Glassmage

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-two

The girl on the cold, stone floor pushed her hands to her forehead, hoping to drive out the merciless headache. When she managed to roll onto her side, hot sunlight spilled onto her face and a new dimension of pain caused her to curl up and force back a scream.

What is going on? Who is doing this to me? Why doesn’t it stop?

In the end, the only thing that helped was the slow, deliberate passage of time. She took deep, measured breaths and calmed her jumping heart. How many minutes or hours passed she did not know, but eventually Gabrielle sat up, squinting in the darkness at the solid bar of orange light that bisected the room she was in.

Standing, she surveyed her surroundings. The only items of interest in the small area were a bed in one corner and a circular hole in the floor at the opposite end. Near the ceiling, positioned between the bed and hole, was a two-foot wide window. It was too high for her to see through, but sunlight and a cool, steady breeze were enough to prove that possible freedom waited on the other side.

Opposite the window was a floor-to-ceiling wall of bars. Rather than being attached, as if the bars were part of a long gate, they entered both the ceiling above and floor below, sunk permanently into the stone. Gabrielle walked to the bars and wrapped her fingers around the solid, cold metal.

Where is the door? she wondered. How did I even get inside?

A narrow hallway beyond the bars led away in both directions, though she could not see around either corner to a possible exit.

“Hello?” she called out, then wished she hadn’t. The sound of her voice did not echo, but was instead absorbed thirstily into the stone. Walking over to the bed, she discovered that it was similar to Deorwynn’s, though without blankets or anything soft. She sat and tried to think. Soon enough, she discovered the purpose of the hole in the floor as the need to go to the bathroom arose.

This was Eadwynn’s doing, of course. Had she listened to Deorwynn telling her story? Had she heard Gabrielle talking about her grandmother? Gabrielle hoped not, but there was nothing she could do about anything right now.

Time passed slowly as the bar of light moved from one end of the room to the other, tracing its weightless hand on the cold floor. Gabrielle watched it the same way she’d watched the clock on the wall during her final class at E.P. Memorial Middle only a month ago. Mrs. White’s social studies class... how she wished she was there right now. And after the bell would ring at 3:45 she’d take bus 397 home and walk to Deane’s Deli with Lori. They’d get bottles of Dr. Pepper and walk four blocks down the Boulevard to the library... What was Lori doing right now? Was it possible she was even thinking about me? Gabrielle’s thoughts grew thoughtful at her old life.

Just before the bar of sunlight faded away completely, she fell asleep. Her headache had turned into a dull memory, which made it easier to just fade away. She did not see the dark figure watching her from the other side of the bars.

*     *     *

The sound of Deorwynn’s voice filled her waking mind. Over and over, her Great Aunt whispered, “You are one of us, child. One of us…”

Gabrielle opened her eyes and scanned the room. Dull, pre-morning light filtered through from the narrow window above, but everything appeared as it had earlier. She looked along the wall of bars, hoping to find food or water, but there was nothing. Her stomach growled in protest.