Aline

Chapter 5

He let go of her and skulked away into the only place where the little light from the window aimed.

Both of their hearts were beating, fast and loud like when you look at a windmill. How free the air is that blows it and how one would wish to be free like that.

The seventeen-year-olds were frightened, the fear evident on their faces. The two of them didn't know what was going to happen next or what the sound of thumping steps meant. Afraid as one could ever be, James had a slight, a guess at what they meant. He didn't like it though everyone else had a long time to get familiar with their surroundings. Aline had only been here for what he could measure a couple of weeks. They're coming for her blood. He wasn't sure but he was pretty positive about it.

The steps became louder and the image of a man came to view. It was one of those men who wear anything to make them seem rich even though it was incontestable that he wasn't as rich as he tried to appear.

James let out a scowl unbeknownst to him. The man appeared at their cell door, a wide smirk filled his face and a cigar tilted upwards exited his mouth.

"C'mon boy," the man said. He had a hoarse gruff voice that was horribly unpleasant to the ears.

James stared back at him defyingly. Knowing that he was only trying to bait Aline after what happened to him last time, where he came back bloody and bruised.

"You're only making this tuffer on ye self and the girl." He pointed to Aline in the corner who perked up at being mentioned.

Dang, it. This is the opposite of what James wanted to happen.

"Get ower here den girl. If he not goen then ye are." He spoke in words that were barely able to be distinguished from one another. With an accent that certainly said that he wasn't from around here.
"I'll go," Aline said softly as she passed James on her way out of the cell.

"No." James's voice was authoritative like he was a commander in an army. He pulled at her pant leg that was firmly tied at her waist and stopped her from walking forward. James wasn't ready to lose Aline as well.

Aline bent down hugging him and whispered back to him, "I have to go. If I don't then you'll end up as you did before. I can't bear to see the same scene again. Don't worry about me, I'll come back."

He was in shock. He hadn't expected their conversation to turn out like he wanted to take her place; he'd rather get hurt in her place like before. When Aline was sleeping he'd offer to go in place of her; he had promised himself that he wouldn't lose this friend too.

Aline walked away towards the door. James's body never moved; it was like he was still trying to keep her back.

The man that was smoking the cigar pushed her towards another person who locked her hands in handcuffs and led her to an unknown room.

Inside the room was like that of a doctor's check-up room: a counter and desk. Besides, that was one of those chairs that you'd find at a dentists' office, only this one had weird metal contraptions attached to both the armrests.

More handcuffs, seriously. Aline looked at the chair disgustedly. They weren't even treating them like decent human beings.

"I'll only sit in that chair if those won't be around my wrists," Aline announced.

"It's part of the protocol. You don't get a choice."

That made Aline angry and Aline rarely got angry. She couldn't handle the disrespect any longer wondering how James was able to endure this for ten years. Taking his and others' blood only for it to be used as weapons to destroy others. Aline had enough.

A sword caught her eye at the far back corner of the room. While her handcuffs were undone she made a run for it toward the sword. Aline became allured by the sword reaching towards it everything else in slow motion. The sword was a deep purple and glinting gold color. Her fingers grazed it, wrapping her hand around the hilt. A beam of gold intertwined with grape purple shot up into the air higher and higher. It went through the roof and she finally saw the light of the sun again for the first time in weeks. She didn't run away from it like she did before she stood in it taking the light in.

All at once, real-time came back to its path, and a wave of gold was circling around her moving farther outward and destroying everything in its path. Building crumbled and humans fell to the ground punched by some mysterious force.

She was free. They were free. Aline turned around to look for James ready to exclaim her excitement. He wasn't there; she walked away from him the last time they were together. Her heart is heavy in her chest.

Aline wanted to tell James that they were now free, able to travel the world, maybe go out and see if her family still remembers her. She rushed back towards her cell as the wall crumbled falling downwards into heaps of stone as the sky, bright familiar sky became more clearer.

When she reached the cell area the walls had already finished tumbling and lay scattered across the grounds.

"James," Aline yelled, her voice excited that they had escaped.

No one answered, not a peep could be heard.

"James," Aline yells once more, starting to become concerned for where he could be.

No noise again.

Did he get buried by the rocks? Is he okay?... Did he leave? Aline looked around searching for James and where he could possibly be. There was a huge pile to her left. Aline walked over to it; the pile was big enough to fit a human being underneath it, so James could be underneath it.

Aline started to pick up the rocks and move them to separate piles in search of James. It took a while one might assume that it's been hours moving rocks as the sun was setting and it was now twilight. There was still no sign of James. Maybe he really did run away. Had he?

She sat against what remained of the corner on the stone wall. Burying her head in her arms she let the thought sink into herself. Had he really gone off and left her? Or was he... dead? Both thoughts frightened her. She looked around the whole of what was a small building and there was no evident sign of James anywhere.

She cried for what could've been hours the whole time the sword that sat next to her was seemingly saying, You made this choice, you left him in the cell. Which just made her sob more. She was the one that left him all alone. Even when he told her not to leave and they'd both stay in the cell together. She left him. This was her mistake and she'd live on with it forever. Not knowing if her only true friend was out there searching for her as well or dead.