A Grave Exchange (10 page)

My eyes shot open
,
and I looked around
. H
orrified
at myself, I quickly pulled my skirt back down and fixed my panties
.
What was wrong with me
? W
hy
was
I hear
ing
voices? Had
I finally crossed the
line
from sanity to lunacy
?
C
onsidering all I was going through
, I wouldn’t be surprised
.
There
was
only so much a person
could
take before their mind check
ed
out
,
once and for all
.

Suddenly
,
the scar on my wrist few fiery hot.
I looked down at it and gasped
. T
he blood red teardrop was enflamed and looked ready to burst
.
Desperately
,
I blew on
the mark,
try
ing to
cool it
down
.
I
g
lanc
ed
around
solemnly
.
I
was alone
—
completely
, utterly
alone
. The situation
reminded of
the
horrors
I’d faced
as a teen
, and
yet again
,
I was alone to face my
worst nightmare. Driven by a wave of hysteria,
I ran to the door and started hammering
on
it
with my fists
, screaming for someone
—
anyone
—
to hear me and let me out
.
I could not bear this
.
I could not bear being alone, facing my fears once again
.
Lucius promised I would never be alone again,
but he’d
lied
.
I
hitting the door over and over again, screaming until my voice went hoarse,
and still no one came. Finally, exhausted, I
collaps
ed
to the ground once again.

My
dragged air
in and out of my
lungs. M
y mind barely holding on
to
a
thread of sanity, I raged
inside
.
This was not going to happen
.
I would get out of this
.
I had to, and Lucius was somewhere waiting on me
.
The
k
ing must have me hidden
away somewhere, but
I knew Lucius would try to find me
. Meanwhile, I wouldn’t just sit here
; I had to figure out
a way
to get out of
t
here
.
I
n that moment, something happened to me. No
t
only did
I
c
o
me to the realization that
I would have to pick up the pieces of my shattered
,
tormented heart and
heal it,
but
it also dawned on me
that
I would have to help myself
escape
.
Lucius was right
;
I had the power in me to get through this
. I and I
alone could heal myself
;
no one else could
.
J
ust as I
had
this epiphany
,
my scar stopped throbbing
.
I looked down
to see
it had sunk
en
into my wrist, a pale
pink
drop no longer blood red
.
P
erhaps
Maria
’s gift had served two purposes—not only warning me of grave danger, but also helping me realize I had the strength inside me to carry on.
I stood straight, took a few
deep
breaths
,
and waited
. N
o matter how long
it
took
,
I would wait
it out
,
and I would find a way to get out of th
ere alive.

I paced the
concrete floor
, rubbing my shoulders from the cold
. H
ours passed,
and
I pulled out my phone
,
mulling over the fact I could not use it
.
P
issed and
despondent
,
I threw it across the room; it clattered to the ground and broke into pieces
.
Immediately, I regreted my actions.
As I stooped to pick up the
shattered remains,
I heard footsteps
quickly
approaching
.
I screamed and hollered, banging my fists
on
the door
.
The steps kept coming,
and
I
backed away, up against the far
wall
,
and waited
. I
cower
ed
like a caged animal
,
but I was
ready to take flight
.
If given half a
chance
to escape,
I had to take it, even if I died
taking the
risk
.
I had to get out, I had to find Lucius
.
The door lock clunked and swung open,
and
one of the guards walked in and looked at me, smiling like a Cheshire cat
. H
e threw a tray of food down beside me,
and when
he turned to walk out
,
I charged
. W
ith everything I had
,
I jumped on him,
but
it was like hitting the concrete wall beside me
. H
e laughed cruelly and grabbed my pummeling fists, squeezing them so hard I had tears in my eyes
.
I could hear bones crunch
,
and I screamed
.
I kicked him and kicked him, tried to scrape his face, but he grabbed my wrists and
flung
me
up and
straight over his head
.
I landed on the cold
,
hard ground
. The guard
stepped over me
, then
kicked me in the ribs
.
I curled up into a ball
. T
he pain was horrendous
, but I’d managed to block his aim with my arm, avoiding any lasting damage to my ribcage
. Maybe I couldn’t do this on my own
, I thought, as I lay there with my hands over my face
. W
here was Lucius
?

Not here. He’s not here, and if you don’t get up, you’re going to die
. As
the g
r
avity of my situation
fully sank in,
I reached inside myself
for the last bit of my strength. And then,
with everything I had, I jumped up and charged once again
. T
h
e
man
apparently had
not expect
ed
me to move,
and I
took him by
surprise
.
I
spr
a
ng
at him with a flying kick and sent
him
falling back
into the side of the open door
.
I heard a cracking sound but did not wait to see what had happened
.
I was out the door and running
as fast as my legs would carry me, clutching
my aching ribs
.
I
raced
down the corridor with
the
lunatic
guard chasing behind me,
fast approaching, h
is
roaring obscenities
burning my ears.
I turned the corner
,
saw a flight of stairs,
and
kept going
, taking them two at a time. M
y breaths were laborious and pained
,
but still I kept
on. Up ahead,
I saw a door
. C
hances were high th
ere
were
more guards
out there,
but I also knew it might be the door to freedom
,
so
I kept going
. Pressing
the
long metal bar, I threw my weight against the
door
and pushed. A
n unsuspecting guard
had been standing on the other side, and I knocked
him
down
.
I
dug deep to find more strength and speed,
and as I flew past him,
the fallen guard reached for my ankle
,
but I jumped like a gazelle and raced ahead
. B
oth men charged after me
now
,
and as I glanced over my shoulder, I saw
one
shouting into
a cell
phone
.

I rounded another corner in the hall and saw a window
, As I raced by
,
I saw it was daylight
. Good. M
ost of the guards were
probably
sleeping
. W
ith
re
new
ed
courage
,
I
pushed
through my
exhaustion, pressing
myself to new extremes
.
I raced
ahead
and
f
ound a huge front door
. Without pausing
for a second
to think
,
I grabbed hold of the handle and pulled
. T
he door swung open
.
I could hear more approaching guards closing in
as
raced down the front steps into the sunlight
. Faster I flew, across the lawn toward the
tree line
.
I
felt like a rabbit chased by a fox, and
terror lived inside me
, making
my stomach
roll
over and feeding my fear and
my
imagination
.
Every sound I
heard had me looking over my shoulder, thinking they’d
caught up with me
.

“Ivy
,
hurry
. D
on’t stop yet
. K
eep running to the river
. Y
ou must cross it
before
I can reach you.”

Lucius
? Where had his voice come from? I swung around, but the only people in sight were the guards, and they were closing in fast. I turned and resumed running, c
harging ahead
through the woods. M
y lungs scream
ed at me
, my heart
hammered,
and
every step felt like it would be my last
. M
y feet felt raw and blistered
from my boots, but still I ran on,
pushing myself to my absolute limit
. B
ranches
smacked
my face
, and
the ground became slipp
er
y and dangerous
,
the leaves hiding the
under
growth of snarled
roots and fallen twigs
that seemed to want to grab me and pull me to the ground
.
I could hear noise
s
behind me,
knew they were
still
after me,
but
suddenly I heard noise ahead,
as well.
The river?
I
raced around behind
a large oak tree
and stood there for a moment, gasping
for breath
and
feeling dizzy and weakened
as
I tried to listen
. The noise
sounded like water rushing by
. Yes! I’d reached
the river
! It lay just up ahead, and
with a new sense of purpose
,
I
started off again. M
y legs
were
killing me
now
, my stomach heaving,
but
I kept going
. Almost there. Almost there. And
somehow
,
I would get across.