How to Catch a Fish (ManxMan)

Chapter Three: Save the One, Save the All

~Chapter Three: Save the One, Save the All~

There are two sectors in the prison - the cell blocks and the Pit. No one willingly spends time in the Pit because while the cell blocks are liveable and semi-lit, the Pit is dark, smells like rotting wood, and is half-submerged in salt water. No one really knows what happened to it, but it must have been a long time before any of us ended up here because no one in this prison would have survived whatever made the ground break or ceiling cave in. Someone suggested an earthquake when I asked around about it during my first week, but it must have been pretty big to do so much damage.

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"If there was a way out, don't you think we would have tried it already?" The temporary coven head asks, frowning.

I shake my head. "Someone had to have escaped these prisons before. It wouldn't have been easy or they would have found somewhere else to put us, but you must've heard something. Even a rumor is better than nothing."

"Any known or suspected breaks in the security would have been destroyed a long time ago," the witch points out, following the same logic. At least she sounds genuinely apologetic to be the bearer of bad news.

Heather hooks a finger into the belt loop of my jeans, making me hesitate. When I glance back at her, though, she has a worried frown on her face. "Atasah, we should just go," she suggests. "We're only wasting time here."

And time is something we don't really have enough of to waste.

Reluctant but willing to accept that my last known resort - the witches here really don't like demons, so it is not like it would have been wise to visit them earlier - has no information for me, I let her lead me towards the door of the cell. However, we make it no more than three steps out of the cell before the witch stops us. "Unless," she starts, making us look back, "they couldn't reach the breach because of flooding."

It takes me a second to figure out what she means, and I grit my teeth in agitation when I do. "The Pit?" I ask, wanting confirmation. There are a few places with flooding in the prison, but the only other places besides the Pit are a few individual cells that have cracked floors but no possible exit points. I would know, too, as I have checked every one of those cells personally.

Still, it makes sense, though. The Pit makes up about half of the prison, so the chances of there being a second entrance over there is pretty high. However, when I scouted that area during my second week, the most I found was rotting wood, rusted metal, and jagged rocks sticking out of the ground. I only ended up having to turn back when the water started to reach my ankles, as though I could heal from minor cuts gathered during my search, I would not be able to survive being impaled by a metal bar or crushed by an unstable wall.

"Actually," a voice pipes up from behind us, and I glance over my shoulder at an middle-age male witch, "I heard that someone found a door on the other side of the Pit, but it was really deep underwater, so they couldn't open it. No one else could find the door, though, so I'm not sure if it's real."

I hum in thought. It would be a problem if we went all the way through the Pit to find the door was just a tall tale. However, if it is completely submerged, maybe the other people looking were not able to hold their breath long enough to find it. The creatures of this realm seem to have small lungs, though, or something since most of them cannot hold their breath for longer than a couple of minutes from what I have learned.

Which means I might have a better chance than they ever did.

Grinning, I turn to face the male witch. "Tell me everything you know."