Aria leaned against the wall of the cave, staring out the entrance at the dark night. In the shadows of the evening, she could just barely make out the figures of a few guards, but she only saw them because she knew that they were there. If she had not known, she never would have been able to see them amongst their strategic hiding spots. The caves were good shelter, but without fair warning that an attack was coming, it was easy to get trapped within the thick walls. There were many escape routes throughout the underground system, but there were just as many dead ends.
She glanced behind her, but the cave was dark. The fires were lit much further beneath the earth, where they could not be seen from the woods. She did not fool herself into thinking that she was alone out here; her father had people watching her like a hawk since she had been taken, but at least she had a little sense of peace and quiet. Well, that was until she felt William coming.
She turned as her twin emerged from the dark of the caves. She would know him anywhere and often felt him coming long before he arrived. He leaned against the wall opposite her, his arms folded over his chest as he gazed at her. They both had the same bright blue eyes, the same dark auburn hair. Though they had come from two different eggs, they were even more similar than most identical twins. Right down to their quick tempers and impulsive actions.
Her impulsive actions had finally gotten her enslaved, and though she’d like to say that they were both more thoughtful now, she knew she would be lying. The only thing that had changed was she was sadder and more mature than she had been before going into the palace, and William was angrier. He blamed himself for not being with her that day, even though he had been hurt and unable to accompany her on the hunt. He blamed the vampires for taking her, and he especially blamed the prince for claiming her as a blood slave.
She had tried to explain to all of them that she had not been hurt, that it was only her heart that had been wounded, but none of them believed her. She supposed it didn’t help that she was more like the walking dead, than a living person, since she had returned. She most certainly wasn’t the same girl that had been taken from the woods, and they blamed the prince for that. They didn’t understand that he had saved her from a more awful fate than the one she’d experienced. It had been another vampire that had claimed her originally, if it hadn’t been for the prince far worse things would have been done to her. She had been lucky; they felt she had been tortured.
“Have you ever been in love?” she asked quietly.
He turned slightly toward her, his eyes bright in the dark. His dark eyebrows drew sharply together as he studied her. “Is that what you think you were?”
She was silent as she thought over her next words. She had never kept anything from William, they had always shared everything, always been together, but he had been so angry lately that she was afraid her words might send him over the edge. But she could not lie to him, and she had started this conversation because she needed someone to talk to, and William had always been that person. “Yes.”
He swallowed heavily as he ran a hand through his disordered, shaggy hair. She could tell he was trying to keep hold of his temper, struggling to his fury from her. “Arianna, things happened in there, things I can’t even begin to imagine…”
“Don’t William. Max may want to believe that, but you know better. You know me, you know who I am. Do you really think I don’t know what I felt in there?”
“I believe that you think you do.” Aria’s hands fisted in frustration, her jaw clenched tightly. It seemed that no one wanted to listen to her; no one wanted to understand her feelings. But she supposed that if it were William telling her these things, she wouldn’t want to believe them either. “And no, I have never been in love.”
“Oh.”
He moved away from the wall, striding slowly to her, he threw his arm casually around her shoulders. He grinned down at her, his straight white teeth bright in the moonlight. She couldn’t help but grin back at him. For the first time in their lives he may not understand her, but he would always love her. No matter what. She dropped her head to his chest and wrapped her arm around his waist. She listened to the sound of his heart as they stared out at the night. She had been so intent upon the reassuring beat of his heart that it took her a few moments to realize that all of the animals, and insects, had gone quiet.
Aria lifted her head slowly, her heart thumped wildly as she gazed out at the darkness. She searched for the guards amongst the trees, spotting their prone figures amid the darkness. “William,” she whispered.
“I know. Come on.”
He pushed her deeper into the cave, keeping his hand in her back as they made their swiftly through the well familiar terrain. The guards still had not raised the alarm, a low pitched whistle that could easily blend in with the chirruping of the insects, but Aria strained to hear it. It had to be coming soon. “Hurry!” she gasped, a sense of doom descending over her as her breath came faster.
Her hand clenched upon William’s, when they were far enough from the entrance, they broke into a run, their feet flying over the hard rock of the cave. They might already be too late if the vampires were already upon them. With the vampire’s exceptional eyesight in the dark, and their rapid speed, it would be almost impossible for her and William to escape. They took a side tunnel on the right, ducking low as the ceiling became lower. William turned back, grabbed hold of one of the heavy iron gates that had been built into the wall.
“The guards!” she hissed, grabbing hold of his arm before he could close the gate.
“It’s too late for them Aria,” he said softly.
Her eyes widened, horror filled her as the low pitched warning whistle pierced the air. William froze for a moment; the gate was still partly open when they sensed, more than heard, something approaching. William jumped into action, rushing forward to close the gate as quietly as possible. There were many other tunnels leading through here, it could take awhile for the vampires to find the right one, and the gate should withstand an attack for long enough to give them extra time to escape.
They retreated, moving as quickly as they could through the stooped tunnel. Aria’s heart pounded rapidly in her chest, a crushing sense of time running out seized hold of her as something large and heavy slammed into the gate, rattling it within its frame.
CHAPTER 2
Aria was panting for air as the raced forward. She could barely see William in front of her; they were going on instinct and memory alone, to afraid of what was behind them to grab one of the unlit torches from the walls around them. There was no way to know where their pursuers were, it was too much of a risk to light something right now. William led her around another turn, the ceiling thankfully expanded again.
William paused, turning back to slide another gate shut. They weren’t far from the main room now. He pulled her forward; she stumbled over a loose stone, her ankle rolling out beneath her. A soft cry of pain escaped, but she hurried on, refusing to be hindered by the throbbing pain that raced up her leg.
The tunnel became narrower, William slid another gate home. The fire of the main room became visible as the maneuvered another turn, soft laughter reached them. Aria’s heart hammered, she could barely breathe. She had never felt claustrophobic within the tunnels before, now she felt like a caged rat running aimlessly along. If they got out of this she swore she would never return to these caves. Then again, they could never return to them anyway, they were no longer safe.
They had been discovered.
William and Aria stumbled into the main hall. Everyone became silent as William spun around to slam another gate shut. “They’re here!” Aria breathed.
There were a good hundred people in the room; panic claimed over fifty of them. Screams rang out, children began to cry. Though they had run drills, and practiced for this sort of thing, it had never happened before. Aria was dismayed and horrified to see the chaos that swiftly took over. Her mouth dropped as people began to run about, trying to gather as many of their things as possible.
Others kept their heads enough to shut the other three gates that blocked the tunnels from the main room.
She wished that her father or Daniel were here, they would have an easier time at keeping everyone calm, but they had gone to meet with another group of rebels stationed about a mile away in another set of caves. “Everyone! Everyone! You have to calm down!” She raced into the center of the room, holding her hands up as she tried to soothe the fray. No one paid her any attention as they began to push and shove their way toward the only remaining exit. “Wait!” she cried, trying to stop them before they hurt each other. Trying to stop them before they ruined everyone’s chance at escape.
Max grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her free of the crushing bodies. Thrusting her behind him, he used his body to shield her as people pushed and shoved against them. Aria clung to his shirt as he pressed tighter against her, trying to protect her from the jostling and shoving, but he could not protect her from being pinned hard against the wall.
“Everyone calm down!” his voice was louder than normal, but not so loud that it would bounce down the tunnels, and not so loud that it caused the people to hesitate for even a moment. “Damn it!” he hissed, his anger and frustration apparent in the constriction of his muscles, and his fisted hands.
He turned toward her, bracing one hand against the wall by her head as he fought against the people pushing against them. Grabbing hold of her arm, he pulled her against him as he shoved his way back through the crush, fighting against the seemingly endless sea of people. Her heart hammered painfully in her chest, she searched wildly for William, but she couldn’t see him amongst the wave of bodies.
They broke free; she inhaled the fresh air sharply, trying hard to get oxygen into her abused lungs. William was before her suddenly, he thrust her bow and a quiver of arrows into her hands. “We’re going to have to go out another way.”
Aria’s eyes widened. The tunnel behind them, the one everyone was shoving through, was the only one that did not eventually meet back up, in some convoluted pathway or another, with the main tunnel they had just left. There were ways outside through other tunnels that led off the main one, but there was a chance that the vampires could already be in any of those tunnels. To open one of the gates back up, and go into one of those tunnels, was a huge risk. It was something they had never planned on having to do.
She glanced back at the exit tunnel, it was jammed full of bodies pushing and shoving at each other. In the drills they had run, and practiced, most of the people were supposed to be halfway through the tunnel by now. But panic had hindered things; she was certain that there were people on the ground in there, people injured and hurt and being trampled.
“We have to help them.”
She took a step toward them but William grabbed hold of her arm, pulling her sharply back. “There is no helping them now Aria; we have to get out of here before we get trapped in here. We have to go.”
“The people,” she whispered.
“Will be fine, they have the safe exit, remember?” he retorted sharply. “Come on.”
He pulled her back toward the gate that they had entered the cavern through. “We just came through there,” she breathed.
“There are three gates closed between us and the main hall. It will be the safest one.”
His long fingers worked deftly over the locks, throwing them swiftly open. Three other men and one woman gathered with them, apparently deciding to throw their chances in with them, rather than the crushing mass of people on the other side. Aria did not know who they were, but the people within the caves changed often. Most of the rebels relocated constantly, preferring to stay on the move rather than remain cooped up in one place. It was a theory that her family often stuck to also, but her father had stayed here for far longer than normal. Aria knew it was because of her. Knew that he had wanted her to rest and recuperate in one place, and maybe even have some sense of stability for once in her life.
Aria had hated being stuck here, and now she knew why. She felt much safer moving constantly, felt much safer outside in the woods she knew so well. Yet, they had spent so much time over the years running in and out of the cave systems, that they knew most of them by heart. She always felt like a caged animal when she was within the caves, but knew them like the back of her hand. She had wanted to make her dad happy though, especially when he was so obviously worried about her, so she hadn’t complained about staying here. She wished she had now. The caves would have been raided, even if they hadn’t been here, but she couldn’t help but feel like this was somehow her fault. That she had somehow brought them here.
“Come on,” Max said softly, seizing hold of her hand.
They plunged back into the black tunnels. The darkness enveloped them; she could barely make out the back of Max’s head as she strained to see. She wished they could light at least one of the torches, but that was just begging to be caught and killed, or captured and brought back to the palace where God only knew what kind of horrible fate awaited her. She had the distinct feeling that if she was brought back to the palace, it would not go over well. In fact, although the prince was engaged, she thought she would be made to pay dearly for her escape. She knew how badly he hated to be disobeyed, and her escape had been the ultimate defiance, and she would be punished for it. Either that, or he wouldn’t even care that she was back there and just decide to let her go to whoever claimed her this time.
She shuddered at the thought. Her hand clung to the bow and quiver slung over her back. They were her specialty; she could shoot an arrow better than anyone else. She just wasn’t going to be able to do it in these narrow confines, and from the way that William was heading, she knew that it was about to get a lot tighter in here. She hated this route through the caverns because it was so narrow, but it was the one that made the most sense right now. It would be harder for the vampires to navigate through here also, and at this point the other tunnel options led out to a waterfall. It was a beautiful sight, but the sound of rushing water blocked out the noise of their pursuers, and they needed their sense of hearing most right now. Their sight was just about useless. The rocks were also slippery, and climbing them under the best of circumstances was dangerous enough, without adding the bonus obstacle of rushing.
William took a sharp right. The tunnel began to climb steeply upward. They were heading toward the back of the mountain, and what had once been an old coal mining operation, or so she had been told. Aria hated the old coal mines; they were creepy, dangerous, and filthy. Thankfully William took a left and began to climb toward the backside of the mountain. The air became easier to breathe, although the walls were still tight against them, she did not feel quite as pinned in.
Max’s hand tightened around hers. She was grateful for his reassuring presence, his solid strength and warmth as he led her swiftly along. William stopped suddenly, causing the woman to bump roughly into him. They stood silently, straining to hear anything within the dark, damp space. They were only a hundred feet from the end of the tunnel, only a hundred feet from freedom, or certain death.
“We’re going to have to move fast. Stay low and head straight for the woods. If we get separated for some reason we’ll meet up again at the south edge of the lake,” William instructed. “If we can’t get to the south edge of the lake, we’ll meet at the banquet tree.”
The banquet tree was a tree she and William had discovered when they were children. It was simply an extremely large apple tree, but it had seemed massive and wonderful to them as they spent hours climbing its massive limbs, and gorging themselves on the apples they picked from it. For a couple weeks every year they’d had an ample supply of fruit, and aching bellies. But it had always been worth it.
They were also the only ones who knew where the tree was. They had brought the fruit back to the camps, willingly sharing it with everyone, but they had never revealed its location, and now that she thought about it, she didn’t think anyone had ever asked. It was as if they had all understood that th
ey’d needed a place of their own, and allowed them to keep it.
Aria’s hand tightened around Max’s. She understood that William was mostly concerned with her safety, but she could not lose Max. He had risked his life for hers; he had sacrificed himself for her. She would not take the chance that they were separated now. She thought that she should feel more guilt about possibly losing the others but she didn’t, not when it came to her brother, and her friend. Their world was cruel, brutal, and for most people it was every man for themselves, except for the few people that ran in slightly larger circles. As she did.
It was nice to have friends, and family that she could rely on, that she could trust with her life. But the downfall of it all was the hurt that would come with the loss of one of them. And she had been lucky so far. Before her time within the palace, she had naively believed she would be lucky forever. She was not so naïve now.
William rushed forward, leading the way as they raced through the dark, up the slope, toward freedom.
They plunged into the night. Aria inhaled large, greedy gulps of the fresh air, relieved to be free of the confining space of the caves. They were almost a hundred feet from the cave exit when the screaming pierced through the rapid beat of her heart in her ears. She froze, horror coiling through her as she turned slowly back around. They were higher up on the mountainside, staring down across the way. The lake was beneath them, gleaming in the moonlight that reflected off of it. Across the lake was the exit from the escape tunnel, hidden within a copse of trees.
The exit had been selected because it was the farthest point from the main entrance, and well concealed. It was also where the screams were coming from. Aria’s mouth went dry; she took a step forward as horror and terror coursed through her. Across the lake, through the moonlight, she could see people scattering in every direction, fleeing as they tried to escape the monsters pursuing them.
Aria gaped for a moment longer, unable to believe the carnage before her. They had to do something. Now! She darted forward, determined to get down there, determined to help, determined to try and stop this somehow. Max seized hold of her arm, pulling her back. She struggled against him as he started to pull her toward the woods.
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