The One Who Was Chained

23

I sketched a crude drawing of Klika into the cell wall with a piece of the broken bowl. It was the least I could do to pass the time. Her wings were misshapen, and her body looked more like a potato than anything else. I missed her. I missed the feeling of soaring across the open sky without a care in the world. I never wanted the weight of the world to rest on my shoulders. But apparently, I didn't have a choice. Wingbeats grew louder from down the corridor. A bat. It's just a bat Mairen. I scolded myself for thinking anything other than that. But a silver shape landed before my cell, ruffling its feathers.

"Queenie?" I called out to the bird.

"It's me." A voice I thought that I would never hear again broke the silence. It was indeed Queenie. But could I trust myself? Was this just another hallucination?

"This must be a dream. You can't be here."

"Mairen, I don't have much time. You have to tell me anything, anything at all that you know about Alan or a hidden key." Queenie's tone darkened.

"Well," I began, "Alan has been experimenting with the chains." Queenie froze at the word. "They induce memories from the people who once had the curse. I don't know the full extent of their powers, but I do know about something that was hidden." I recalled the details of the memory as best I could. "Someone was putting a box into the teeth of a giant sea monster. It was... blue, dark blue, and had orange eyes. They said something about a him. That could be Alan. But I can't just assume it was, because I don't remember it all that well."

"Thank you, Mairen. You have given me all I need to get you out of here. I promise I'll come back for you. Just give us time."

"Us?" I asked.

"Finn is helping me get you out. I don't know why. Maybe it's out of pity." Queenie hesitated slightly, as if she had said something she didn't mean to.

"Pity? That doesn't sound like him." I knew Finn. He was anything but a pitiful person.

"I meant for me." What was she talking about?

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not who you think I am."

"Queenie?" I asked. She looked frozen. Like she couldn't or wouldn't speak.

"Not Queenie. Joan. Some of my memories got tampered with. I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you earlier." Her response was quick. Rehearsed. But I believed her. It seemed that fate was indeed crueler than I believed. She had been resurrected as a hawk. Only now to be reunited with her killer. I was surprised she hadn't left already. She could if she wanted to. Yet something had kept her here. Just like something had driven me to rescue her from that storm.

"Go." I didn't ask anymore questions. Although her motivation was still hidden from me, I knew she would not let me die like this. Or anyone, for that matter. Not after what had happened to her.