CHAPTER FOUR

O R R A T S ' F E E T O V E R B R O K E N G L A S S I N O U R D R Y C E L L A R

The cellar was silent on the day that the girl would escape. She had been jolted out of a dream by Esperanza accidentally kicking her in her sleep, and the girl was grateful that she did not have to finish the nightmare that she had been trapped in. She could not remember exactly what had occurred in her sleep-induced prison, but nightmares and reality seemed to blur together.

The air was stagnant and heavy, as if the atmosphere was holding its breath in anticipation. The girl could not blame it; her stomach felt knotted together from either anxiety or hunger, she could not tell. The girl remained lying on the floor, keeping her breaths shallow and even to feign sleep. Her hand was trapped in Esperanza's tight grip, but she did not mind.

Drew's plan was clear enough, but the girl had long ago abandoned hope; the idea of escape was foreign and far too good to be true. The girl would not believe it until she watched this damned cellar burn to the ground. But freedom was close, that much she could feel.

Seven days had passed since Drew presented the plan to the girl, and she had long ago committed it to memory. Drew would escort her and Esperanza out of the cellar while Dolos was meeting with Willow, and just like that, they would walk out of there. If anything went awry, Drew would be adorned with enough weapons for the three of them, despite the girl's constant protest that she did not know how to fight (Drew had merely winked at her, and told her that she did). The girl was not completely confident in the plan, but Drew had told it to her with a contagious sense of confidence that the girl could not help but believe that it work.

But the girl had her own plan, a backup plan if it looked like they would remain trapped here. She would steal one of Drew's weapons and slit her own throat before they would drag her back into the cellar. All failed escape attempts were tortured then killed; the girl was merely doing it on her own terms, with her own dignity. Esperanza was small enough that she might be able to escape undetected, but the girl was not going to spend another night inside this cellar.

Esperanza stirred, then woke up suddenly. The girl blinked down at the young child, and allowed the ghost of a smile to creep onto her face. She held a finger to her lips and blinked three times, which was their coded greeting. One blink for no, two for yes, three for hello, four for I don't know, five for stop. Esperanza grinned, and blinked thrice in return.

Silence was not necessary, but the girl would prefer if no one was aware of their presence. So much hung on them being stealthy today that they could not afford to be clumsy with their words. Esperanza frowned slightly and extracted her hand from the girl's only to return it to the girl's arm. Gently avoiding the freshest scars, she began to trace words onto the girl's arm. Esperanza repeated the action twice before the girl understood.

Are we leaving today?

The girl turned to Esperanza and blinked twice. The wide-eyed child grinned and traced the word good. The girl could not help but agree, and she fought the urge to ruffle Esperanza's hair (the motion was too obvious and would attract even the smallest bit of attention).

There was no way to tell the time, but Drew had told them to be ready early. The girl hoped that they were awake early enough for Drew not to abandon them. The girl kept her gaze latched on the door while her hand stroked through Esperanza's brittle hair, silently taking stock of all the other occupants of the cellar.

Though they had been down here together for awhile, the girl had only spoken to a handful of the other prisoners. Most had been her pleading for them to tell her anything, and they had all ignored her. Their eyes had been hollow and void of any life, even when she screamed at them. The day she had woken up down here was her most painful memory. She had woken up and could not remember her name, anyone from her life, not even a vague idea as to where she was. She had woken up with no memories and under Dolos' blade. He had been in the middle of a sentence when the girl had woken up, and he was confused by her reaction, as if she should have been accustomed to torture at that point.

There were well over a dozen other damned souls trapped down here, but the girl could not afford to save any of them. All that mattered was saving Esperanza.

The cellar's door creaked open then, and Drew's beautiful face poked through the cracked door. Her eyes quickly landed on the girl and Esperanza, and though her face retained its stone-like expression, there was a quick flash of relief in her eyes. She stepped fully into the cellar, and knives glittered in the dim light.

"You two," she said gruffly, pointing at the girl and Esperanza, "come with me."

The girl forced herself to move as slowly as she would any other day, carefully helping Esperanza up and avoiding stepping on any stray limbs as they abandoned the corner they called home. The girl left the scratchy blanket behind, silently mourning its loss, but there was a greater feeling blossoming in her chest, a feeling that felt like hope.

Drew's hand wrapped around the girl's bicep and gently pulled her into the hallway. The girl caught one last glimpse at the cellar, at the dead-eyed occupants rotting within it, before the metal door concealed it forever.

The hallway was empty except for the three girls, and Drew was quick to slip the girl a slender knife.

"Dolos is with Willow," she explained in a hushed whisper, "so we should have enough time to get to the surface before they realize anything has happened."

The girl nodded, ignoring the bubble of emotion inside her stomach. Esperanza was silent, but her hand gripped onto the girl's tightly. Drew walked in front of them, silently leading the way to freedom. They took a turn that the girl had never been down, and ran directly into a guard.

The girl's heart leapt out of her chest, but Drew did not seem concerned. The guard could not have been any older than the girl, and the chest plate that he wore seemed far too big for him.

"Where are you going with them?" he asked Drew, his voice trying and failing to be assertive. His eyes were darting, from Drew to the girl to Esperanza back to Drew.

Drew gave him a bored look. "Dolos asked for them. What do you care?"

The boy blushed a deep red and stepped to the edge of the wall. His eyes did not seem to leave the girl, and it unnerved her. But Drew merely resumed her walk down the hall, forcing the girl to do the same.

Once they had walked far enough to be out of earshot, the girl hissed, "do you think he'll alert anyone?"

Drew frowned. "He's new. And he's scared of me and Dolos. If he knows what's good for him, he'll keep his mouth shut." But Drew began to walk faster.

They turned another corner and it turned out to be a dead-end that held nothing but a single door. Drew twisted it open and revealed a stone staircase that spiraled up and out of sight. She beckoned for the two girls to follow her, and they did so silently.

Their footsteps echoed as they ascended, and the girl could feel the air slowly grow more clean. Gone was the musty, stale scent, and it was replaced with something more fresh. Her fingers twisted around Esperanza's, and she squeezed thrice. They were so close to escaping, so close to freedom.

"After the staircase, we just have to exit the cave without being noticed. I stored some disguises at the top, so as long as we don't look suspicious, we should be fine," said Drew, a knife clutched in her hand.

The girl nodded as her legs groaned in protest at the relentless pace up the stairs, but thankfully, the door was in sight. Drew reached it first, and did not hesitate to wrench it open.

The first thing that hit the girl was the light; it was still firelight, not the Sun, but there was so much more than she had been expecting. But her heart fell as she realized the reason. Standing on the other side of the door was Willow, holding a blazing torch out towards Drew.

Her red lips twisted into a smirk. "What do we have here?" the cruel girl asked.

The girl stepped in front of Esperanza, as if that would protect her from a monster like Willow. Drew, however, kept her expression as bored as ever, and gestured to the girl with the knife.

"Dolos asked for them," Drew said calmly, like it was nothing, like everything did not ride on this moment, "so I'm here to deliver."

Willow laughed, but it was cold and devoid of humor. The girl winced as its echo bounced off the stone walls. "Really? Since when have we allowed prisoners above ground?"

Drew shrugged. "I didn't find it to be my place to ask him, though perhaps you would like to? Since he seems to appreciate your input so much."

Drew sneered at Willow, and the girl could feel anger radiating from the blonde-haired monster. She plucked a knife from her belt, and twirled it around her fingers. The motion caused the torch to wobble slightly, and the light wavered.

"I know you pride yourself on being convincing, daughter of Aphrodite, but your honey words have no affect on me," said Willow, "so I would advise that you abandon whatever hope you have for rescuing these meaningless prisoners. I was just contacted by a young guard that reported you escorting them, and Dolos made it very clear that he had not told you to do anything regarding them. Stand down, and return them to the dark hole you found them in."

Drew narrowed her eyes and took a step forward, now standing directly in front of the torch. The heat must have been near unbearable, but Drew did not waver. "I know you pride yourself on scaring everyone you encounter, but you don't scare me. You're just a bitch. You weren't around for the War, but you don't stand a chance against the Seven, so if I were you, I'd run away now, and never look back, lest they choose to destroy you where you stand."

Willow laughed again, and Drew growled at her. "You think I fear demigods? Where's your precious Seven now, Tanaka? They're dead, or disappeared, or gone crazy," the last words were paired with a motion to the girl. "You think that Annabeth can save you? She doesn't even know her name! I'm going to kill her, slowly, and once I'm done, I'll hunt down every remaining demigod and kill them, and then I'll kill the gods. You might be half god, but you will always carry that mortal part of you."

With no warning, Drew attacked, knife thrusting towards Willow's stomach. Willow moved faster than should be possible, and dodged the attack completely. She brandished the torch and the fire grazed Drew's arm. She screamed in pain.

The girl stepped forward to help, but Esperanza stopped her. "Don't worry," the young girl said, smiling at her, "I can do this."

Before the girl could protest, Esperanza ascended the last few stairs and walked over the threshold. Willow looked at her, cocking her head. But before she could say anything, Esperanza held her hand out, as if offering to hold Willow's. The girl held her breath as she watched the only person that she cared about clench her hand into a fist.

Willow's face contorted into a gruesome expression, and she fell to her knees as she began to choke on air. Her knife clattered to the floor, and the torch was quick to follow, casting everything into darkness. Drew staggered to her feet, staring at the odd display.

"What are you doing?" she asked Esperanza. The child only lowered her hand, leaving Willow to wheeze for breath, and smiled.

"We can escape now," Esperanza informed them, gesturing for the girl to abandon the stairwell. The girl did just that, stepping over Willow's fallen form.

"We'll talk about that later," said Drew, taking care to kick Willow forcefully in the stomach. She held her left arm close to her stomach, and the girl could smell the burnt flesh from where she stood. But there was no time to ask questions; Willow was still breathing, and that made her a threat.

The girl stepped away from the threshold, and found herself standing in a large cavern. Stalactites decorated the ceiling, and the faint sound of water dripping accompanied Willow's choked breaths. Esperanza took her hand again like nothing happened.

"We don't have much time," Drew said quietly, "Dolos will send more people after us. We need to leave now."

The girl bent down and picked up the knife that Willow had dropped. Willow's eyes were open and watching her, but her breathing was shallow and her consciousness was clearly fading. The girl took the knife and stepped away from Willow. Though she did not know why, the weight of the knife was comfortably familiar in her hand.

"Let's go," she said.

And together, the three of them walked through the seemingly abandoned cavern and towards the sunlight.

author's note:

sorry for the random hiatus; life got unexpectedly crazy. i'm hoping to publish another update within the next few days, so stay tuned! let me know how you liked this chapter!