The Chapters

Chapter Twenty-Four

The cloud cuts off the light, leaving all of us with the smell of burning metal and the now-apparent footsteps approaching. Even the light that should be coming from the hole I made isn't making it through, choked off by the blackness around us.

I can't feel anything in the dark. Not the wall behind me, not the floor under my feet, nothing. It's not not that I'm floating, but more like all my senses except for sound are being dulled.

And then I start picking up on it. Disguised by the sound of footsteps but slowly getting louder, is a hoarse voice. I can't tell what it's saying, or if it's saying anything at all, or where it's coming from.

"What is that?" I hear Tirto ask. It's impossible to tell which direction his voice is coming from either. It echoes around the black space, bouncing off the walls we can't see.

"Is everyone here?" I call out, listening to the echo.

"Think so," Lia's voice comes.

"Zahara?"

"I-I'm here."

"Alexien?"

I don't get an answer.

"Alexien?" I repeat.

"She was right here," Vettie calls. "I don't know where she is now."

Crap. "But you two are here?"

"I can hear you, if that's what you're asking," Vettie's cellmate says.

That's six out of seven. The footsteps are getting louder, just like the hoarse voice, though it's still impossible to hear what it's saying.

"Is there a direction to the footsteps?" I ask loudly. If we want to get out of here, we'll want to stay away from the guards. To do that, we need to know where they are.

Lia's reply comes immediately. "No way of telling."

"What's going on above us?" Tirto demands. "Good Freedom is supposed to get us out of here, aren't they?"

I feel around myself for my pack of capsules. "We can't tell where we are ourselves, nevermind them."

There's a loud, short scream and shuffling feet from Zahara. "T-there's something here."

"Something?" Vettie's voice prompts.

"Floating a-around. I felt it."

Three capsules left. "Are you sure that wasn't a vine?"

"It was wet a-and small."

Not a vine, then. This is great. We're disoriented, missing a person, and there's some sort of floating creature in here with us.

The footsteps are closer how, loud as thunder, coming from all sides. Their beat matches the beginnings of the pounding in my head.

Mica? Your writing appears right in front of me, with its glowing outline.

Wait, glowing words. Glowing means there's a light source, and if I can see it, that means I might be able to see wherever the light is. Fangirl, write more.

More? What am I supposed to write?

I don't know, anything. Write about... About what a book is.

A book? Like a paper book or an e-book? Your words start showing up faster, even though I can't see the pencil. Those are both books. And they can both be published. And the people who publish books are called publishers. The people who edit books are called editors, and the people who write the books are called authors. Is that good enough?