Someone is on the stairs. Apollo squints at the top of the stairs. Then, to his surprise, a slender figure appears at the top of the stairs. It's Lilly. She decends the stairs cautiously, with a look of fear on her face.
"Hello? Apollo, is that you?"
"Lilly!" Apollo exhales, but realizes he probably sounded too happy to see her. He coughs. "I need to tell you something." Apollo shuffles to the door and Lilly's eyes widen as she watches Apollo. Apollo remembers that she can't see him.
"Lilly, your family is in danger! Armingham is going to poison your family tonight!"
Lilly's jaw has dropped nearly off her face and she is staring at Apollo like he is speaking a different language, but she nods and gulps.
"What - what are you talking about? How do you know?"
"He told me! Just before he locked me up in here. He said he wanted me to hear your screams. You need to get your family out of here!"
Lilly nods vigorously and trips as she backs away. She goes partway up the stairs, before stopping and coming back down. "Do you need to get the chains off?"
"Yeah, that would be-" Wait, she can see me? Apollo stares at Lilly, who looks directly back into his eyes. "Wait, you can see me?"
"Yes yes, do you want your chains off or not?"
"Yeah." Apollo answers, still in disbelief.
Lilly smiles at him and says with her chin up, "You're cuter than I thought you'd be." Then she whips her hair around and runs up the stairs.
About thirty minutes pass and still Lilly hasn't appeared. Apollo curses.
If Armingham did something to her...
Lilly's silhouette glides into the stair way and quickly down the stairs. She maneuvers carefully through the hole in the door, a long ax over her shoulder. She is panting as she slides the ax off her shoulder onto the ground and the hem of her green, flowing dress is dirty.
"Here. I had to-" she breathes for a second, "go to the garden shed-" still gasping for breath, "to get something to break the chains. I'm not sure if I'm strong enough to break the chains." Lilly offers the end of the ax to Apollo, then takes it back as she examines Apollo's condition.
Lilly hefts the ax onto her shoulder then swings it haphazardly into the chains, the flat side of the blade hitting the chains with a loud clang.
"Here. I can do it." Apollo reaches his hands out and Lilly gives him the end. With both wrists chained together, Apollo grips the wooden handle, lifts it onto his shoulder, and slams it into the chains. He does it over and over again, with Lilly standing off to the side, looking anxiously up the stairway.
Apollo finally sees a chink in the chain and drops the ax. He bends over and twists the chain link through the gap. He now only has three feet of chain dangling from his wrists.
"Okay. Let's go." Apollo says, and follows Lilly out of the hole in the door.
YOU ARE READING
Dead End
ActionApollo is glad to say that he came back from the dead. Twice. He isn't too happy about nearly dying twice, but being a ghost wasn't so bad. It all begins one cloudless, summer day... He is rock climbing, as usual, and a challenge against an arch ene...
