Timestone

Chapter Ten ϟ Gift

I sit in a cramped, makeshift jail cell. The tiny cavern room with no padding quickly grows uncomfortable. I've thought about testing the strength of the bars, but Cass is standing guard outside the room. She assured me that if I so much as touch a bar, she'll shoot me in my chudding ugly face. She seemed overjoyed at the prospect. I'll bet the bars are sturdier than they appear anyway.

Even if I could escape the cell and evade Cass, where would I go? I've seen enough of Tempus to know there's no food or water anywhere. So, unless I want to run away and just die, I'd have to come crawling back to the very people I escaped from. Tempus is just a larger version of the cell that holds me captive.

It hurts to know that Vela had only been using me. As Camila marched me back to Marco at taze-point, Vela didn't say a word. She just followed in silence. Marco instructed them to lock me in here until they decide my fate. Now that they seem confident I'm Tanek's spy, I can only sit and worry about what's in store for me.

I hear footsteps approaching, so I straighten up. Camila enters with food and water. She sets it near the cell bars, then turns and exits without speaking. A few minutes after I finish eating, the lights go out. I guess I won't be getting answers until tomorrow. Despite the anxiety of my unknown future and not having a pad or blanket, it doesn't take long before I fall asleep on the rocky floor.

ϟ ϟ ϟ

Pure white energy seeps into my dreams. I float in its peacefulness. Time feels irrelevant. I don't know if I've been floating for minutes, hours, or days. After a long while, I feel a presence in my midst. A wispy outline of a woman's face appears, dissolving and reforming like smoke in the bright energy.

"Please. Go back to the cave," it instructs.

In my dreams, the voice feels less delusional. When the thoughts previously entered my mind, they shoved themselves inside. Now, however, they aren't so abrupt. They feel soft and welcoming.

"You must go back."

ϟ ϟ ϟ

I wake to a soft clanging sound and a whispered voice. "Let's go. Wake up."

I roll to my side and see Jasik's face, still swollen and bruised. He's pointing a taze at me. "It's time to go," he says.

"Where?" I ask, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. The gun aimed at my face should probably scare me more than it does—I know the pain it can cause. I'm unsure if it's the drowsiness or just plain apathy, but I don't react.

Jasik shoves the taze in the back of his pants and pulls out a restraint. "Stick your hands through the bars."

I stare at him, pretending I'm too sleepy to register his words. After a few seconds, I see him becoming more agitated, so I finally speak. "Why? What's going on?"

"Shut up and give me your hands," he demands again. He pulls the taze back out and aims it at me once more.

"Okay," I relent, rising to a sitting position. I decide to cooperate, not because of the taze, but because I want to get out of this cramped cell and at least be able to walk around for a bit.

"We're taking you back to Tanek, where you belong," Jasik offers.

"That's not where I belong." I wanted those words to come out with a little hostility, but I don't think they did.

Jasik huffs and shakes his head. "I don't know if you're playing games or if you really can't remember anything. Quite frankly, I don't care. But you obviously don't belong here, kid."

"Well, I don't—" I begin. I'm about to keep arguing, but then I realize that Jasik is right; I don't belong here.

"Give me your hands," he demands again. "Or I can shoot you, break your nose with my foot, and then tie your hands up. Your choice." He seems disappointed when I slip my hands through the bars. He wraps the restraint around my wrists and cinches it too tightly. The restraints aren't necessary; I'll follow him willingly to Tanek's compound. There might be answers for me there.