INTO THE ASHES

7. Night at the dungeon

Back in the dungeon, Zelda groaned in pain as she tried to free herself. Both of her wrists were tied together and chained to the wall above her head. The metal chains were usually placed in such a way that they could be adjusted and the person could sit comfortably and even move around the cell.

Zelda, however, could not move around as the chain were fixed such that she had to stick close to the wall. She sat in her place with difficulty and the metal bit into her skin as she had tried pulling at the chains.

Her abdomen ached painfully every time she inhaled. She wanted to scream in annoyance but that would be just foolish. Zelda was sure her body would be covered in bruises by now. She had hurled herself forward without thinking while trying to save John and was unable to brace that fall. Scratches covered her arms and stomach due to being dragged on the rough surface of the cliff while she tried to hold on to the boy. And later, she had received multiple kicks to her stomach. Zelda hoped that her ribs were not broken as it was painful for her to breathe.

The thought of John brought a bitter taste in her mouth. She had tried to save him, asked him not to get drunk. But he had gone all out and chugged the whole damned bottle as if it were his last. Well, it was his last.

He was dead. Now, she was going to die because of him. She would've felt bad for him, guilty even but she didn't at this moment. She was in this mess because of him! Zelda gritted her teeth in frustration and pulled at the cuffs.

Only one guard stood outside her cell as the rest of them were attending the funeral. Zelda had tried gaining his attention, she wanted to know what was going on outside so that she could calculate her odds at surviving this night. To her, the odds seemed very low. James was not going to release her... no, he was going to kill her.

Seeing the guard not acknowledge her, Zelda stared at the walls of the cell. She was exhausted and in pain. What went wrong? The thought came to her mind. The day had began quite normally, everything was fine. But now, she was a convicted murderer. Had the ministers not arrived at that moment she would've been dead.

Wait-, a sudden realisation hit her and her eyes widened in shock. The scene replayed in front of her eyes when she had attacked the Alpha. The sword had stopped in mid-air just an inch away from his neck. Lucky bastard. There was no one standing near him at that moment.

A pained moan left her lips when she took a sudden intake of breath, but she took no notice of it. Her mind raced over the events that took place just an hour ago. She could not wrap her head around that little detail, what exactly had stopped the sword in the air. Her attack had went down the drain was all she could think of. If only that didn't happen, James would've been resting along with his son right now. But instead he was probably waiting to put her in her grave.

Caught up in her thoughts, Zelda failed to hear the footsteps coming in the direction of her cell. A moment later, she came back to present when she heard people talking. She looked up to see the guard who was standing there until now, bow his head and leave.

The man who had just now arrived stepped forward to face Zelda with a pleasant looking smile. But his eyes held a totally different expression, she noted. One that made her skin crawl just by looking at him.

"Well, well. I must say I'm quite liking this view." The man said in a cheerful voice as his eyes raked over her body like she was a piece of meat.

Zelda frowned hearing this, she felt like she had seen him somewhere. Her eyes studied him carefully and it took a moment for her realise that he was one of James' close friends.

The man took out a key from his pocket and stepped forward to unlock the door. Zelda felt her heart starting to beat faster as he pushed the key into the lock, "What are you doing?" She questioned. The man did not bother to answer her, stepped inside the cell and locked it behind him. This action made the girl even more alarmed than she already was and she scooted closer to the wall, away from him.