The Eleventh Hour (FINISHED)

63 - I don't want him to go... but he has to

Meadow woke to the feeling of needles prickling her skin, and when she opened her eyes, she saw weird little lines above her forming large squares... like a crate.

Her head was still spinning; her brain feeling like a cloud, and she found herself groaning while rolling over.

Chloroform... they must've knocked her out before taking her here.

She felt the floor dig into her back, and when she looked down, she saw the same crate- patten on the floor... and the walls...

Wait.

She was in a cage.

Like an instant, Meadow shot up, hitting the cage walls with her hands and making the metal rattle at the impact. "Let me out!" she called, voice breaking. "Let me out!"

"Meadow...?" a soft voice said, making her head shoot up as she saw a figure move in the shadows.

It was a man with dark hair and grey eyes, and he looked slightly concerned.

"Ash?" she whispered.

He ran over to her cage and kneeled down before her.

"Ash!"

"Shhh..." he whispered. "They don't know I'm in here. So quiet, okay?"

"How did you get in here?" she questioned quietly. "How did you find me?"

"I was searching for you, and I saw Elijah carry you out of your school over his shoulder. So, I 'knocked' out an assassin and stole their clothes. Elijah doesn't know it, though. There's too many of his underlings for him to notice."

"By 'knocked' you mean 'kill?'" she said.

He smiled. "He'll never notice."

Meadow nodded, attempting to shift to a more comfortable position but her skin had been pressed down to the floor for so long that she had to peel her legs off.

" okay?" Ash said softly.

She glanced around nervously. "It's too cramped. I hate it... It reminds me of my birth parents."

Ash gazed at her sadly. "Elijah locked you in a kennel like a dog." And he shifted his weight to the complicated lock. "Here, I'll get you out-"

"No," she said sternly, "no, don't. We're so close to killing him, Ash. And then we'll be free, right?"

His expression looked grim.

"I'll be okay," she promised despite the lie. "Just... go scout or whatever you guys do."

"Swear?" Ash pressed. "You'll okay?"

She nodded despite the sweat sliding down her temples.

"Here," he said, "before I go, you left this on the gym floor."

He slid her dagger out of a loop in his jeans and through the metal bars of the crate, and she took it, hiding it inside her jacket where there was a concealed pocket.

"Thank you," she whispered, "I think Elijah searched me before he took me here, but I doubt he will again. Not if he doesn't know you're here."

Ash smiled in response, reaching through the bars and ruffling her hair. "Okay, Sweetheart. I'll come back, I promise."

She nodded. "Bye...."

He stood and snuck out of the room.