I quickly drew a rapier of my own, something the revolutionaries had neglected to take from me. I parried the guard's weapon as I unsheathed mine, then proceeded to riposte, in which the guard parried me in turn. We continued this for some time, it was almost like a waltz, or like a dance. We were up to our eighth intention before I disengaged her rapier and stabbed her weapon hand, so that she gave a small shout of pain and dropped the blade. I pointed my weapon at over her heart, touching her skin but not penetrating it. "Into the cell. Now!" I barked, and she slowly inched into the cell behind her. I snatched the keys that hung on a ring on her belt, then slammed the door closed behind her and locked it with her own key.
"Not bad." The redhead girl commented, nodding to herself. "Not bad at all."
I rolled my eyes, still not happy about the fact that she was tagging along. I kept walking, knowing exactly where we were headed. The corridors got darker and darker, and soon they were lit with torches rather then with Edison bulbs. There were faint moans coming from these cells, as well as whispers and sobs.
"Where are we?" the redhead whispered.
"This is the ward." I muttered.
"The ward? As in... wait... so this is where all the patients who used to live in the abandoned asylum went?"
"Duh."
She stayed quite, and out of the corner of my eye I could see her peering curiously into each cell. I kept looking straight ahead, determined to get to my destination. Almost out, almost there, then I can move somewhere far, far away and try to-- "MOONDIAN!" the shrill scream cut through my thoughts.
I whipped around to find a grimy hand pulling against her hair, trying to bash her head against the cell bars.
"Jakeb, let go of her, NOW!" I shouted, walking over and glaring at the set of eyes peering at me behind the bars. He let go, and the redhead stumbled as far as she could from the cell without bumping into the other cell.
"You know him?!" She shouted. I only nodded in response. I knew everyone in the ward, as they were the only people besides my uncle that I was allowed to talk too. I continued down the corridor in silence and the girl followed me, silent and wary.
I stopped at the cell on the corner and opened it with one of the stolen keys, walking inside. A cheery voice came from the cell beside it, "Hey Ember!"
"Hi Drek." I grumbled, not wanting another person to tag along.
As if reading my thoughts, his next question was: "Can I come too?"
"I don't know, can you?" I snapped, wincing a bit when I realized how much I sounded like Viktor.
"I can if ya free me!" He grinned.
I groaned and threw him the keyring, then turned to a small door hidden in between the cold stones of the cell. I yanked the knob, only to find it locked, and groaned louder. I waited impatiently as Drek skipped into the cell and handed me back the keys.
I shoved them into the lock, as I heard Drek tell the redhead. "I'm Drek, by the way! I'm here because they claim I'm mad… which is odd, considering I'm usually in a good mood." He shrugged, and out of the corner of my eye I saw him hold out his hand for a shake.
The redhead shook it, smiling a bit as she said, "I'm Aspen. I was framed for murder."
"Well did you? Murder, I mean."
"'Course not! Considered it yeah, threatened it definitely, but I'd never ACTUALLY do it."
Drek nodded, and I opened the door with a click. The heavy three inch metal door opened with a loud creak, revealing stone steps behind it. I trekked up them, praying that the two tag-along gits wouldn't follow. To my dismay, they did. I sighed. "Where're we going?" Aspen called after me.
"To my room." I called back
"What? So yer room's connected to the mental ward."
"Yes." I said shortly, then added before she could ask,"my uncle would ground me to the ward cell, one of his many punishments. I belonged there, anyway."
"No you--"
"We're here." I interrupted, inserting the key into another door's lock.
"Why don't you use magic?" Aspen asked as I fiddled with it.
"It's resilient against my magic, by Viktor's own device." I explained, the lock clicking open. She nodded, and I walked in. Drek skipped after me, and Aspen brought up the rear. I made my way to the door, Drek trailing behind, but Aspen skidded to a stop. "What?" I asked, looking back at her.
"Whoa." She muttered. "That's a LOT of black."
A/N I made the self-appointed deadline! B E P R O U D XD
YOU ARE READING
Viva La Vida
Fantasy**Content and trigger warning: So I turned on the "mature content" thingy for a reason... this story is dark, violent, and can get a bit graphic at times. It contains torture, fighting (with weapons), and murder, all of which may possibly get a liii...
