by Penelope Sky
I’d done this before, so I wasn’t scared at all.
I used my phone to map out the landscape. On Google images, the camp wasn’t there, which told me how deep this operation ran. But the chateau was there, so I was able to use that to figure out the possible locations of the camp.
We’d been out there for days, making campfires at night, eating dry food from the saddlebags. The vapor was in front of my face from my breathing, and the hooves of the horse crunched against the snow as we moved forward. “I know we’re close.” I could feel it.
I hoped Magnus wasn’t there. He left for weeks at a time, so perhaps he hadn’t returned.
Then I saw the distant light from one of the cabins. “I see it.”
Melanie took a deep breath when she saw it. “Shit…”
We came closer then climbed off the horse. Her reins were tied to a branch of a tree.
Melanie breathed harder and harder, like she was hyperventilating.
“We’re going to be fine.”
“I just… I remember…”
My hand moved to her arm. “Think about why we’re doing this. Think about the women we’re saving.” We lit torches along the path the wagons took to the main road, so the women would know where to go when they escaped.
She nodded, her breathing starting to slow.
“We can do this. I know we can.” Even if I didn’t survive, it was still worth it to me…just the possibility of success. Staying home and lying in bed all day was no way to live. I could never truly be free, not until everyone else was.
She nodded again.
We moved forward, stopping at the edge of the camp. I pulled out the tools from my bag, everything we could use to pick every lock. “You take the left. I’ll take the right. Then we’ll torch the cabins.”
“Why not just take the girls and run?”
“Because we don’t know where the snitches are.” From what Magnus and Bethany described, there were quite a few of them. All they had to do was scream and the plan would be over. “Unlock every door, and we’ll set everything on fire. The fire will wake up the girls, and they’ll run. And hopefully…the guards will die in the fire.”
“Should we block their doors?”
That would be smart. “No. Magnus might be here.” I wanted to kill every single guard in that place, but I wouldn’t sacrifice Magnus for it. There was no way to know if he was even there, so this was a gamble.
She nodded. “I’ll meet you in the middle.”
We went in our separate directions, quietly picking each lock so the doors would be unlocked. I’d taught her how to do it in Paris, and we’d practiced until we were both quick. I moved through the snow, knowing there were no guards outside because there was nothing to patrol since I was gone.
It was strange to be there again, to feel the cold burn my lungs with every breath. When I reached the clearing, I stopped and stared. There was a woman hanging from the noose, the snow red beneath her.
It made me angry—and fueled my determination.
We went to each cabin until we met in the middle.
“Now what?” she whispered.
I pulled one down one of the torches they used for the Red Snow ceremony and handed it to her before I grabbed my own. I poured the gasoline on each one before I pulled out the lighter.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” she whispered. “Setting everything on fire?”
“It’ll get the girls out of their cabins. It’ll cause confusion with the guards. If we had guns, I’d do this differently, but we don’t.”
She nodded.
“It’s now or never, Melanie.”
She took a breath to steel her nerves. “Okay.”
I turned on the lighter than held it to the torch.
It immediately burst into flame.
Melanie held it away, held it high to shield herself from the heat. It lit up the center of the camp, a beacon of hope in this eternal darkness.
I stared for a moment…finding it beautiful.
It was the same torch that was lit for the Red Snow, but now it symbolized something completely new.
Freedom.
I lit mine, and it shone with hers, the flames bright, the crackling audible.
She stepped back so we weren’t too close.
I stared at her and gave her a nod. “Let’s do this.”
We went our separate ways, running to light every single cabin on fire, moving quickly so we could torch everything at the same time. My breathing was loud in my ears because I heaved with the exertion of running with everything in my pack and the heavy torch. But my determination kept me going, lighting the rear of the cabins, moving from one to the next…and the next.
Then the screams started.
Doors burst open, and women sprinted into the snow.
“Follow the torches!”
I moved to the cabin Magnus had entered countless times and watched it turn into an inferno instantly.
When every building was on fire, I moved to the clearing and threw the torch at the wooden post that held the noose. The woman was still there, hanging, swaying left to right in the light breeze.
The post caught on fire instantly.
I pulled out my knife and cut her down, dragging her bloody corpse across the snow and away from the fire. She was already dead, so there was nothing I could do to save her…but she didn’t deserve to become ash.
Her family would want her body.
The screams turned into a cacophony, an echo of horror. Women ran out in their undergarments, panicking as the camp burned in an inferno. Cabins crumbled as they were dissolved by the heat.
“Follow the torches!” I pointed to the line of torches outside the plains. “Follow the torches!”
Some of the women recognized me and halted to stare in disbelief. Others didn’t care at all and just sprinted to safety. It was chaos, women trying to find their friends, looking over their shoulders for the guards.
Then the guards came.
“What the fuck is this?” One of the guards screamed, giving orders to his comrades. “Get the guns! Move! Whoever fucking did this is gonna die!”
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared.
I jogged over the snow, moving past the women who came my way. Shadows of men moved around the camp, trying to grab the women and stop them from escaping. I searched for Melanie, unsure if she’d run for it or if she was waiting for me. “Melanie!” I looked around, only catching glimpses of faces in the light of the fires.
The door to the guard cabin burst open, and a man ran out.
One with brown hair and brown eyes.
He was barefoot, in sweatpants and a t-shirt. He looked around at the camp, the flames reflecting in his dark eyes. He didn’t round up the women like the others. He just stood there, like he knew it was futile to try anything at all.
I knew I should turn away, but I couldn’t.
Then the cabin collapsed, the roof caving in, and it fell right on top of him. He collapsed underneath it, the wood and flames covering him completely.
“Noooo!” I sprinted at full speed to get him as quickly as I could.
But my path was blocked.
By the executioner.
Shirtless, he stood in front of me, staring at me with eyes that showed the underworld in his soul.
I fell back, hitting the snow.
I should run at a dead sprint in the other direction and disappear into the crowd. It was dark outside the camp, and it would be hard to find me.
But my eyes moved to where Magnus lay.
“Look who it is!” He raised his voice so the other guards could hear. “That cunt couldn’t get enough of us.”
I stumbled back and got to my feet.
There was still time to run.
But I couldn’t.
My eyes kept moving behind him, the fire growing over where Magnus was hidden.
Then he charged me.
I quickly dodged out of the way and reached for the bla
de in my pocket, the five-inch knife Magnus had given me. I fell into the snow and quickly got to my feet, knowing there was no chance I would win this fight—even if he was unarmed.
He faced me, grinning like this was amusing. “You think your little knife is going to stop me?”
I gripped it the way Magnus told me to.
He charged at me again.
I slammed my knife into his body.
But he steadied my wrist and stopped it from piercing his flesh. He slammed me down hard into the snow and gripped me by the throat, choking me so hard he was about to break my neck. His nostrils flared with rage as his eyes gleamed with revenge.
My life faded, but all I could think about was Magnus.
I didn’t save him.
Then his body stiffened and his eyes widened. His hand slackened on my neck.
“Get.” Melanie stabbed the knife into his back. “Off.” She stabbed him again. “Her.” She dug the knife all the way through, piercing him through the chest.
Before he collapsed on top of me, I rolled him off, getting free.
It wasn’t just Melanie. Bethany was there too, stabbing him in the legs.
Angry tears streaked down Bethany’s face. “Die, you fucking piece of shit!” She stabbed him again and again.
I stumbled to my feet again and headed to the cabin, which was burning more than before. “Magnus!” I ignored the burns on my hands from the flames and pulled the wood off his body. “Help!” I kept pulling everything off, screaming in pain every time I touched the white-hot wood. I pushed everything off until I got to the last piece.
I tried to lift it…and I couldn’t.
I turned to the girls. “Help me!”
Melanie dropped her knife in the snow and ran to me with bloody hands.
Bethany did too.
“Pick up that side,” I told Melanie.
Melanie got the corner and we tried, but we still couldn’t do it.
Magnus’s arm stuck out, and he didn’t move.
“Bethany!” I pointed to the side. “Get that side.”
She looked down at his arm and hesitated.
I knew exactly why. “Please, Bethany…please.”
She still hesitated.
“Please.” Tears burned my cheeks. “Not him.”
She swallowed her anger and bent down to help.
We got the wood off him.
He lay there, passed out.
I gathered him in my arms and dragged him from the building and across the snow, away from all the buildings that continued to burn. When he was safe, I set him down then looked him over. Other than a few scratches and bruises, he was okay. His chest rose and fell as he continued to breathe. “Oh, thank god.” I sat in the snow beside him and knew it was time for me to go.
I’d done what I had to do.
He would be fine there. The other guards would help him if he needed it.
Suddenly, his eyes opened, and he sat upright quickly, taking a deep breath like he had stopped breathing.
I fell back, jerking away at his sudden movement.
He breathed hard as he looked at his surroundings, seeing the fire that burned everything to ash. His nostrils were flared, and his eyes were panicked. His hand moved to his chest, like he needed to check that he was actually alive.
Then he looked at me.
And stopped breathing.
His brown eyes slowly narrowed in a look of pure rage. His nostrils flared once again, his skin turned beet red, and the vein emerged down his forehead, so angry that his body morphed into a whole different appearance. His jaw clenched, and he breathed deeper, like he wanted to kill me.
I scooted away, scared of him for the first time.
“I saved you…”
I kept moving.
“I fucking saved you.”
I pushed myself to my feet.
He got to his quickly and rushed me.
I sprinted away and tripped, falling into the snow. I turned onto my back and pushed myself away, terrified.
He stood over me, his hands shaking, his body heaving, like he wanted to grab me by the neck with both hands until blood broke the skin and drowned my airway so I couldn’t breathe. His entire body shook as he restrained himself from tearing me apart. He could barely get the words out of his mouth. “Run…before I kill you.”
Afterword
I realize this story is very different from what I've written lately. It's got so much suspense, so much anticipation, but we also have this incredible connection between Raven and Magnus. But will that connection be enough for everything that will happen next?
The next installment is really long, really intense, so make sure you're in the right place to dig into it.
It arrives at the beginning of January, and I know that seems like a long time from now, but it'll be here in no time. For those readers who are really anxious to know what's going to happen next, I'm giving out the first three chapters to those who preorder the book. The second installment is entirely from Magnus's point of view.
Preorder The Camp here
And then upload a screenshot/photo of your purchase and email it to me at [email protected]. The first few chapters will be emailed shortly afterward.
Also, this story is everything to me. I've never been so emotional when I've written something…while I was writing it. I love strong characters that never give up despite the odds, and I love the story of a woman who fights selflessly, who doesn't just save herself, but everyone she possibly can. I call that a hero...and she's one of the best heroes I've ever written. If it resonated with you too, it would mean the world if you left a review.
She betrayed me.
After everything I did for her.
Now I’ll have to suffer the consequences of that mistake.
But then I’ll get the revenge that I deserve.
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