She had no idea how long she had been laying in the dark. How dare Aliah abandon her in this room with no fire and only a few hours-worth of lantern fuel.
With her hands stretched out in front of her she had criss-crossed the room over and over trying to discover a use for the key Remiel had given her. Now it seemed silly to waste her energy.
She had long since stopped straining to hear the sound of someone in the hallway.
Had she been there for a few days or just a few hours? The bread and cheese on her plate had gone hard long ago but she had eaten them anyway. She had sipped at the water in the pitcher, but it now stood empty. The metal bucket overflowed with fetid waste, but with nothing in her stomach now, her bladder and bowels were empty. She sucked at the blood seeping from her cracked lips but it was never enough to moisten her mouth and throat.
She slid her legs over the edge of the bed and stood. Her head pulsated with pain and she stumbled as she tried to take a step. If she held her hands out in front of her she could make her way over to the door without crashing into anything. When her fingers found the smooth wood she pressed her face against the door and inhaled the pungent scent of the oil rub. She scratched at the door with her fingernails only to hear the sound it made. Anything to break the silence that was so heavy it threatened to crush her.
Dizziness washed over her and she swayed; her fingers slipped against the cold metal doorknob and she fell. The floor jarred everything in her body and something pricked her thigh. She pulled it out of her flesh and threw it across the room in fury.
Ping ping ping.It bounced along the stone floor. Such a pretty sound. Soft and metallic. She scrambled after it, sliding her hands along the floor until she found it. She closed her fingers around it. A bent nail. She tossed it again, listening for its metallic pingthen scooted around until she found it again.
She played her new game to keep her mind from breaking. Warding off the threat of madness that gripped her throat, choked off her breath, and fogged her mind. Hours melted into each other until time seemed meaningless. Every second felt like eternity.
Footsteps echoed in the hall. She scooted over to the wall near the door and pressed her back against the cool stones, the nail between her fingers. When the door opened the smell of warm bread filled Shai's nose.
In the light spilling from the slightly open door, she saw Zev enter, carrying a plate and a lantern. He set the plate on the table then turned back toward the door. Shai's heartbeat pulsed rapidly in her neck making her feel light-headed. She curled her toes in her boots and lunged at Zev as he passed. She jammed the nail into him until she felt it pierce his flesh with a slight pop. He yelled and twisted, trying to throw her off his back. She pushed the nail in further with a twist and he dropped to his knees.
She snatched the piece of warm bread from the plate and ran, weaving and wobbling down the hall. It wasn't until she was outside the Manor that she realized she didn't know where she was going.
The moonlight slanted through the trees and illuminated a path that wound behind the Manor and disappeared through the woods. She ran across the yard and through the trees. Her ears ached in the wind and her lungs burned, but the crisp air revived her. She reached a fence-line and stopped to lean against it, chest heaving. Only then did she realize her right hand was sticky and wet with Zev's blood.