The Dark Prison - Chapter 17

Instructions

You know what happens when you try to not think about something? You just spend every waking moment thinking about that thing, berating yourself for it, and going right back to thinking about it. That’s what I was doing after breakfast as I waited for free hours. I didn’t want to think about Ren and him taking the monster and most likely dying and/or trying to kill us all, but I did anyway. I hated having an author’s imagination - something that made my Creative Writing stories so good, but also made my thoughts and speculations run wild sometimes. With a sigh, I realized how much I missed school. It’d been nice, having a routine of constant entertainment and interaction with other people. Not to mention the school part - I loved the studies, the teachers, the classes, all of it. And if my friends and I couldn’t successfully end Jessica’s reign of terror, I’d never see that again. No pressure! /Are you okay?/ I glanced over at Chaiyn. He’d been watching me for some time, probably. /As okay as I can be./ /Are you gonna be fine with Ren taking the monster?/ I paused. /Well, you were right. Ren has the most likely chance of survival./ He nodded slightly. /It’s still not very high./ /Don’t remind me./ I hated not knowing the time. My watch still worked, but it wasn’t set to whatever time it was in the shadow realm. And who knew how long the watch would stay working - I hadn’t changed the batteries in almost two years, and I knew it was reaching the end of its current battery life. I laid down on the mattress and felt something dig into my side. I pulled out the wood carving of a wolf Raza had given me two years ago. Raza and Maya didn’t deserve to be here. They were only here because Jessica wanted me and Chaiyn here. I made a promise to myself to find them in the free hours soon. As if on cue, The Silent Guard came and unlocked my cell. He was a little gentler as he shoved me out into the crowded hallway, trying to keep up the charade of being loyal to Jessica but not wanting to be too rough. I appreciated it. I hated the hallway, too, because I was rarely able to fall into step next to Chaiyn. Once I was in the free room, I shoved my way through the crowd towards Tobi. He always stood in the same place - right next to the pillar on the far side of the room from the door. “Hey,” I said as I approached. He just nodded in return. He looked confused as he looked at me. “Would you have really sacrificed yourself to save everyone?” he asked me after a minute. “What?” “Last night. You offered to take the monster with no hesitation. Why? What’s in it for you to sacrifice yourself for people you don’t even know?” I stared at him. “Why would I /not/? We have the option to save hundreds of people. If a sacrifice is what it takes, then I’d rather sacrifice myself than one of my friends.” “But you’ll die! You won’t even know if your sacrifice was worth it. Why even offer?” “Because I get to know that when I had the chance to save hundreds of lives, I took it.” Tobi still looked confused, and I realized how different our worldviews were. Tobi had grown up alone and thought that the only way to get through life was to keep your head down and look out for yourself. I’d grown up with my friends and my family, and thought that the only way to get through life was to help as many people as you could. “Tobi, no one’s gonna survive this if we don’t look out for each other,” I said quietly. He didn’t look convinced. Chaiyn appeared at my side a second later. “Have you seen Raza or Maya?” I asked him. He shook his head. “No.” “I’ll go look. Be right back.” I left Tobi and Chaiyn and searched through the crowd. It was loud, but I was used to the volume. It was like the dining hall during meal times, except much more on edge. “Wolf!” It was a small voice that called my name, and it sounded like Raza’s. But I wasn’t sure I’d even heard it - it was such a quiet voice that I could’ve very well been hearing things. “Raza?” I called back. A boy who was almost five feet tall shoved his way out of the crowd. He had wavy dark brown hair, blueish-green eyes, pale skin, and round glasses. It was Raza. “Wolf!” he exclaimed again, almost knocking me over with a hug. I could barely find my voice. “Are you okay? Where’s Maya?” I asked after a moment. “I’m fine. They haven’t hurt us yet. And I don’t know where she is! She’s in the cell across from me but we were separated when the guards grabbed us and I don’t know where she went!” Raza was a Speeder, and when he was scared or excited that speed bled into his voice. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll find her. Let’s go find Chaiyn.” (cont. below)