The Golden Core | Secrets of the Core #1

Chapter Eight - Part One

Both of her feet were planted to the ground. It was like having weights tied around her ankles. The room was silent as if they were all waiting for her to make the next move, but she couldn't. She tried telling her mind to move her legs, but nothing budged. Without a clue as to why she was acting this way, she opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. She couldn't understand why she was so shocked to see Phoenix behind bars. It wasn't like she enjoyed his company to begin with. Already being involved in something she shouldn't even be around, she wanted to leave, but the curiosity inside of her was still there.

There were so many questions still unanswered. Most of which were ones that Phoenix answered, but she didn't find them to be the full truth. If she told him that he would get out if he responded to her questions the right way, would he do it? That was something she didn't know. Plus, she didn't know him well enough to truly figure out when he's lying. She needed to become more observant; Winter always lacked in that subject. Paying attention to everything wasn't her best trait and right now, it was failing her.

With that man being there, it was going to be harder than she anticipated. She had to think this through. If one step were to mess up at any point, who knows what it could cost her. Not being able to trust anyone in this room, she had to go on more than just what they told her. She turned her head to the left. Staring at Phoenix wasn't going to help. If she took too long, it would seem like she knows him. She held back a smile. Of course she knew him, but leaving that out for the mystery man would make it a lot easier for her.

A small clashing noise made Winter turn forward. Phoenix moved as far as he could away from the wall, stretching the chains tied to his wrists. She sighed. The silence was killing her slowly, she needed to speak up before her time ran out. They would certainly realize what she was planning sooner or later. Even though right now, she really didn't have a plan.

She finally moved closer to the cell that Phoenix was in, her hands shaking steadily. She knew coming to the chambers was a bad idea and things just got worse when she heard a tapping noise coming from her right. Immediately, she backed up. What was she doing? She couldn't help him. He put her in danger.

Winter turned around and walked forward, the dirt sliding onto her shoes as she was about to leave, but his voice appeared.

"Winter, help me please. I didn't mean to hurt anyone. Get me out of here. I know you can."

Well, escaping without being known wasn't going to work now thanks to Phoenix. Maybe the man didn't know who she really was though. Her father always taught her to help whoever is in need, but ever since she met Phoenix, she couldn't bring herself to trust him. He hurt her brother. Nothing is trustworthy after that.

As the mystery man walked around, the soft jingle of the cell keys appeared. She turned to look at him, figuring out that they were sticking right out of his back left pocket. It should be easy to grab them if she seemed interested in what he was saying for a few moments. Plus, she needed to find out who he was and maybe if he knew anything about her or why Phoenix was even here. She didn't want to help him, but she couldn't just walk away.

Leaving was just too easy.

She moved over to the chair next to the cell where the guard with the keys had just sat down. Great. How was she going to get the keys now?

He was staring at her, his brown eyes beating into hers as if he knew she was up to something. He crossed his arms. "What do you want?" He wasn't cheery at all. How long had he been down here? Did they ever let him leave?

She gave him a small smile, her heart beating a mile a minute as she placed her shaking hands behind her back. "H-hi," she stuttered. Winter cleared her throat. "What's your name?" Out of all the questions, she couldn't believe she chose to ask that. Naturally, it was a vital piece of information, but how was that supposed to help her in retrieving the keys?

"Blake." He shifted in his seat and closed his eyes. She shook her head. It was going to be harder than she expected for anything to happen.

One word wasn't going to get her anywhere. She had to figure out how to get him to talk. "Well, hi Blake, it's nice to meet you. Do you happen to know why this guy is in the cell?" She glanced toward Phoenix, but he rolled his eyes at her. This was going to take time, why can't he just appreciate that she was at least trying to help him?

"Of course I do. I'm the guard here, but the blonde over there seems to know your name, so don't you know why he's here?"

Frozen in place for just a few seconds, she wasn't expecting him to respond with that question. Yes, she knew why he was here, but she couldn't tell Blake that. It would ruin her plan of trying to get Phoenix out.

"No, I'm sorry I don't. We just recently met a few days ago, but no one told me that he ended up here."

"Oh," Blake responded. "Well, he's here because he attacked the Queen's brother." He stood up, pushing the chair back. He moved toward the cell that Phoenix was in and Winter started to walk slowly around him.

Maybe she could reach his back pocket if she warned Phoenix to keep him distracted. She reached out with her left arm as though she was going to grab one of the bars, but the keys were just out of her grasp by a few inches.