Cursed Prince

Chapter|10

Viana

You're are stuck in a hellhole, how do you escape? The first thought was the window. 

Several times she tried to pick the lock, but she couldn't seem to get the fancy metal doorknob to unlock. But as she laid in bed, thinking, she realized there was no other alternative. She remembered Kyles words. 

"He's dangerous." 

That just made her want to meet Luke again even more. She went into the closet, found a couple of dresses made of a strong cloth material, and began constructing a rope. 

"Okay," she thought to herself. "How do I get the window open?" The ceiling window was pretty high up, and the latch looked pretty secure. She got on her bed and stretched until she was sure she was tearing her body apart.  "Almost," she muttered and winced as her foot started cramping. 

The satisfying sound of the click made her smile. She tested the bed, took one giant jump, and pushed one window open. The breeze ruffled her hair, and she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding in. Getting the dress rope, she jumped a couple times before she managed to hook it onto the latch. She tugged once, then twice, testing for security.  

"Wow! Man, I'm so smart." she complimented herself. Smiling she began climbing, but at the last minute, the rope gave way. 

"Shit!" she muttered, grabbing hold of anything and found herself dangling one hand from the edge of the window. After a couple failed attempt though, she managed to pull herself up and out. 

Now she was standing on the roof, with the greatest view she had ever seen. 

She took everything in and sighed in utter happiness. The sun was still in the sky, and the green of the forest seemed to spread farther than her eyes could take in. After a couple failed attempts to get off the roof, she managed to slide only a few inches down, before she couldn't bring herself to move again. That's when she saw the pool. From up here, it looked barely noticeable from her viewpoint; just a speck of blue.

"Okay...I could jump...but if I miss, I die. Fun." suddenly, she heard voices from behind her. Something--someone sounded angry. There was a silence before she could hear the door to her room being ripped apart. There was more silence and someone roared, "Where is she?! I will kill her!" 

What was going on?  

She didn't want to know. Suddenly the pool sounded like a great idea. "Father!" She could hear the relief in Kyle's voice. She looked back down, hoped she could aim well and jumped.

☽☽☽

The impact was so strong, for a second she really thought she had missed. Breaking the surface of the water, she gasped for air and looked wildly about. She dove back in and kicked towards the edge of the wall, before pulling herself up. She could still hear the screams from above and her instincts told her to run. 

☽☽☽

"Ow!" she muttered as the twigs bit into the soles of her feet. "Where the heck did I put my shoes!" she muttered aloud. "Oh right. I was running with Kyle and threw them somewhere-"

Do you always talk to yourself like that?" a voice up ahead asked? She glanced to her right, then her left, before looking up.  

"Luke?"

"That's my name."

"What are you doing up there? Can I join you?"

"If you can climb," he replied simply.

She bit back the cries as the bark ripped at her feet and her legs felt like giving in. 

"Okay." she huffed as she pulled herself to the branch. "You climbed pretty far up." she pointed out, peering nervously down.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

He scoffed and looked around, then up as a bird dipped through the air a few feet above them.

"No one ever looks up anymore." he murmured. 

"Um..yeah." she nodded as if completely understanding what he was saying. 

"I need to talk to you," she finally said.

"I can see that. You don't climb a tree barefoot for nothing," he noted.

She took a deep breath, but before she could talk he added, "the pool right?" 

"How? W-what?" she responded slightly confused. 

"You're wet, and smell like chlorine."

"I jumped from the rooftop," she replied simply.

"Yeah, good for you. If you hadn't Matthew would have probably killed you right there and then. He ripped the hinges right off of your door!" 

He laughed, but the laughter never reached his eyes. 

"How do you know all this? Do you..." she lowered her voice, "spy on me?"

"No."

Luke took a breath and looked behind him as if something was going to happen.

"Duck," he muttered.

"What?"

He pushed her head down as another bird barely grazed her head.

"Okay." he began as she straightened up and stared at the bird, her mouth partly opened in surprise. 

"I don't want to alarm you or anything, but you have two months to live."