My Father's House

Chapter 38

Madeline came toward me at a surprising speed. It brought me back from the terrified trance I had entered. I raised my gun with every intention of using it, but she knocked it with her hand, breaking it from my grasp.

"Did you really think you could best me? Dear, I think we should be past that now. Where are your friends?" My heart rate quickened remembering my comrades. Kael would be coming soon. Last time I had taken this long in a single room he had come to find me.

"I'm alone," I lied, knowing she wouldn't believe me. She didn't. Tilting on her back leg and drawing back her arm to gain power, she punched me hard in the face. Excruciating pain shot through my head and jaw. I reached for my face, but she had already grabbed my arm, leading me further into the room.

Don't do this, Harper. I chided myself. You don't have to play the helpless victim anymore. She was looking away from me, leading me over to a chair by the fireplace. She had kicked the door closed, so I prayed Kael would investigate further when he saw the light under the door. She pushed me hard into the chair. The wind was knocked out of me. I tried to stand up, but she yelled something in French and pushed my shoulders back down again.

"Don't play with me," she spat and all sweetness dropped from her voice, "You've made this job way harder than it was supposed to be!"

She reared back to land another blow. I anticipated her efforts and ducked. Hearing her fist hit the chair pad behind me, I used the opportunity to raise my right leg, kicking her abdomen with all the force I could muster. As she stumbled off balance, I stood. Hoping to gain the advantage, I kicked again, but she caught my leg and sent me backwards, much as Kael had in the storage room. I should have asked Kael how to avoid this defensive maneuver, but it was too late now. The back of my head hit the chair frame and the room grew foggy.

Madeline came to stand over me. She was holding her side and I hoped I had broken her ribs as she had done to Kael, but I doubted I had the strength. "You've practiced since we last met," she said with equal  surprise and amusement as the room's gray spots became more and more numerous. "I can't believe Kael bothered to teach you anything."

When I awoke blackness surrounded me. The dank smell, the cold stone under my cheek and hands reminded me so much of the nightmares I had endured over the past few days that I hardly panicked at first. But this dream was different somehow. The smell of mildew was a little too poignant, the cold stone a little too biting on my skin. Cold bumps rose on my skin as I realized I was awake.

I tried to sit up, but there were weights on my wrists, massive iron cuffs. I traced the links back, finding them securely fastened to the wall. The nightmare was real. I pulled at the bolts holding me to the walls without the slightest give in return.

"Kael?" I tried softly, at first, then screamed, "Kael!"

No one responded. I started to hyperventilate. My thoughts raced, but I knew I had to stop them. I had to think rationally even if only for a moment. Escape couldn't be impossible. I had heard stories of prisoners of war digging tunnels or chiseling away at their bonds until they finally escaped. There had to be a way out.

My eyes started to acclimate to the darkness. I began to see the stone wall beside me, the massive iron rings around my wrists. Given two years I probably couldn't break out of regular handcuffs let alone these massive irons. I walked along as far as my chains would allow me. From what I could tell, the cell was curved in both directions. Perhaps the entire room was one large circle. I shouted again, this time without reserve, "Kael! Help me!" The sound echoed in the small quarters, drifting upwards into the abyss.

I turned to logic to ease my panic. This could be the tower considering the stone, round walls. If I was in here, where was Gideon? He certainly wasn't on the other side of the dark void. Even the most delirious prisoner would have heard my cries and responded, surely.