The Cunningham Saga: The Fate of Yesterday

Chapter 17- An Army Overnight

Elizabeth

I feel water drip onto the back of my hand as I walk swiftly through the tunnel, trying not to trip. The old tunnel reeks of stale water and rusted metal. I turn down one way and realize it's a dead end so I go back to the intersection. I grab the book and open it to the map to make sure I'm going the right way this time. I look down at my black flats that are now covered in mud from the water and dirt on the tunnel floor. The deeper I get into the tunnel the darker it gets but luckily I had stolen a reading lantern from the library. Just when I thought I would be in the dark forever, I began to see a faint light in the distance. The shrieks of prisoners yelling in pain cause a rush of sadness and fear to wash over me. I start to walk slower as the adrenaline leaves my body from the sense of adventure I had felt before. I creep behind an archway leading to the dungeon to not draw attention to myself. I walk down a poorly lit hallway with cells filled with prisoners. The rusty, unkempt cells are filled with old men with long gray beards and women who have a witch-like appearance. I shudder as I feel the cold, damp air and hear the moaning of the tortured people. I try to remain focused and begin whispering.

"Alexander, where are you?"

An old man in a cell began laughing psychotically and I sped up. All of a sudden down the final hallway I see Alexander. My heart drops as I see the prince shackled to the wall passed out with his head drooping down. I hold back my tears as I begin to run towards Alexander at the end of the corridor. Then, before I can reach him, a guard walks towards him from the corner of the room. He looks down at Alexander, raises his hand, and punches him across his face, his knuckles ramming into Alexander's nose. I gasp with my hands covering my mouth.

"Wake up!" The guard yells at Alexander.

Alexander's head begins to lift as he winces in pain. I began to panic, knowing a decision had to be made and quick. I walked quietly up behind the guard and smiled at Alexander. He looked up at me in surprise.

"Elizabeth?" He mumbled

All of a sudden, the guard turns around and I slam the glass lamp over his head as it shatters into a million pieces. The guard passes out, falling lifelessly to the ground. I look at Alexander who's staring at me in surprise. I ran over to him trying to take the shackles off his wrists. I look down and see a keyhole.

"Um, wait right here!" I yell

"I'm not going anywhere," He says through a pitiful laugh.

I smile at him as I walk over to the unconscious guard. I look down at the guard and see a key ring attached to his pocket. I detach the keyring and run back to Alexander. The lock was stubborn and rusted over. Not only did I have to find the key I had to force each one into the keyhole due to its current state. Anxiety rushed through me as I feared a guard could come any minute. After struggling to get each key to work I finally found the right one and uncuffed Alexander from the shackles. He fell in weakness but I caught him before he could hit the floor. I sit with him for a bit while he gains the confidence to get back up.

"I wanted to help you. I tried to follow them here...." He mutters

"I know," I say as I try to help him up.

To my surprise, Alexander starts taking the uniform off of the guard and putting it on himself.

"What are you doing?" I ask concerned

"I'll need a disguise if I don't want to end up back in here." He responds proud of himself.

I put his arm around my shoulder as we stumble back out of the dungeon and into the passageway.

Amelia

The crowd became completely silent after I spoke and their stares burned into me making me feel hot. My palms became sweaty as I rubbed them together trying to gather the courage to speak once more.