The Prison (Book 1)

Lightning and Thunder

Lightning and Thunder

After much thought and anxious deliberation, I finally had a plan. It wasn't the best plan, but it was better than sitting and not doing anything at all. I was done being the damsel in distress.

It was time to make my stand. Who knew when Cain would let me out of his sights again?

I peeked my head through the open door, looking for any sign of my capturer. By some stroke of luck, he was still AWOL. I did find that to be suspicious in itself, but I was not one to spit in the face of chance.

A dark thought suddenly flitted into my mind, unsolicited. I hoped he was incapacitated from the pain in his knee somewhere, which would buy me enough time to do something about my miserable situation. I immediately felt guilt for hoping for such a thing right afterward.

Feeling guilty because of your kidnapper? You're a piece of work, Aiden.

I ran out of the office and across the wooden floor on tiptoes in case he was in the cabin, and headed in the direction of the kitchen. I then went through the backdoor, where the jungle began and stretched deep into the island. Once again, I checked that the coast was clear before sprinting in the direction of the jungle.

A sudden loud rumble nearly made my heart stop. Startled, I looked halted in my tracks. Damn, was I find out already?! Then I looked around for a pair of cerulean eyes before realizing that it was the sky rumbling like a ferocious beast. It was going to rain. I couldn't see the clouds in the darkness, so there was no way to tell how bad it was going to rain, so I had to be quick.

Before it rained or my absence was discovered, I had to find exactly where Cain received shipments of groceries and the like. There had to be a tiny harbor, or a hidden house around here, possibly on the other side of the island where I hadn't yet reached. There had to be! It was the only explanation how I, not once, had seen a shipment. Those steaks didn't miraculously appear in Cain's fridge. Maybe fate would smile upon me again and I'd find a dingy boat waiting for me. If not, I'd figure out when each shipment arrived and make sure I got on the leaving boat or chopper or freaking rocket.

I was done staying here.

It took me all of five minutes to get lost. Again.

"God, please, cut me some slack already," I moaned as I slowed down and spun around in a circle. I had meant to run a straight line to the opposite side, but some unaccounted-for detours such as fallen tree trunks and unexpected, unscalable cliffs that I had to go around caused me to lose sight of my destination. At this point, I didn't even know which direction I had come from.

Don't lose hope just yet.

I was determined to get to the other side of the island at any cost, even if it meant scouring the entire jungle.

After some time, I finally came to the edge of a cliff overlooking a shallow stream. It was a large cliff, but not large enough to show the entirety of the island from the top. Even in the dark, I could see that this private island of Cain's was spectacular and rather beautiful, the perfect getaway vacation spot.

While the change of scenery was certainly great, I was still no close to the opposite side than I was an hour ago.

I threw my hands up in the air and yelled, "Great, just fucking great!" I wiped my face with a cold, shaky hand.

Lightning flashed across the sky, briefly revealing a mass of foreboding clouds. It was followed by deafening thunder that crashed and boomed overhead. The gates of heaven abruptly opened. Droplets of water fell from the sky, at first tiny and intermittent, then bigger and steadier. It had already begun to rain.

My desperation finally overwhelmed me, sweeping over me like an icy, arctic wave. Once again, I was wet and lost. Once again, I failed at what I had set out to do. Anger, self-resentment and fear built up inside me like a cloud of gas and I finally exploded. I screamed at the sky, "Enough! Enough, please! I can't take it anymore! What do you want from me?" Tears streamed down my face, mixing with the rain.

"I'm tired," I whispered as I hugged myself.

When was my rotten luck going to change? I knew that I was the master of my own destiny, but my destiny seemed to be way too much of an asshole to master.

Lightning flashed again, illuminating the world for a split second. Movement in the trees at the base of the cliff caught my eye. Was it an animal? Or was it the howling wind moving the trees-

It was Schneizel.

There, I'd finally, officially lost it. This island caused me to lose my mind and now I was hallucinating the things in my heart.

But... what if I wasn't? What if Schneizel had finally come?

A flame of hope ignited in my heart, which began to beat faster than it had ever beat before.

His name, which had always been at the tip of my tongue, forever seared in my heart and brain, burst out of my mouth like a summoning spell, "Schne-!"

A large hand slapped against my mouth from behind me and silenced my call to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Cain whispered in my ear right before biting it possessively. I would have cried out in pain if it weren't for his hand muffling my mouth.

Frantic, I willed Schneizel to look up at the top of the cliff and see me. Cain started dragging me away. I struggled with all my might and tried to tear his hand away from my mouth, but I didn't even manage to budge a finger.

I'm right here! Look up! Please, Schneizel, look up!

But he didn't. Cain dragged me from the edge of the cliff all the way back to the cabin.

The flame of hope was quickly snuffed out.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

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