The Captive

Chapter 5: Jailbreak

Vasilisa's POV

It had been two days.

I knew because when I woke up, and the tiny window in my cell was glowing from sunlight.

And then, the sun vanished after many hours. This repeated again.

I was going crazy in here. All I could do was sleep, get up and stretch my legs, and piss in the corner.

The piss was starting to stink, but had to be done. 

I hadn't gotten food, water, or even a visit. It was just solitude.

When I woke again to find that another night had passed and the third dawn of my imprisonment was arriving, I started looking for ways out. 

My first theory: The window.

I looked up and sighed, it had bars on it and was too small for me to climb through anyway, not to mention too far up.

Theory #2: Squeezing through the bars of the cell.

Possible, but my head would probably get stuck and then I'd be as good as dead. 

I stood, shoving my hands in the pockets of my coat angrily and froze when I felt a pin. I smiled and almost yipped with glee.

Theory #3: Pick the lock and take off galloping into the sunrise after stealing a horse...and somehow stealing my mother and sister without being seen. That wasn't going to happen. It almost soured my good mood, but I powered through and took the pin out.

I knelt down beside the door and reached through the bars, picking it up and examining it. I stuck the pin in and felt around. It had three tumblers. I could do this. The middle was the longest. I pulled the pin out and bent it appropriately before sticking it back in and jimmying it. I held a faint click and laughed.

"Yes!" I whispered victoriously before twisting the pin. The lock fell open and I maneuvered it out of the hold and pushed the cell door open.

I'm free!

My stomach growled loudly, cramping for the thousandth time.

I'm free and hungry!

I pulled my cap off before running a hand through my dirty, oily hair. What was I going to do once I got out?

I sighed. If I'm not going to go back into the cage and lock myself up again, I might as well go get something to eat, eh?

As I snuck out of the building, I was relieved to find that the streets were relatively abandoned.

There was only the odd man carrying buckets of water here, or woman carrying a basket of bread there.

They were humans; they would not betray me. I slouched over walking through the streets, glancing around religiously to make sure no beasts were lurking yet. I found my house and entered gratefully. I almost broke down in tears at the familiarity.

I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a round loaf of bread. I took a large bite out of it and groaned. This was heaven in my mouth. 

Shuffling into the back room I found my father's clothes.

I took the liberty of washing off and changing my bindings before redressing into clean clothes. My father's clothes were a bit big on me, but I only needed his shirt. I had my own bottoms. A burgundy shirt tucked into brown trousers, boots, and the leather jacket I'd taken as mine even before my father passed. He always teased me about liking his coat better than my own. It was the truth so it didn't offend me.

I tugged the cap back on my clean hair. I liked it short. When it was long, my thick hair was heavy and bothersome, always whipping about and getting in my face. It was hot during the summer as well. Mother would never let me cut it though, so I'd braid it and be done with my complaining.