The Ace of Swords

Chapter 17

I crab walk to the corner of the room. The eyes across from me gleam in the light. Her hair is matted and covered with a layer dirt. Her face has dried blood on it but it look pretty old. I can see every single rib in her body. There are rabbit bones off in the far corner. They obviously fed her something. The fact that I can see all of her bones means that they only fed her enough to keep her alive. I don't think there is an ounce of fat on her body. Her scrawny body isn't what scares me the most. The fact that I recognize her eyes is the problem. I see them everyday.

"Enya?" I whisper. It's impossible. She died the first day here. I look around and see the small window too high up to climb. The scattered bones and stale air. This is the pit I was originally put in which means she never left here. She has probably been here the entire time.

She doesn't speak to me. She makes small growling noises and paces back and forth. I don't know what's wrong with her besides the fact that she is half starved. She continues to walk in circles around me as if she doesn't know what to do. The more she walks the more agitated she becomes. There is drool dripping from her mouth but she doesn't seem to care.

"Enya, calm down. I will get you out of here. I'm not going to leave you again. I promise," I say soothingly. Her head tilts to the side in confusion. I'm not sure if she comprehends what I am saying. She looks like she is at war with herself. Her body constantly jerks. I reach my hand forward like you would with some rabid animal. Her eyes zero in on my hand and anger lights up her eyes. She charges at me. I'm not sure where she got the sudden burst of strength. The bones crack as we roll over them. I try to get on top of her to pin her down but she is determined. She lashes out at my face and throat. Her nails are shredded down to the enamel. It looks like they were bit off. Her hands are wrapped around my throat. I gag and try to flip her off but she is desperate to kill me. My hands scramble to pull her off. I reach to my side and grab a bone. I bash it against her head and she falls beside me. I gasp for breath. She tries to jump onto me again but I slam the bone against her ribs. She backs away from me. I sit in the corner and watch her. She has started pacing again, waiting for me to let my guard down. Looks like I'm not sleeping tonight.

I sit there for hours examining my bone. I think it's a leg bone because it's so big. It has teeth marks marring it. I don't even want to question where they came from. It's really old and slightly yellow. I look over at Enya. I can barely see her at this point. The light I get from the window is becoming dimmer. The sun is setting and soon I will be completely blind. I think that's what she is waiting for. She wants me vulnerable. She has adjusted to the dark, I haven't. I keep the bone in front of me ready to swipe at her. I know she won't strike until the sun goes down. I can't let her get the upper hand. There's no telling what she will do. By the hungry look on her face I might have a pretty good guess of what would happen.

"Enya we should talk about this. What about Erin. You want to see him again right? If you kill me you won't ever get out of here. I can get us both out of here you just have to trust me," the only time a see any recognition in her eyes is when I say Erin's name. She seems to calm at his name.

"You remember Erin? I'll take you to him when we get out of here. I just need you to not attack me and preferably not eat me. Do you understand me?" she gets more agitated the more I talk. I can hear her labored breathing.

She doesn't understand me. I'm not sure how to calm her down. I didn't even know her that well before she went crazy. I need Erin. He would be able to calm her down I think. I have no choice but to sit here and wait for someone to let me out. I watch Enya closely and wait for the sun to set.

When the sun finally sets I am terrified. I can't even see the bone that I am holding. I can still hear her heavy breathing. Maybe I can knock her out. At least that would buy me some time. I can tell when she is ready to attack because she stops breathing heavily. I can't hear her move at all. I stand up and brace myself. She will probably try and take me off guard. I walk along the wall. I keep my back against it so that she can't leap on top of me. I wince every time a bone cracks from beneath my feet. I'm not as stealthy as she is. I feel the hands on my shirt too late. She pulls me to the ground. Something hits my shoulder and I hear a popping sound. I scream out in pain. She must back away because she doesn't attack me again. I keep my bone in my left hand and prepare to fight her off when she comes again. I can't dwell on the pain in my shoulder. I'm sure one of the Yellows can fix it when I leave. If I leave. Before I can come up with a plan she strikes again. I swing my bone wildly and I connect with something. I hear a crunching sound followed by her yowl in pain. I lash out with my foot but only connect with air. She's faster than I expected.

"Enya please stop this. I can get you out of here. Just don't kill me," I beg.

I'm pushed to the ground. Before I can hit her again she's gone. She's playing with me. I now regret every time I played with my food. This must be some kind of universal payback.

"You left me!" Enya screeches. I'm shocked that she can even talk. I assumed she was mute.

"I had too. I couldn't help you. Trust me your brother has tortured me enough. Give me another chance. I will get you out of here when I escape. This time I can help," I keep my voice down. I don't need anyone hearing me.

"You lie! I trusted you to help me but you left me down here. How do I know you won't do the same thing?" her voice comes out as a hiss.

"I would have been killed last time. This time I'll be escaping. They can't kill something that's already gone. I'll even bring Erin with me. He hates me but I'm sure he will make an exception if you're coming with me," I stand there for what seems like forever. I think she's considering my offer.

"I'll trust you this once. If you betray me I will hunt you down. Tell Erin that I'm alive and that I love him. I'll be waiting for your return Ace and don't even think about returning without my brother," I'm relived at her response. I'm not going to die.

"What do we do now?" I ask. They will think it's suspicious if she just lets me go. I mean she's all skin and bones. They probably expect her to eat me.

"You're not going to like it," she whisper regretfully.

"I'm not letting you eat me," I state. She laughs at me or at least tries. Her voice is so hoarse that she has a hard time laughing.

"I was given orders not to eat you. They said that if I killed you I would be killed. I'm just supposed to teach you a lesson. Nothing give me more pleasure than to defy their orders. They think that because they are willing to let me live that it's some kind of reward. I'll show them," she chuckles darkly. This isn't the sweet girl I met in the beginning. She's gone. I wish I had found a way to save her.

"How often do they feed you?" I can't help but ask.

"At least once a week. Sometimes they forget and it take them two weeks to remember. They wanted me to be left down here. They needed a place to punish people like you. Being attacked by me is a good punishment or at least they seem to think so," she sighs. I can imagine her leaning against the wall but I still can't see her. For all I know she could be right in front of me.

"I'm going to get you out of here as soon as I can," I promise. I just need a solid plan first. I only have fragments of a plan and people I want to bring. I have a feeling that I'm going to be watched very closely after all that's happened.

"I need to knock you out and possibly break some of your fingers," Enya says out of the blue.

"No way. I'm not letting you knock me out. I like my fingers too. I don't want them broken and I don't completely trust you not to kill me. What's to stop you from killing me in my sleep. I will just mess up my hair a bit and pretend to be exhausted when they take me out. I can even bust my lip. That's what I will do. They should believe it. I mean who in their right mind is going to think that I actually befriended you. No offense," I stutter out. Probably shouldn't make the crazy person insulted. She already doesn't seem to like me.

"No offense taken. This is the first time I've spoken to anyone in a month. You're not the first person they've thrown down here. I was ordered to kill most of them. They've seen too many of my victims to believe that I let you go with just a few bruises. Don't worry I will knock you out fast. You won't even be conscious when I break your finger so those won't matter. I'll probably give you a few bruises and scrapes too. I'll be quick though," she doesn't speak after that. I begin to panic again. What's with everyone wanting to knock me out? I hold the bone in front of me ready to swing at her because that worked so well the first time I tried. Maybe she's just trying to scare me? That must be it. She is crazy after all.

"Nice one Enya. You won't really hurt me. It's all just one big joke to get a kick out of me," I laugh awkwardly.

I hear shuffling from across the room and then there is a sudden pain in the back of my head. I drop my weapon and fall to the ground clutching my head. She hits me two more times before everything finally goes black.