Regions of Saleen

Regions of Saleen - Ch. 3 - Part 1

  The dim light coming from under the cracks of my door cast a small ray of light across my room as I listened in anticipation for the knocking I knew would soon come.

On the other side of the wall Illias was looking through a tiny peephole he had found in his wall into the hallway.

Once the guards did their final rounds and went to sleep we could set our plan in motion. I heard footsteps pass by my door and a loud thud; then silence closed around me.

The tapping broke the silence; three, one, two, four, Illias was signaling that he thought the coast was clear.

I softly walked to the shelf and picked up my gilded headdress. Its smooth surface and perfectly cut gems pressed into my hand as I snapped it cleanly in two.

For a moment, I felt no regret... for now, there was no going back, and I would finally take my chance to be free.

I slid one half through the crack in the wall so Illias could grab it then walked back over to my door.

Just as Illias had told me to "put the edge into the lock and move it around until you hear a click."

My breathing was ragged and strained, anxiety welling up inside me and willing me to stop and pretend it had never happened.

Then I head it click.

I held my breath as I slowly opened the door and was blinded by light pouring in from the hallway.

I stepped out onto the ragged floor and glanced back at my room, the bed was destroyed.

I had used the cloth to make a makeshift skirt and I had ripped the bottom and arms off my ragged dress to make it into a top.

Illias said the outside was warm and to wear light clothing---and I had improvised.

I walked over to the door next to mine, the door Jamie was behind...I was beginning to worry, maybe the lock wouldn't open, maybe, I'd have to leave him behind.

Right as I was about to walk away, his door opened.

It was the first time I had ever seen someone close to my age, for all the cult members were at least forty. He had wavy black hair and the blue eyes I had seen through the wall earlier. He was wearing what I assumed to be "outsider" clothes, a white shirt with a tan vest, a very messed up tie and blue jeans. He looked around him anxiously and then quickly walked over to me.

"Which way is out?" He asked in an intense whisper.

"Down that hallway and to the left and we will go to a hallway with a stair case leading up, I think that's the way we ought to try first."

With that he took once last look around, grabbed me by the wrist and took off down the hallway.

"Before we leave, I want to find my things they took from me when I first arrived. One of them is very important."

He walked quickly down the hallways, still holding my wrist to make sure I was keeping up.

I had to almost run to keep up with him due to him being much taller than me. He was also much more tan, like the men who went out into the village often. Since I had never been out my whole I life, I was extremely pale in comparison to him.

We turned a corner but I being so lost in thought, didn't realize this and nearly fell over when I felt a hard tug on my wrist, pulling me to the side.

As we looked down the hallway we saw it was covered in doors, and at any moment someone could walk out and find us.

Illias took off his boots as I wrapped my feet up in my cloth to make less noise.

We silently ran down the hallway, making no noise and holding our breath.

When Illias suddenly stopped I ran straight into him with a loud thud that echoed through the hall. He pulled me into the open room he had stopped by and closed the door in case anyone came out to investigate.

I was about to hit Illias for possibly getting us caught but stopped as I saw him digging through a box on the floor.

"Illias, what on earth are you thinking?"

"This box, it has my stuff in it!" He turned his head back to look at me, a huge grin spreading across his face as he took his stuff out.

"My knife belt, messenger bag, bracelet, and hat... It's all here, Alura! Oh, here, you wear the bag so it stays safe." He put the bag around my neck and pushed it to one side.

"Now  you look ready for an adventure." He placed his newsboy hat on his head and opened up the door slightly to look out into the hallway. "I think I hear footsteps." He said, suddenly sounding very weak.

"We can hide under here." I pointed to a very large chest on the floor against the far wall of the room.

"Good enough." He slid under the chest with ease and motioned for me to follow his lead. Once under the chest, he put his arm around my back to pull me closer to him and away from the edges.

The footsteps got louder as they approached the door to the room. And then they stopped. We both held our breath in anticipation.