A Child of Darkness

Chapter 1

The darkness has come 6,209 times. I watch from the small barred window in my room cell and etch marks on the cement wall each time the light disappears. Sometimes I have company in the room beside mine; I can hear them wailing and screaming, but most times I have only myself and my journal to keep me company. I was given a small journal and a pencil (which I broke the end off of to keep track of when the darkness comes) by Friadus. He brings my meals twice during the light and lets me out to use the bathing chamber once every 7 darkenings. Friadus does not speak to me. He does not look at me. Gilda used to come to my room cell and speak with me, she taught me to write and read small words and use my voice. She has not come in 3,456 darkenings. I have not used my voice in a long time (I fear I may have forgotten how to). Every day I count the etchings in the wall to make sure I keep count of how many darkenings there have been. I can't be sure my count is accurate—I don't remember how I got here or when I started the etchings—but it is the only way I have to track the time.

The metal door creaks open and Friadus pokes his head through. I expect I will be given my second meal, but he has nothing in his hands. He beckons me forward, and I am confused. It is not day seven—it is not time for me to use the bathing chamber yet. I don't understand, and I stare at him.

"Come on, Leila." He says it so quietly I almost don't hear him. I've only heard my name used a handful of times, and I startle at it.

He beckons me forward again, but I am frozen. I don't understand what is happening, why he wants me to come to him. He sighs loudly and comes fully into my room cell, grabbing my arm and pulling me up off of the cement floor. I gasp at the physical contact—no one touches me. I can't recall a time another person placed their hands upon me.

"Shh," he hisses, dragging me forward by my arm. He bustles me out the metal door and looks around frantically, keeping ahold of my arm tightly.

"Do you have her?" I hear a male voice down the corridor whisper.

"I do. How long until—" his words are cut off by the loudest sound I've ever heard, I wrench my arm free from him and cover both of my ears, squeezing my eyes shut tight.

Debris from the ceiling fall onto my head and I flinch, keeping my eyes closed and my hands over my ears as I crouch down.

"Hurry, go," Friadus says, shoving me toward where I heard the other voice.

I stumble onto my knees and open my eyes to see a young man hurrying toward me, his dark hair covered in plaster from the falling ceiling. I flinch back but he grabs my arm anyway and pulls me toward him. I gasp again at the contact of someone else's skin on mine. When was I touched last?

"Leila, we have to go, now," the man says, guiding me down the corridor with him.

I glance back at Friadus, confused and wondering why he isn't coming with me. He is staring after me, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"Go with him, Leila," he calls to me. "You'll be safe with him."

Safe? I hardly have any other choice but to let this man guide me through the tunnels, his hand gripped tightly around my upper arm. I stumble along, taking in all of the other rooms (cells) that line the hall. I had no idea there were so many, all with the same metal door my room (cell) has. My bare feet are cold against the concrete floors, and goosebumps travel up my exposed arms as we break into a run at the sound of more footsteps.

"Shit," the man dragging me mutters, quickening his pace.

"Is anything damaged?" I hear down the corridor, coming from the way we came.

"It doesn't look like it, but check all the cells just in case," another answers.

I start to hear metal banging and more footsteps, but my focus travels back to the man leading me away. He makes a sharp right and we are facing another door, one that is not the same silver metal I'm used to seeing. He turns the knob and it opens, blinding me with a golden light. I pull out of his grasp and cover my eyes, unable to keep them open.

"Come on, we have to hurry," he says to me, placing his hand on the small of my back and leading me forward through the door.

I stumble forward, hands still covering my eyes, and let him guide me.

"You need to look where you're going, we need to go up the stairs," he says.

I pull my hands away from my face and squint in the light. He pushes me forward once again and I begin placing my feet, one after another, up a staircase of cement. I've never walked up stairs before, and I'm worried I will fall. He keeps his hand on my back and urges me onward, looking back with worried glances every few seconds.

"Almost there," he whispers.

Almost where? Where is he taking me? I hear yelling coming from the corridor we came from, and the sound of boots pounding against the floor. The pressure on my back increases as the man picks up speed, forcing me to take the stairs faster than I would like. There's another door at the top (brown, not silver) which he opens, pushing me through.

The sudden light is blinding. My eyes are closed again against the harshness of it and I let the man shove me through a small doorway. I land on a seat and curl my knees up to my chest, hiding my face and shivering. I hear a door slam, and then another.

"Drive, Leo!" The man yells, and suddenly we're lurching forward even though I haven't moved a muscle.

"What the hell happened?" A second voice asks.

"The bomb didn't give us as much time as we thought; Friadus didn't get out. But we got her," the man beside me says.

I startle at Friadus's name. What did he mean, he didn't get out?