A Journey To The Clouds, Escape From Cloud Castle - Book Two - ✓

Chapter Nine

We rush through the cold corridor to the entrance of the lair and we quickly ascend up the ladder. I grab Ally's hand as she quickly climbs up before we dash through the other rooms of the castle, following the direction of the voice.

"Ally! Connor!" she calls weakly. I smile as I run faster up the stairs. I'm completely out of breath by the time we make it to the tallest tower of the castle. By now, the echo of the cries linger in the tall building. But I enter with a massive grin on my face.

Lily is as beautiful as ever. She seems to emit a soft golden glow with a floor length periwinkle blue dress. She has golden, high heeled shoes with diamond encrusted edges.

Part of me wants to run up and give her a hug, and tell her everything is alright. We found her, and all we have to do is get her out of this place. Even with all of that on one hand, I feel an odd sensation, like something is wrong, stopping me in my tracks. I can't put my finger on it. I shrug it off and greet Lily.

"Lily! Where have you been? We've been missing you!" I babble. She smiles instead of answering.

"Give the woman some rest! Look at her frame!" Ally exclaims. I smile at her.

"It's fine Ally. The Crew of Doom trapped me in one of the cages that had once imprisoned me here." she glances around the tower.

"You were imprisoned in this tower?" I ask, confused.

"Yeah Connor. Forget she's been here for quite a while now in the grasp of the Crew of Doom's hands? Of course she was held hostage in this tower." Ally says rolling her eyes as soon as Lily opens her mouth to speak.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, young lady!" I say in a deep, raspy voice. I scrunch up my face to create wrinkles, and I puff out my cheeks. She glances back at me and chuckles. I see Lily's eyes start to soften as she gazes at me, then her. Me, then her.Then, her gaze fixes on me. Her eyes seemed to say, You love her, don't you? I look at my toes. I don't think I would say that just yet.

The strange feeling I've developed about Lily stays there for countless moments before I feel like something is... off. Like she changed.

And I'm not sure if it's in a good or bad way.

"Alright. We're here for a reason. Let's try to get you out of here!" Ally says with a determined gleam in her eyes. Lily almost looks taken aback. I wonder why.

"Are you ok, Lily?" I ask. She immediately resumes her formal position.

"Yes. I am fine Connor, thank you for asking." She says. Her voice is hollow and shaky. I almost determined her shakiness was because she's nervous. Then again, of course she is. Besides, she's been locked up for more than a month now.

"I think I am just nervous to be back in this castle." Lily stammers. My first reaction is how could she be nervous? She's been in this castle for all of this time. Also, she's implying that she hasn't been in the castle all this time. My suspicions start to grow and grow as time goes on. But then the door to the tower slams shut and we jump and turn around. Then, hear the lock click. My immediate reaction was oh no.

Turns out, that was the correct mindset for the situation.

"How do we get us out of here?" I hear Ally mutter in confusion as she gazes at the rustic shelves holding hundreds of old books and papers. I stand beside her and I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"We'll figure it out." I say in a quiet voice. Ally smiles and looks at me with a sparkle in her eye. Her fingers embrace in mine as she takes my hand.

"We always do." She replies in a whisper.