betray her. Danni
could tell they were starting to break through to her.
“But the question is,”
Aya frowned. “How could this help us? If she’s a Mall Rat, wouldn’t she hate
you all the more? You did leave her up on Eagle Mountain to die, right?”
“Not me. But my tribe,
yes.” Danni nodded. “That’s the only part that really doesn’t make sense. Though
Bray would always tell me how noble and forgiving Amber was. Maybe she realizes
that if she befriends me she might be reunited with her tribe.”
“It still doesn’t fit.”
Xenia insisted. “I don’t think the lieutenant is your Amber.”
“We shouldn’t discount
Ravenscroft’s and Danni’s theory so quickly, Xenia.” Grieco told the tall
blonde. “I agree with her. Alana being Amber, it would make all those feelings
I had when I first met her make sense.”
“What feelings?” Danni
asked, curiously.
Grieco closed her eyes, a
strange smile flitting across her lips. “A hidden past, cheating death,
heartbreak and betrayal, fear, love… So much. That woman is a treasure chest of
hidden and buried emotions.”