The One Who Was Chained

9

It would be easy enough to sneak into the lighthouse. But finding Alan, well, I knew that was going to be the hard part. I whistled to Klika, and she stopped flapping her wings. The booming noise would attract attention, and that was the opposite of what we needed right now. Dusk was fading to night, and even though Klika was relatively darker colored, there was still a risk that someone would see her. She couldn't come. Klika landed in a grass-covered area, much smoother and quieter than normal. Queenie hopped out of my saddle bag and perched on my shoulder. I led Klika into a shallow cave.

"Stay here girl." I dug through my saddle bags, finding a dark grey cloak that would hide my face and keep the chill of the night away. I patted her head, then carefully, quietly walked out of the cavern, Klika's opalescent eyes trained on me until the moment I was out of sight. Without a weapon, I was defenseless, and until then, I would have to be stealthy- something I was not very good at doing.

"I'm going to go and find a weapon. You need to fly up through the top window-"

"Open the door, yes, I've got it." Queenie whispered back, annoyed by how many times I had repeated the plan. "Let's just go." She flew up to the very top of the lighthouse, landing on the windowsill and hopped inside. Meanwhile, I had to find something to defend myself with. I knew that the townspeople were not oblivious to danger. Someone had to have at least a decent kitchen knife in their house. After a good three minutes wasted picking the lock, I finally entered the house. Only to find that the floorboards were extremely squeaky. It was like stepping on a pile of mice every time I shifted my weight. I slowly backed out, the noise seeming even more evident the quieter I tried to make my steps. I shut the door and ran to the next house. I had wasted too much time. But at least this time it was easier to pick the lock. I grabbed the first kitchen knife I could find and got out. It's size didn't really matter, as long as it was sharp and could cut flesh. I ran back to the lighthouse, trying to keep noise to a minimum. I turned the corner, and there, waiting at the already open door, was Queenie.

"Well, that was fast." I said, still out of breath from my run.

"Turns out, I'm better at opening doors than I think. Come. We've got a while to go yet." Queenie took her usual perch on my shoulder, and I walked through the doorway, pulling the heavy wooden door closed behind me, leaving the latch open so we could make a quick exit, and I began to ascend the stairs.