As Hollow As A Mannequins Grin (Keveridge)

22 - Or Will You Just Give In And Die?

I hadn't slept, and I didn't know what time it was.

Whether it was late or early in the morning.

Either way, I wanted out of here before they came in to get me. The clock was ticking on how long I had left. Throughout the night I'd been working at where the window had once been, pulling away the wood and bricks, trying to get through to the outside world but it was taking a long time... and I wasn't sure how long it'd been or how long I had left.

Bits of brick and wood littered round my feet as I used another part I'd pulled off to scrape away at the small cracks around. There was still no sign of any light getting through, but I was almost hanging out the small balcony that I'd made, so the outside of this shell had to be close by now.

I had friends and allies on the outside, not only Luke and the others who I hoped were at least trying to find me, but those who I spoke to almost daily from walking through the town. They would surely help me... but I wasn't sure who I could trust any more, who The Cardinal had managed to get his claws into.

Footsteps sounding down the corridor froze me in my tracks - they were the first ones since the bandits leaving me at night. I took that as a sign that it was morning and they were coming to have me killed. I took one last final scrape at the wall trying to even catch a glimpse of sunlight before I was taken away and dragged down the corridor one last time. But I never made it that far.

The door unlocked and burst open, the same two bandits that had taken me here standing there, massive grins plastered on their faces.

"Today's the day, Princey," the first one laughed as he stepped into the room.

"Bet you're looking forward to this. To see the people you care about so much, be the ones to put you down like the dog you are," the second one chipped in as they both walked towards me.

I had two options: let them take me without struggling, or take my chance and run between the two of them and see how far I could get before they took me out. The second one seemed the better option and I darted forward.

They must have expected it as the first one lifted his foot to kick me in the stomach, while the second grabbed my arms and pulled them behind my back. I continued to fight against them until something came crashing down on the back of my head and I broke down onto my knees.

"Not so fast," one of them snarled as he grabbed a fistful of my hair and tugged my head back. "You should remember who's in charge here and who you answer to."

"I answer to no one," I spat, snarling up at him.

"Not for much longer you don't," the second one laughed as the black bag was yanked back over my head and I lost any chance of ever seeing the light again.

* * *

I was sitting at the window when the sun came up, watching it cast shadows across the roofs of Grandomina the towers of the castle.

I heard the two Luke's shuffling awake behind me with groans. They normally wouldn't have been disturbed by the sun, if I hadn't left the curtains wide open so it shone right in their faces much to their dismay.

The smaller Luke sat up with a yawn and sleepily made his way into the bathroom where I heard the taps running and the occasional splash of water, but I was more concerned about getting the bigger Luke up and moving.

"Luke, get up," I said, nudging his side with my foot as gently as I could, which was only met with a grumble as he pulled his blanket up tighter round his head. "God dammit Illingworth, get up or I will dump cold water over you."

His head peeked out and he glared at me from under the blanket which I brushed off with a roll of my eyes. "We're going to get Laurence in less than an hour, so get up, get dressed and let's go."