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TWELVE

I'm walking, tramping over grass and flowers, my dress billowing around me, and my hat flopping in front of my eyes so I have to swat it out of the way. In the distance I see a tall, lean boy with a sincere smile that reaches up to his bright hazel eyes. Black hair is flapping gently in the wind, his hand is outstretched to me, beckoning me, and a small scruffy dog is prancing happily around his feet. Despite myself, I reach out my hand and feel the warmth of his between my fingers. He pulls me close. We walk along a dirt path, talking, smiling. I feel his happiness radiating off him like sunbeams. I want to feel his hand in mine and never let go......

I woke up and felt my heart thundering. I was hyperventilating and my vision was blurry from sleep. I was hot, overheating from a nightmare that felt so much like a dream. But dreams weren't supposed to make me react like that when I woke up. Such beautiful, peaceful images weren't supposed to bring you back to reality with such fear. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, just like the one in the dream......

Rubbing my eyes, my heartbeat had somewhat gone back to normal. I realised that I was still in a dusty room - more like a cell - with Lawrie about a metre away from me. When I saw him looking at me, I couldn't help but blush and look away. I stood up shakily and dusted off what was left of sleep from my dress.

The lace was slightly grey, and I realised that the beautifully delicate tiara that was perched atop my golden curls when I first wore it had fallen off and was in the corner, looking nothing like it did on the night of the ball.

I was sure many days had passed since we were dumped in the room. I slept most of the time - there was nothing to do in a small empty room with a boy who snaps at anything I say. I haven't really bothered to talk to Lawrie because every time he felt I was, he fixed me a cold glare that just screamed shut up. Every time I slept, the same dream appeared before I woke up. I felt happy, light, carefree and a warm hand in mine, and then I woke up in a cold sweat and with a racing heart beat. It scared me every time.

There was no food either. No water. I was weak, my stomach growling with hunger. It felt like I haven't eaten in days, and drank in weeks. But you can only survive without water for a few days, right? It mustn't have been more than three, but they blended into each other like one continuous real-life nightmare.

'We have to get out of here.' Lawrie broke through my hazy train of thought. 'You okay?' I could feel my eyes were wide with fear, my fists clutched together.

I glanced at him again and saw nothing of the fragile boy that was by my side a few nights ago. Gone were the eyes glistening with tears that have been waiting to come out for years. Gone were the soft words and the gentle voice. In seven words, Lawrie was back to his usual self - face unreadable and voice more like a growl.

'Yeah, yeah. Just a weird dream. What's going to happen to us if we stay here?' I asked. 'You obviously didn't like the fact that we were in this room...... What happened?' It was the longest we've talked since that night, more dream-hazy than anything else.

'Well, wouldn't you be hacked off if you were trapped in a metre by metre room with no way out?' Lawrie snapped, pacing around the small space.

'First of all, of course I'm annoyed that we're here. I have things to do too, you know. I don't need any more delay to get to the hunters. I need to get home. Secondly, it's more than a metre. More like two or three.' I was fuming, my panic about the dream replaced my anger. He was pulling on that mask again, appearing tough and unphased. 'Thirdly, will you stop pacing? You'll go smack into that wall before we find a way out if you don't calm down. And anyway, can't we just wait until someone brings us food and then run past them?' It was a stupid thing to say. Of course no one was going to bring us food. We were stuck in that room for who knows how long, and not a single crumb. I should've known better.

Lawrie's face darkened. 'You don't get it. I was here before, with my - my younger sister. They don't bring around food, if you haven't noticed. They don't 'get back to you tomorrow' or so much as walk in the direction of this door. If you get placed here, you are most likely going to be forgotten about and left to starve.'

I was left shocked, my mouth open in a perfect, surprised 'o', my eyes wide. We were in a lot more trouble than I thought. We were really trapped. I kind of knew it all along, but to hear Lawrie say it was so much more frightening. It was like our fate was certain. There wasn't any hope of someone bringing us food or letting us out. We were done for.

'I - I'm so sorry. But how did you get out last time?'

'I just did. I can't do it again...' Lawrie snapped, and I knew he was in mental pain. He must have been remembering memories that he had tried hard to lock and forget. I just provided the key and let them loose.

'Right. Sorry.' I said rather awkwardly, fiddling with my skirt. I glanced upwards, to the ceiling. It was relatively high. I noticed it a few times in between sleep. Even if I jumped, I wouldn't have come close to scraping it. From the corner of my eye Lawrie was also looking up, for a vent or a hatch or something. 'Do you recon there's a way out there?' I asked.

'Might be.' Lawrie answered after a while.

Both of us kept looking. The ceiling was a dark grey, scary and oppressing. But I still saw something I never noticed before. It could have just been a crack, but it was worth a try.

'Lawrie, look. Do you see that?' I asked, pointing up to the crack. He squinted.

'Yeah. It looks like a crack though. But lets check it out just in case. Here,' Lawrie cupped his hands and knelt down on one knee. I blushed a bit. 'Get on my shoulders. You should see if it's more than just a crack from up there.'

Hesitantly, I placed my foot in Lawrie's hands, and he steadily lifted me up as I used the wall for balance. He was stronger that he looked, and his arm seemed better. As I rose towards the ceiling, the crack was more defined, easier to look at. I followed it, tracing it with my free hand, and sure enough, it went right around in a fairly square outline. I prodded it over and over, and the crack grew larger, until I lifted a whole part of the ceiling. Sure enough, through the hole I could see something like a passage way. Maybe we could escape through there?

Out of excitement, I jumped down from Lawrie's hands and hugged him with joy. I squealed, and jumped with excitement. There was a way out. 'We found a way out! We can get out of here!'

Lawrie sheepishly peeled my hands off of him, but I could tell he was excited. 'That's great. How did I not notice it last time?' He shook his head quickly, as if shaking away the bad memories. 'Come on. I'll boost you up again and you can climb up there. Then help me up.'

I got back up onto Lawrie's hands, and then up to the hole in the ceiling. I grasped both sides, hoping they didn't break off. Lawrie gently pushed me up higher, and I eventually pushed myself up and over the edge with great effort. Indeed, there was a tunnel going both ways. 'Lawrie,' I looked down to him, smiling broadly. 'We can get out of here.'

Lawrie wasn't smiling, but I could see his eyes shone brightly, like the boy's in every one of my dreams lately.