Three Converts

Part 37

I didn't sleep a wink that night, but I could tell by Misty's breathing that she sure did. I lay against her trying not to look in the corner of the room where I knew Franklin's obliterated eyeball lay. I let myself think about Griffin, which I tried not to do. I let myself think about my family, which I also tried not to do. I was thinking I should have kissed Griffin when I had the chance, now I may die without having ever been kissed, when there was a loud, unfamiliar thunk above me. I didn't want to wake Misty for nothing. Maybe they were just changing guards?

Footsteps. I wasn't moving before, but now I stopped breathing and blinking as well.

The steps stopped at the opening above us. "Misty!" a whispered yell. "Mist? You there?" I shook Misty awake. Now two voices were whisper-yelling at her.

"Hm? What? What?"

"Rocco's here for you." I told her. I prayed he was here for me too. She ran, stumbling, still half-asleep to the opening.

"Rocco? Rocco?" She was crying contagious tears that I wiped from my eyes.

"Babe!" His voice was higher than I'd remembered it. Or maybe he was crying too. He moved around, then a ladder dropped. Misty clutched her heart, then flung her arms around me. "We're saved! I told you he'd come! I told you!"

"I'm not sure that ladder's for me too, Misty."

She smacked my arm. "Oh, shut up! Of course it's for you too! Let's go!" She began climbing.

I whisper-yelled up to Rocco, "Have you seen Griffin?"

"Who do you think knocked the guard out? Now, come on! We don't have all night!"

It wasn't easy to climb a swinging rope ladder in the dark while crying, but Rocco talked us up in a surprisingly gentle voice. When we reached the top, Misty tackled Rocco. Even though she was petite as can be and he was a giant, she knocked him right over. They kissed for so long, I nudged them with my toe. "Hey! Do you guys need a room? Because there's a private one at the bottom of this ladder!"

Rocco laughed. "She's funny," he informed Misty, thrusting a thumb at me. "Alright, follow me girls."

We walked, feather-light, past the body of a large man I'd never seen before. I knew every person in the commune, but didn't recognize him at all. Misty tilted her head toward the door, "let's go!" she mouthed. I moved past the stranger and out the door Rocco was holding for me. I was thankful for a nighttime rescue. Even the light from the half-moon made me squint after the utter darkness we'd been living in. It only took two seconds to recognize the Griffin shaped shadow on the other side of the council door. His teeth were brighter than the moon when he smiled. I threw my arms around him, careful not to make too much rustling noise. He pulled my head into his chest and I snuggled in closer. I wished I could move into his arms, his chest, his wild hair, and live out the rest of my life there.

I felt Misty smile at us, and Rocco roll his eyes. When he couldn't stand it any longer, he gave Griffin a whack on the head. "We gotta move, man!" he scolded, as though he hadn't just had his own reunion with Misty three minutes prior. "Yeah, yeah," Griff conceded, "we're coming." I moved out of his embrace, but we held hands as we moved over the rocky terrain. I didn't realize the commune had its own particular feel under my feet that not even the mountains on the other side of Mayrood had. It was much gravellier.

"Ugh, I never thought I'd be back here," Misty murmured. She was looking around nervously, no doubt thinking about the fire pit she'd experienced last time she was here. She inched a little closer to Rocco. With every step away from the commune my lungs loosened, and by the time we were almost to the end of the path I could finally take a complete breath. I shouldn't have relaxed so quickly.

From behind the boulders, three men appeared. Brother Augustus and two men, big as the guard that lay unconscious in the dungeon. Augustus looked small and frail in comparison, though I knew he was anything but. "Well, well, well," he said in his sickeningly sweet sermon voice. "My little captives. Did you think you'd just walk out of here so easily? Did you think we didn't account for this?" He laughed a thin, watery trickle of a laugh. "After all you've done? We can't let you back into the world making a bad name for the commune! Or worse, preventing people from giving their lives to Diety!" The men stepped toward us.

"No, you'll have to go back to the dungeon until we can covertly dispose of you. This time your heathen friends can join you." The men moved quickly toward us and I screamed, but before they could lay hands on me, there was a commotion. Someone pushed me to the ground, then, just as quickly picked me back up. There were more people now, and Augustus' men were unconscious on the ground. My brain struggled to put things together. "Dobson?" I asked. He was playfully swinging a club around. "So good to see you again, Lucy darling." He kissed my hand like we were at a fairy tale ball rather than in the mountains in the dead of night, filthy, and surrounded by bodies. "Good to see you, Dobson!" I gave him a hug. For a girl who'd never hugged a person in all her days, I was getting quite used to all the displays of affection in the real world. If you could call this the real world.

"What do you want me to do with this one?" A rough voice asked from the shadows. One of Dobson's men had Augustus' arms behind him. Augustus was still conscious, but not struggling to escape. "Our little captive," Rocco sneered at him. "Did you really think we'd make it so easy? Did you think we didn't account for this?" he mimicked Augustus' words. The councilor remained silent.

"Mist?"

Misty looked at me for confirmation and Inodded. What could we do with him? Take him as prisoner? Then what? Frankly, Ididn't want him anywhere near me. Torture him the way he did us? That wasn't inour nature. With my silent approval, Misty told Rocco, "Just let him go. Wedon't want him."