Clan Nemesis

Chapter 5: The Break(er)

Our plan for escape is quite brilliant, actually.

Its also quite ambitious.

Ridley and I spent a couple days working out the finer details in the back of our cell since the others seemed to be in another room far away and we couldn't hear them. After having been stuck here for six days, we had memorized the guards patrols and the times they brought food (once a day, around what we guessed to be noon), so our plan was pretty solid except for what happens after we get out of the cell. 

Its almost time. We plan to start our escape at the next meal time, which should be soon, so we stand up and start doing push ups. After that we move on to jumping jacks one at a time in our cramped cell. We take turns with that for a bit, then we start running in place.

"It seems late, doesn't it seem late to you, Ridley?" I ask suspiciously. I'm not the most patient person.

"Relax Faye, it'll get here when it gets here," he tells me, obviously annoyed by my constant whining.

"But I'm tired!" I exclaim, I feel like we've been working out for hours even though its probably been 20 minutes.

"Then lets do push ups again, it's less cardio," Ridley suggests. I nod and get into position, but then I hear bone-chilling maniac laughter from right outside our cell and I jump and whip around.

The figure I see doesn't appear to be human at first, his head and shoulders contorted from laughing so hard. My heart thumps in terror as he tilts his head down and his cold, malicious eyes meet mine. If there was ever a moment when I thought I might die from some stupid stunt I pulled, it paled in comparison to this. The vibe I got from this guy was pure evil, and my animal instincts were screaming at me to run fast and far away from this guy.

He stared at me for a moment before shifting his eyes to Ridley, who had also frozen in fear. I was able to think logically now that he wasn't piercing me with his eyes, so I tried to make sense of this situation.

I had never seen this guy before in my life, thankfully, but he seemed to hate my guts. I could tell he hated me because his eyes were harder and more narrowed at me, but with Ridley, he seemed a little less intimidating. Maybe he just didn't want Ridley to pass out in fear. Although I had never seen him before, his features seemed somehow familiar to me, which was even more terrifying than him staring at me. His half-opened snicker and razor sharp, shark-like teeth seemed to remind me of someone, and his cold blue eyes seemed familiar as well. I would guess he was part of the Ralley clan considering we were in their dungeon, but he still hasn't said anything.

As if I triggered something by thinking, he spoke.

"So you two are part of the McMiye's? Don't look like much to me. You guys are supposed to be classified as extra-dangerous, considering the fact that you -" he glared at me again "- killed half of my father's squad in a matter of minutes, but I can tell your terrified. Your knees are shaking for Christ's sake!" He threw his head back and laughed again and I tried to force my knees to stand still as I stepped towards the rusted iron door.

"Not so fast, Red," he told me, his voice threateningly low. His tone made my skin crawl in terror.

"I'm not scared of you, you know. And my name isn't 'red'," I told him, trying to make myself look like I didn't want to dig a hole and hide in it.

"I know your name. I also know you are so terrified you can barely speak. After all, you are just a kid. What was that idiot thinking, taking a child onto a battlefield? You could have died, you still might." He laughed at his own words, but they made my fear dissipate slightly. It was replaced by anger.

"I am -" I began to speak.

"You are what? Speak up, kiddo, can't hear ya." The guy interrupted to taunt me.

"Shut up! I'm not a child! I'm 16 years old! And could a child really take out 10 soldiers? No, I didn't think so!" I yelled at him, taking a step forwards.

He stepped as close to me as he could, his chest was almost against the iron bars. I heard Ridley sigh behind me, which made me realize that I probably shouldn't have mentioned that, but before I could react, his hand shot out and grabbed me by the neck. Ridley gasped as my feet left the ground and I grabbed my attacker's hand, trying to get it off of me.

The guy looked at me with an expression of anger I had only seen once before. "Little girls should not shout that they are grown up if they are not even juvenile yet. You are little more than a baby; you can't defend yourself unless you have a weapon, and you don't know how to hold your tongue in the face of authority and superiority. I'm only going to say this once more, so listen carefully and head my words. You are a child, and it was a mistake for you to go to that meeting."

I started clawing at his hand, trying to get him to release me. My vision was going blurry and my head felt cloudy. He dropped me onto my butt and I could finally gasp for breath.

I sat on the dusty floor gasping for breath while Ridley rushed to me and sat me up against the wall. I could tell my neck was going to bruise, but I tried my hardest to stand up with Ridley's help.

The guy laughed again at my feeble attempt to look strong, then he spoke again with that low, antagonizing voice that seemed to chill my bones.

He said, "Oh, and just so that you know who it is who will kill you when my father gives the order, my name is Balthazar the Breaker."

So much for the plan.