New Vellarton #1- Cross the Kingdom

Chapter 9- Burn

 It had only been a day since Caleb had been dragged out of his cell and tortured by the two Patrol guards, and it had been the longest day that Caleb had ever had to endure. The burn on his chest turned an angry shade of red, and was covered in clusters of large, painful blisters. All he could do was just lay on the floor of his cell, with his cheek pressed up against the freezing ground. The Patrol was going to kill him. It wasn't even an if at this point, it was more of a when. Every time guards passed by his cell he always thought that they were finally coming to kill him, and Caleb almost welcomed it. With Eva gone now, he had truly lost everything. Even if he could get out of the prison, where would he go? What would he do? His whole life had a series of daydreams where he lived a better life somewhere that wasn't in the slums of Farrowin.

He had always fantasized about it, but deep down he knew that even if he did wind up somewhere else, he'd hardly be any better off. He had no money, no connections, and no experience with anything other than cleaning chimneys. It didn't matter where he ended up, he'd always be a chimney sweep, or something equally degrading. He'd still struggle to keep a roof over his head, and food on his plate. He was born at the very bottom of the social ladder and had no chance of climbing up.

Maybe it was better that they killed him. They'd be putting him out of his misery at this rate. He'd be with Eva, and his mother, and his father. That was the best thing that he could ask for at this point.

Caleb's eyes welled up with tears. He still couldn't believe that she was gone. His only family that he had left and the Patrol had taken her from him. He didn't even get to say goodbye. His mind was filled with questions that he didn't know how to answer, but at the same time he couldn't stop thinking about. Why had this happened? Hadn't he suffered enough loss?

First it had been his father. Caleb was only seven when his father had left the house one night in a great hurry. "You be good for your mother now, ok Caleb?" Was the last thing that his father had said to him before rushing out the door. Caleb used to wait patiently for his father to come home. No one ever told him that he died, it was just something that Caleb had come to understand on his own.

Then it had been his mother. It had been two years ago since she became ill, but it felt like much longer. He had always hoped that she would recover, even though he knew it would be a miracle. Disease had been spreading through the slums with the ferocity of a wildfire, killing off entire families who were too poor to afford the services of a healer. When his own mother had gotten sick, Caleb still held on to the slim hope that she would live through it. It hadn't been much of a surprise when she finally did pass, but that hadn't made it any easier.

And now it had been Eva. Caleb could only hope that her death had been quick and painless, as Jack had claimed it had been. While he didn't fully trust Jack, just this once he wanted to take his word. He didn't want her to suffer. Eva didn't deserve that. She had always been there for him. She always rooted for him, and believed in him even if he didn't believe in himself. If she were here with him now, she would tell him to keep his head up, that everything would be ok.

If she were there right now, she would have told him that he shouldn't be so quick to give up. She definitely wouldn't want him to die alone, in the Patrol's prison of all places. The more Caleb thought about it, the more certain he was that he knew what he needed to do. He had to do it for Eva, if not for anyone else.

He had to get out of here.

Eva would have wanted him to go on and live out the rest of his life. Maybe he would finally get to see Galtia, or Morbane, or any one of the many places that he had fantasized about visiting. He'd probably be stuck cleaning chimneys for the rest of his life, but that was better than death at the hands of the Patrol.