The Girl Beneath

Chapter Twenty One, "The Forgotten Truth"

It was dark. My nose was cold. I was wrapped up in some sort of blanket, but I threw it off of myself. The chilly damp air bit at my arms now and gave me goosebumps, but I didn't care. I had to find her. My mom. I had to get back to the woods.

I stood up expecting the rocky ground to hit my feet, but apparently I was wearing a thick pair of wool socks. My shoulders and legs were covered too; I assumed it was simply a shirt and pants. My dry mouth was telling me I had been sleeping for a long time. Too long.

What if Duncan had needed me? What about the plans of escaping without Cade knowing? If we lost our chance there was nothing I could have done. At this point, I wasn't bothered by the pitch black dark surrounding me. Everything that could've been worse was already made worse for all I know. So, the darkness made everything worse but had no other hold on me.

I sat down and curled my knees to my chest as tight as I could. Maybe if I become small enough the world will forget I exist. Nevertheless, I didn't dare close my eyes; it would only lead to the emptiness of thought. My memories were already pounding to come take back residence in my mind.

A light flickered into the room and dimly lit my surroundings. I quickly stood up as tall as I could, either out of habit as a soldier or simply the idea of not wanting someone to see me so helpless and lost.

"Finally, your awake," Annabelle sighed. "Duncan can't see you, but he made a wonderful plan." She stopped and smiled thoughtfully. "I'm taking you and Gallant on a journey!"

We walked through the tunnels. It felt colder than it was the first time. We passed by Gallant's room and he joined us.

"Before we go, do we need to go over anything? I've never exactly led any sort of mission. This is pretty new to me."

I couldn't tell if Annabelle was being funny or not. She did seem pretty nervous.

"What about Godin?"

"Shhh, do you have to say his name so loud?" She looked around quickly and pulled us into Gallant's room. "We'll have to worry about him later."

"We never even got to talk to him," I begged. Annabelle made it obvious that I was still talking too loud.

"There's nothing we can do about that now - either way I have no power over that. It's all Duncan's plan. He is the leader here." She was fixing her uniform thoughtfully as she talked. "Well why don't we move on now? We've spent enough time arguing."

"We aren't arguing," Gallant countered.

"We could go straight to Duncan right now," I threw in. She shot me somewhat of a look of warning.

"No."

"There's nothing he could tell Cade to keep him off our trail. It's only logical for us to show up and keep him less suspicious so he doesn't try following us," Gallant offered. "And I mean look at us, we're both ragged despite all the rest and food you have given us. Is it really a good time to start on another journey? What's one more night?"

"Everything," she cut in sharply. It was like a whole different version of herself showed up, stern and forceful. "One night changes everything. Please just give me one minute to sort this out." She left the room and slid the metal door closed. I hadn't noticed it before because it was tucked in between a stone slit.

Slight clink, tinks, and turns could only mean she had locked it. Her footsteps pittered away from us, fast and determined.

"I don't think you said the right thing," I stated and sat on Gallant's bed. I could fall right back asleep on the soft mattress and silky sheets. "If anything you made her mad."