Hood (Book One of Radiant Afflictions)

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

it holds her captive, it sets her free

*****

The ground Aaliyah woke up on was marginally harder than the one she remembered falling asleep on, and the smell almost did a similar job at making her comfortable, at least in the way that neither one did. The putrid scents of human excretions, among other things around her caused her to shift her breathing so that it would flow in-between her lips, but even the air that lilted over her tongue tasted rotten. On top of all of that, there was an ugly moaning somewhere in front of her, low and resonating, and it didn't seem to be the only one emitted within hearing distance. Her hunger groaned with them, creating a disjointed harmony she hoped only she could hear.

Still, despite what she could sense of her surroundings with her closed eyes, the remnants of sleep firmly held onto her rational mind, and without it she decided that simply rolling onto her opposite side would take care of all her problems.

THUD.

Her body crumpled to the floor of what she found to be her cell, ripping her eyes open and returning the entirety of her consciousness much more quickly than she would have liked.

Where . . . was she?

The wall she faced when she fell was of pure concrete, but after scrambling to her feet she saw the bars the greeted her to her left, a guard lightly breathing outside of it. Quietly approaching the bars to get a better look of her surroundings revealed more and more cells, each laid out in a long line. A guard was placed at every other cell, and the moans she heard seemed to have been emitted from the inhabitants of other cells surrounding her. Two things became clear to her in this instance.

One, that she needed to get out of there, and two, that it was going to be very difficult even with her unique abilities.

First, she decided to take inventory. Her hands searched for any remaining weapons on her person while her mind reached out to Exander, hopeful as ever that her companion could help get her out of the mess she had managed to make.

Exander?

The silence that responded was perhaps a bit disconcerting. Surely Exander of all people would realize the gravity of her situation and attempt to help.

I don't know where I am, Exander. Please answer, Aaliyah pleaded, and once again received nothing. Her hands flew to her ears, where the stones he had charmed for her usually rested, but there was nothing, only the feeling of her fingers on the skin of her ears.

It took much of Aaliyah's self-control to not immediately begin to freak out.

Exander, gone.

All her weapons, gone.

And she was locked in a cell with one of the best security systems she would ever have the pleasure of breaking through. She hadn't even stolen anything yet, goddammit.

Realizing she would have to get out of there using only her natural skills, Aaliyah began to list off possible escape routes in her mind and the likelihood of success for each one. She could kill her guard without much trouble, but the others around him would see. Also, this option would not guarantee that she would be able to escape her cell, and could possibly end up causing an unnecessary death. However, she could take the knife she could see discretely hidden in his boot and use that to pick the lock if she decided this route was the best one to take.

Other than that, it seemed like the only option was to wait for her captors to make the first move. Who were her captors, anyways, and how did she get captured in the first place?