TAINTED ROSE

Chp 27

Ouch. That hurt.

Adolpha slowly got up and surveyed herself. Her clothes were ripped into ribbons. She was covered in cuts and scratches. She tried experimentally to move her right arm.

Darn. Well, at least it’s not my left arm.

"Ally?" she called out to the darkness. "Are you okay?"

No answer.

She stiffened. "Ally!" she called, again and again. Her cries echoed off the wall, bouncing back to her, bringing back memories of the eerie auditorium.

A trickling sound surrounding her lulled Adolpha out of her daze. Looking for the root of the sound in the pitch dark, Adolpha felt a wall hit her outstretched hands, covering them with a thin trickle of water.

Unless…

Pulling a remaining piece of francium out of her pocket, Adolpha prayed her plan would. Tossing the francium towards the wall, she ducked.

“Francium + Water =”

Bam!

Adolpha lay on the ground, exhausted as she allowed herself to drift into an uneasy slumber…

-

In her hazy dreams, Adolpha was a dark, strong wolf. Proud. Free. As she sprinted through the alpine forests of her home in the North, an eerie calm fell on her, something she had not felt since her mother had died and the long journey to the Academy had begun. Feeling the cool, winter breeze on her back, Adolpha closed her eyes, enjoying the songs of winter birds and the gentle rustling of the wind through the trees. A sudden pressure on her neck took her by surprise. The knotted bracelet around her neck tightened and squeezed her vocal cords and neck. Gasping for breath, Adolpha relived those unspeakable moments as her mother plunged off the cliff, her beautiful eyes glazed with fear and regret. “Noble Wolf… Noble Wolf…” echoed through the chilly, stifling air.

“Adol!”

Adolpha was roused by Ally’s cry. Fumbling in the pitch darkness, she felt a warm, wet hand touching her arm.

 “Sorry, I got some blood on you.” Adolpha could hear Ally’s attempt to smile in her weak apologies.

“It’s okay.” Adolpha was relieved that her plan to crack a hole in the wall had worked.

“How do we get out?” Ally murmured, weakened by the extreme fall.

For once, Adolpha was stunned. The first time in years that she was lost for plans, no way of fleeing, escape.

“I… I don’t know.” Adolpha choked out the lethal words honestly.

“What would the others do?”