Escape

Escape~Ch. 12

RECAP:

Gwen's throat tightened, and she breathed deeply before hugging Jazz fiercely. "I'm really sorry about the whole Liam thing. You guys are great together. I don't want to fight with you. Especially when we have to work together to escape." She took another few deep breaths, feeling Jazz shake close to her. "I want to make it out of here, too. We're all going to make it, you'll see."

Her words sounded hollow even to herself. But Jazz just nodded against her chest and sniffed a little. Gwen smiled slightly, then sighed.

"Thanks, Gwen," Jazz murmured. "I needed that."

Chapter 12

Days dragged into weeks, weeks into about a month. Liam had stopped counting, and he was almost sure everyone else had too. Who would want to know exactly how many days, weeks, months they have been stuck in this prison? Who would want to guess how much longer they would be?

He felt the energy, the hope, draining out of everybody. Rebecca mostly sat in the corner, knees to her chest, gazing off in the distance, probably visualizing how great it would be to be back in her castle. Gwen doodled on the dusty stone with her raggedy fingernail until it was a nub-- then switched fingers. Jazz paced in the corner, three steps right, turn, three steps left, pause, turn. After a while she would sit, pale and exhausted from pacing. Meals came less regularly, and many times the guard outside would glance through the bars, a sympathetic expression on his face, then would jerk his head back and stand stiffly upright whenever Liam met his eyes.

Drew was a monster.

 Liam sighed and rubbed his temples, a hand brushing lightly against his guant face and bony cheekbones. He took a deep breath.

"Rebecca. Do it."

Rebecca, who was gazing off into the distance, snapped her head back to meet Liam's eyes. She blearily blinked and rubbed tear tracks from underneath her eyes. "Yeah? What?"

He leveled his gaze, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest as he spoke. "Tell Drew you'll do it."

Light dawned on her face. "Oh." She paused. "OH! No, really, are you sure?"

"What are you talking about?" Gwen muttered, pulling a pale Jazz into their discussion. She hobbled into the circle tiredly.

"I was just saying this is ridiculous. We need a chance. Tell your dad that it's four million dollars to take just you, then tell Drew he'll take all of us. He'll pay the money, we'll get shipped to your castle, we'll escape, go our separate ways. Look, a small chance is way better than nothing."

Gwen flinched when Liam said 'separate ways', and Liam pretended not to notice. It would be better that way.

The stunned silence echoed around the cell. Finally Jazz spoke up. "That could work."

Gwen nodded, the first light of hope appearing in her eyes. Rebecca stood abruptly, stomped over to Liam and threw her arms around him. He awkwardly circled her waist. "Thank you," she murmured.

A second later, it seemed, Rebecca was pounding against the bars, screaming for Drew. Liam blinked and Jazz glowered at Rebecca's back.

 "What can I do for you, Princess?" Drew's slick, deep voice sounded outside the cell.

Rebecca lifted her chin. "I need to speak to my father." The little hope that she held in her eyes was diminished by Drew's thoughtful shake of the head.

"No can do, Princess."

"Why not?"

"Do I even need a reason, sweetheart? No is no. It's final." He turned to leave.