The Inner Circle | A Midnight Quartet

Chapter 22 | Darcy Edison

After all that had happened in her life, dying in a prison cell with her friends was not what she had imagined. Alone, yes maybe. That was always a possibility when she took the job and that was a risk she was willing to take, but now... everything is different.

Darcy rests her head against the barred call, twisting to look at Carmen. He had somehow managed to fall asleep again. The boy is frankly ridiculous. How does he keep falling asleep? He finds out someone just died, and falls asleep. Gets almost killed and has to run for his life, and boom, asleep in a tree! Is sentenced to death and awaiting his trial in prison, and yet here he is, fast asleep.

She smiles. But alas, she loves him. And he loves her. She had never truly felt loved, not like this at least. For once in her life, she is truly happy. Her smile fades. She never was afraid of death; she never had anything to lose, anything to miss. But now she has loved and wanted. And is now a dead-man walking. Just her luck, it seems.

She plops her handcuffed hands onto her lap in silent exasperation. A clink draws her attention to the pocket of her dress. Arching her back, she adjusts her arms to reach inside. She pulls out the brooch from earlier. It is worn and dented, clearly very used. Probably about twenty years old... An idea suddenly sparks.

"Aspen, I think this is yours." Darcy hands the old brooch to Aspen's waiting hands.

She looks up in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"I couldn't tell what the symbol was, but when your da-" She winces. "The king, I mean, said your mother was from Shira, it just clicked. I-I think it might have been your mom's."

Darcy watches as Aspen's eyes swell with tears, and she clutches the object to her chest, handcuffs clinking together. "Thank you" She says weakly. "You know, it's funny. I finally find out who my parents are, wretched as they may be, and I am stuck in jail, waiting to die." She sighs. "I guess I was just hoping to meet my mother by now." She looks off, more talking to herself then Darcy. "I wonder what she would have been like."

She can't imagine what it would feel like to have never even known her mother. It was hard enough to lose her, and she would give anything to see her one last time. Her fists clench in her lap. She got them into this mess. It is her job to get them out.

Darcy scans the small cell. It is a basic model, with a simple lock. She smiles. These cells were built for the hopeless and incapable. She is neither of those things.

"I need your help."

Aspen turns back to her in surprise. "My help? For what?"

"I'm going to get us out of here." Darcy tilts her head towards their bound hands. "Do you think you can get some of the pins out of my hair?"

Aspen gasps. "Brilliant!"

It takes some doing but Darcy finally feels her hair fall back, brushing against her damp neck. Aspen drops the simple pins into Darcy's hands. It had been a while, but she remembers the basics. She angles it into the lock, feeling the driver pin shift into its proper chamber. The handcuffs fall open and she silently rejoices.

Now for the cell door. She examines the lock: it's rusty but doable. She bends the pins to better suit her needs and begins to fiddle with the bolt.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Darcy jumps and spins around, searching for the rough voice that had spoken. She squints into the shadows to the left, watching in horror as the man that tried to kill her and Carmen emerges from outside the cell. Aspen gasps and Miles wraps a protective arm around her. Carmen is still sleeping. She throws up her hands. "How did you get in here?"