Blood and Thunder

Chapter 33 - Light

The door creaked shut slowly, each second passing felt more like minutes to Alexander. Patience wasn't his strong point and Jathan could tell. He was gently tapping on his leg, then shuffling around in the cupboard. Jathan kept getting pushed nearly out the door as Alexander fidgeted uncontrollably, it wasn't exactly a huge space. Jathan tried to tell him that it was better to wait, better to see if he was coming back. If they get caught now it was going to be all over for them and Rosia, but he knew that nothing he said could stop Alexander, he was just getting too anxious. Which Jathan understood, this was something that would make anyone anxious.

Jathan counted and once he was sure five minutes or so had passed he slowly pushed the cupboard door open and stepped into the light. He started to sneeze and wheeze. He wiped his hands on his trousers leaving streaks of dust down his legs. He stood just outside of the cupboard door, hands on his hips. Taking a moment he regained his breath, the cupboard was dusty and it had been a struggle to keep his breathing normal, however Alexander didn't seem to have this issue. Or if he did, he wasn't showing it. Alexander ran towards Rosia's cell and attempted to pull the door open.

A little face appeared at the window, and cautious smile appeared on her face as she looked at the boy in front of her

"Alexander?!" She questioned quietly, unsure if she was dreaming or not.

A broad smile grew across her brother's face. She tried to say something in response but her words got trapped in her throat as she held back tears. She had tried to sleep as much as she could so she could dream of the day they were reunited, but instead of the happy cheerful rescue she had imagined, Alexander looked a mess. Hair stuck to his red face with his own sweat and dirt. His clothes were borrowed from others at the camp, something they did as they outgrew the clothes. Alexander had grown since they were last together, his skin was rougher, and she couldn't tell if his skin was tanned, or if it was just dirty.

Her eyes caught his face, it wasn't the same soft and caring face she left. His lip had a red slit down it, his eyes had faint black circles outlining them, his face was slimmer, and he looked drained. Physically and mentally.

"Jathan, it's locked." Alexander said as he pulled on the door repeatedly.

"No, oh wow I thought Sykes would leave it open. Good thing I still have these keys." Jathan said in a funny voice, the dust had affected his speech.

Jathan pulled the keys from his pocket and waved them at the siblings. The previous tense atmosphere had been replaced with a much lighter one. A sense of achievement spread across the room, and so had a sense of humour.

Jathan worked quickly at eliminating keys. After a few tries, the locked clicked and Rosia ran out into her brother's arms. Alexander wrapped his arms around his sister, making a promise to himself to never let anything like this happen again.

"Alexander, your arms" she said concerningly. Fresh bruising was starting to cover his skin from his encounter with Sykes. It mixed with the already fading bruises he had gained from his time with the group, some from fights in the city with officers, some from play fighting with the others at the camp, and most from plain stupidity and walking into the same tree over and over.

"It's okay, they don't hurt. Come on let's get you out of here."

Alexander tried to stay calm but his motions were running high. He just wanted to hold onto Rosia and not let her out of his sight. He wanted to shield her, but they weren't out of danger yet. They still had to find a way out. Something that him and Jathan had struggled themselves.

"Oh wait" Alexander said happily, "Shut your eyes Rosia."

Alexander ran back to the cupboard and then back to Rosia before telling her to open them again.

"Teddy's a bit dirty I'm afraid."

"You found her, thank you so much." She held the teddy close to her.

Rosia hugged Alexander and then her teddy again. She seemed a little less anxious now she held her teddy in her arms again. Alexander wondered how long it had been since she had seen it.

"Is your bag here with you?"

She nodded and pointed to the corner.

"They searched it and when they saw it only contained clothing and food, they gave it back to me. The man told me it would be better to have some of my stuff with me."

Alexander bit down on his tongue, trying to forget what he saw earlier. Trying to forget what he did to him and if he had been like that with Rosia, what would he had done then? But he was glad he was kind to his sister.

"Can I request something please?" Questioned Rosia gently, while pointing to the cell next to hers, the one with the sickly looking boy. " His name is Tommy and he has a family that is going to miss him so much."

The boys looked at each other, unable to know what to do.

"The more people we have..."

Jathan stopped Alexander there, he knew what he was going to say. But Jathan couldn't just leave him here, he might not make it to see next month. Maybe they could save him.

"No, she is right, all of these in here have family. We can try."

Before Alexander could open his mouth Jathan was unlocking the door. The door swung open with the keys still in the lock. The little six year old slowly wandered from his cell and joined them in the hallway. His eyes were dark and his hair messy, he was small for his age and very timid.

"Hello Tom, have you got a bag too?" Alexander asked quietly, he was scared of frightening the poor boy even more than he probably was already.

The boy nodded and walked back into the cell, grabbed something and dragged it back to where the group was standing. He stood with a patched up green backpack next to him. Jathan touched the strap the boy was holding onto and smiled. With his dark tired eyes, the boy watched Jathan for a moment before dropping the strap. Jathan smiled kindly back and placed the bag on his own back and readjusted the straps.

Tom stood close to Rosia, these two probably had many hours of talking and comforting each other, slowly developing a bond. Standing next to Rosia, he held out his hand, she smiled and gripped the cold slender hand gently but firmly.

Alexander doubted the boy could make it out of here on his own, he looked too tired and weak. His bones were sticking out, giving the illusion that he was going to snap if someone touched him too hard. Alexander offered to carry the young boy on his back.

"Now where do we go?" Alexander said as he adjusted Tommy's position on his back.

"Do you feel that?" Jathan smiled.

"No?"

"A draft." Rosia laughed.

Jathan pointed towards a corridor. He took Rosia's hand and together the four of them moved towards the draft. Light started to seep through the darkness. Soon they could see each other clearly. Alexander felt a breeze on his face and he smiled. He had never been so thankful for something so simple before.

"Where are we going when we get out of here?" Rosia asked.

"I have some friends that are very keen to meet you." Alexander smiled to Rosia. "Everything is going to be okay."

They came to a door and stopped. Alexander could feel the breeze coming from behind it.

"We left the keys back at the cells. What do we do now?"

"We don't need keys. Step back." Everyone moved back as Jathan stared at the door. "No wooden door is stopping us."

He kicked the door, not caring how much noise he made. He kicked by the lock, he knew it was the weakest part. He hammered the door with his heel, using all of the force that he could. The door swung open and Jathan stepped through.

The four of them ventured out from the hidden hell below the station that stood so tall above the city.

Alexander looked up at the morning sky and then to his sister and friend. They were alive, they had made it. The sun hit the four children, it was the start of a fresh day. Alexander had no idea what he was going to do now, but he had his sister and friend beside him. He didn't mind where life took him, as long as they were together.