Requiem Run

Chapter 7

Sleeping was no longer an option. I looked at that map for the rest of the day, well into the night. I was fairly certain that I had an idea of how the island worked, what was where, and maybe one or two locations where the temples were, but I wanted to be certain. By the time I finally passed out, I think I was woken up again two hours later by the elf maid, Tarja.

"Today is the big day." said Tarja.

"The first day of the end of my life, yeah, I know the drill," I said.

"I am to prepare you." said Tarja. I could have continued to be snarky about how she was treating me like a turkey and not a human being, but I held my tongue as Tarja led me into the bathroom, allowed me to bathe alone, then dressed me in a short white dress, black cinching belt, knee-high white socks, and knee-high brown boots. I, of course, made it a point to put my dad's jacket on over the dress as soon as I got the chance. Before I went to meet Tarja in the hallway, I grabbed the map and placed it in my dress and slipped the amulet under the dress where it wouldn't be seen.

Tarja sighed when she saw my jacket, but she made no attempt to stop me from wearing it and just led me out into the hallway, through the twists and turns, until we made it out the castle towards a carriage, where the other girls were waiting.

"Tarja," I said, "Thank you for all your help. I know it's just your job, but I wanted you to know that I appreciate you."

"Thank you, Ms. Newman." said Tarja.

"Riley."

"What?" Tarja glanced back at me.

"Call me by my first name. You've earned it."

"Okay... Riley." Tarja turned back to face the carriage, and walked away when the guard grabbed my arm and forced me into the back, next to Katie. I didn't get a chance to see her face again.

"Hey Riley, how you holdin' out?" Katie asked.

"Shut up, maiden!" said one of the guards as they closed the carriage doors. Katie flipped him off before the doors fully closed.

"I've been holding on," I whispered, "I think we might have a chance, but I'll tell you when no one else is listening."

Katie nodded as the carriage started moving, buckling on the dirt road and shaking all of us around in the carriage. The girls across from us, the ones who couldn't speak english, were crying, but making no sound as they did so, which made me wonder what these people had done to them to keep them so quiet, especially after the mute spell they put on us on day one had ended.

"Well, this sucks." said Katie, out loud to no one in particular. The rest of us turned to look at her, and she gave an exaggerated shrug in response. I smiled, but I didn't feel much like laughing, considering we were being taken to our deaths.

The ride went on in silence. Katie stared down at the floor after making her crack and didn't say anything else. The russian girl with dark hair, Emma something, stared stoically at the wall on the opposite side of the carriage, barely moving, and the other two girls were just sobbing to the floor, tears dripping and splashing down on the floor. I was just thinking, of a lot of things.

I had a map hidden in my dress that could help all of these girls escape with me, but three of them couldn't speak english, so communication was out of the question. I would have to figure that out before we all got killed.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I completely failed to recognize the carriage stopping until the doors were roughly ripped open and the guards started dragging us out and towards the big wooden stage that was in the middle of the arena, where we all stood in a line as people started filing into the arena, jeering and booing us.