Crush 11

Rix

Darkness. That's all I saw.

Till it started spinning around me. I watched as it turned to the walls of the house I dreaded for years. I saw the retreating figure of my father and the bloodied frame of my mom lying right beside my knees, knelt to beg.

"Mom! Mom!"

I curled around the corner and wrapped my arms around my legs, trying to drown out the sound of my screaming voice that lingered in the deepest part of my brain.

For hours, it went on till the darkness disappeared, a small dot of light appearing in front of me, which turned to a line. Once I saw the crack of light getting brighter, I held my hand out to reach it only to get pulled back by the chains that weighed heavy on my body, surrounded by the greedy eyes of unknown people staring at me like I was their meal, all wearing black.

Who were they?

Where was I?

Why was I here?

What is going on?

I tried to yell but my voice refused to come out of my throat. What more when I saw her face among them, I felt pain. The jab of betrayal in my heart. Alti. She looked at me sorry and I gave up.

A scream was forced out from my throat when the looming entity cut my hand and let my blood drip down on the book, reminding me once again,loud and clear that all this was happening in real time and that my life was actually in line.

My heart squeezed and thumped loudly at the thought.

I don't want to die.

Not here. Not like this. I prayed to all the Deities there was and a breath of relief flooded my chest when the entity said what it said, ordering to keep me alive, and the three darkness left, getting consumed by the fire.

I gulped at the thought of being with them. Soon I was being chained with new chains and dragged me to the bottom layer of the house where not a dot of light was, I trembled in fear but then again , this darkness of being behind bars was far better than the darkness I was locked up in minutes ago.

As long as it wasn't the three entities.

A glass of water with a piece of bread and soup. It was my morning meal which I inhaled at one go. Dinner was a bit better with little chunks of chicken here and there in the rice. Other than that, I was left all alone in the basement the entire time. I had lost count of the minutes and hours that I had to stay there, just staring blankly at the little spider on the ceiling through the small hint of light that appeared from the ventilators, other than that, they provided me with a little hint of light during meal time through a candle. That was it.

It was another day, or night that I heard the door slide open making me frown. I just had my breakfast. So clearly, nobody should come at this moment.

I squinted my eyes and turned away from the big flash of light that brightened up everything, trying to block it with my arms.

My eyes started hurting after being under the glowing light at the sudden exposure.

"Sorry"

She lessened the intensity and I blinked, my vision finally adjusting to see Alti standing there with the flashlight in her hand. We stared at each other for long, both of us at a loss to start the conversation. I checked her frame and by the light scratches and black spots of dust and cobwebs in her clothes, it seemed like she fought tooth and nail to get down here.

"Sorry"

She began.

"Explain"

She nodded her head and sat on the cold floor. I sat beside her. She kept the flashlight on the small wooden table where I had my meals at and looked up at the ceiling like she could read the stars through the thick cement.

"Bloody Phoenix…."

She started. And when she finished, everything started to make sense. My wrists glowing, Ez....The language. With what had happened so far, it was easier to digest her words than it would've been days ago, or weeks.

"So that's why I'm here, a scapegoat?"

She nodded her head.

"Only a human can touch that book, the other creatures from the different worlds can't touch it, except for an Osolus who would be sanctified only once in a thousand years in the sorcerer's realm"

I nodded my head and poked my tongue out my cheek.

"So….that was all it was to our friendship?"

She whipped her head so fast,I pitied her neck.

"No!!! I knew about it only after the first time we had lunch in the cafeteria. Our friendship was genuine, I swear"

I took in a sharp breath, it felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest. I smiled and held my hand out again. She looked at my hand then up at me. She smiled back and shook the hand, this time knowing full well of who she was.

"What now?"

I asked.

She sighed and leaned back on the stone cold wall.

"Plan, organise, edit, redo, end"

I frowned at her.

She smiled and changed her sitting position, now facing me.

"The book is with my father. The only other way left to get to the bloody Phoenix is through you and the Osolus. Three things, Rix, so"

"So I need to get out of here as fast as possible before they find the Osolus as well"

"Check. But it's not going to be easy. I had to do lots of climbing to get here. Can you do Parkour?"

"Kind of"

"Perfect! Just….be careful. This key is your only way out, use it wisely and here- the map of the entire building along with hidden passages through which you can escape"

I took the key and the map from her hand and slipped it inside my jeans pocket.

"Aren't you afraid of them, for helping me?"

Silence passed between us and a bittersweet smile stretched on her face.

"Dont worry. I'll think about something"

I nodded my head and called out to her as she turned around to leave.

"Thanks!"

"Save it when you get out!"

She smiled at me and left.