Song: https://youtu.be/-lZAe5cgeQk

I ignored his sarcastic tone and made my way over to the cellar doors to sit next to them. Listening closely, I could hear the guard mumbling to himself. But he was too quiet, I couldn't make out his words. It sounded rather angry though, perhaps he was bitter about something..

As I sat, I could hear a small shuffling from in the cellar, but I didn't bother with the noise. The guard was too preoccupied with his mutterings to notice, and I didn't really care what Barrett was doing as long as he had a way out of here.

Then a small idea came to mind. If the hinges to the doors were on our side of the door, then perhaps we could tamper with them. Careful to keep quiet, I felt around the thick wooden entrance around the corners. Something jutted out, attaching the door to the cellar wall. I'd found the hinges. A smile crawled over my face as I crept away from the doors and towards the shuffling that was deeper in the cellar.

"Barrett." I whispered towards where I heard the noise, and it went quiet for a moment.

"What?" He mumbled back at me, still seeming irritable. But perhaps my idea could cheer him up.

"Do you have a knife?"

"...Yes. Why?"

"Well, I thought we could use it to loosen the hinges on the door." I told him, waiting to hear his thoughts. He didn't say anything for a moment. "Barrett?"

"You know, it's almost impressive how long it took you to figure that out." His remark stung, not only that, it came from seemingly nowhere.

"You knew the hinges were on this side?" I asked, not sure what else to say. I heard a rather loud sigh from the dark.

"Of course I knew. I thought you'd have figured out, I've been in this situation before. How else would I know so much about Lord Everton and his house?"

Swallowing, I pressed my lips together. I guess I should have put that together, but I hadn't thought that he'd been stuck in this same cellar before. Even so, his harsh words made me glad for the lack of light.

My cheeks burned as I returned to the stairs, sitting at the base of them to look up at the small crack in the door. I wasn't stupid, but I'd never been stuck in a cellar like this before. I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for Barrett thinking he was doing me a favor by stealing clothes. But I suppose that was also my fault. I should have told Barrett from the beginning that I didn't need new clothes.

Listening to the guard didn't help to distract me from the cold exchange I had with Barrett, but as it grew dark outside, I noticed the lessening of his mutterings, until it was much too quiet. Starting up the stairs, I heard the sound of someone snoring lightly. Now was possibly the best point to start on getting out, but I didn't know if getting Barrett was a good idea. He might say something snarky again.

Immediately after thinking that, I huffed softly. It wasn't fair to assume Barrett was a jerk. Sure he hadn't been the nicest to me lately, but we were in a tense situation. When we met, he had been trying to protect me after all. Not to mention we were in this situation because he'd been trying to help me avoid attracting unwanted attention. Barrett wasn't a bad person, he was just in a bad mood. It didn't dismiss his poor attitude, but it made it more understandable.

Getting to my feet, I headed further into the cellar's dark. "Barrett, he's asleep." I called in a loud whisper. There was a shuffling from off to the right of me, and I barely felt someone brush past me as Barrett stepped up the stairs to the door. I followed after him, while still trying to give him room when I heard the door shift.

"That was quick." I murmured to myself as the door tipped towards me. Barrett moved it out of the way before jerking his head at the exit.

I took the hint and slipped out, making sure to keep my distance from the sleeping guard. The man slept leaned against the wall with his arms folded and his head bowed, snoring low but loud.

Once I was out, Barrett finagled the doors open and placed the hinges back before shutting it again, leaving it just as it had been before. A smile pulled at my lip as I watched him do this. It was rather clever, this way they wouldn't have any idea we'd escaped until later. Nor would they be able to tell how we'd escaped.

Barrett looked back at me when he finished placing the wooden slab back in its place, he didn't say anything, but gave me a questioning look. I simply shook my head dismissively. If I remembered to compliment him, I'd tell him later. He was, after all, a thief. He probably did this to give him a way to come back and steal again without any real fear of being caught.

This thought loosened the smile from my lips as he signaled me to follow after him, and I started to, until I saw that he was headed for the stables. Rushing over to him, I grabbed his arm, stopping him. He looked at me with a frown as I shook my head.

"If the guards are still back there-"

"Then we'll blow right past them on horseback." He cut me off, pulling his arm away from me.

"We don't have horses." I said quietly, realizing what he had meant when asking me if I knew how to ride. "Barrett, we're not stealing those horses." I told him, causing him to groan.

"What are we supposed to do then, hm?"

"Head back the way we came. I doubt anyone would suspect us to head out the front way." I suggested gesturing towards the front of the house. Barrett glared at me, but I merely folded my arms stubbornly. I wasn't stealing, no matter how desperate I may get. It wasn't right.

"Fine. But if we're thrown back in the cellar, you're on your own." Barrett hissed before heading towards the front gate. I was honestly surprised that he listened. But I pushed my surprise off to the side. I could analyze Barrett's actions later, now wasn't the time. Hurrying after him, we headed out the front way and kept an eye out as we made a dash for the trees. We made it quite easily, as there weren't any men or anyone guarding the front, just like earlier when we had first come upon the cottage.

"I can't believe he really didn't put any guards over here. Does he not care at all who I am?" My expression was a bit dead panned as I watched Barrett all but pout at the noble's house. Was he really so offended that he hadn't been guarded more thoroughly?

"He probably didn't think we could get out of the cellar." I said, pulling my cloak tighter around my shoulders. It was cold out here. Barrett huffed, but stopped pouting as he gestured for me to follow him into the trees. I did so, watching the house as we crept around the side. Now what were we doing?

"Relax, we're not stealing anything." Barrett muttered when he saw my concerned expression. "We can't venture too far into the forest at night. It's too dark. Last time was an emergency." He explained as we started to come up on the back of the house. He then motioned for me to get low, crouching close to the ground as he continued forward.

I copied him, but found myself using my hands to keep from tipping over. Keeping balance while walking so low was harder than I'd expected. I wasn't really used to sneaking around like this. But when I spotted how the guard's torches lit up the shrubbery around us, I kept as low as I could bare. The plant life just barely reached above our heads.

We could see the men standing next to the back gate chatting with each other as we made our way past. I could also see three more horses next to the guards, tied to makeshift fences.

This made me very happy that Barrett had listened to me. If we had stolen the horses like he'd wanted, they would have chased us down. Even so, we weren't out of the woods yet, so I tried not to get a big head about my accomplishment and stayed quiet as we crept through the green. Just as we were passing the men however, I heard a shout.

"Hey!"

Barrett and I both looked at the group quickly, ready to run. But the guards weren't looking at us, and two of them were even laughing as one, the person who had shouted, looked rather upset, even embarrassed. I bit my lip at the sight. These men were still people, I didn't know them, but they were probably just doing their job.

It was strange to see that my dream world had such depth. This world couldn't possibly be fake. But how was it connected to my attic?

I shook away these thoughts and continued forward. Trying to explain what had happened or how I'd come to be here made my head hurt. It wasn't something I understood, but perhaps I should just be thankful to be here. Thanks to that door, I was with Barrett. Though he didn't seem to like me much at the moment, I hoped that perhaps that would change with time.

The man in front of me reached back and grasped my hand tightly. Pulling me ahead faster. I stumbled but picked up the pace as he then stood up and ran along the side of the road. Butterflies flew about my stomach as I ran with him, gripping his hand tightly. I worried that the guardsmen would notice us running away and give chase. But there were no shouts or sounds of pursuit.

This left me to stare at Barrett in the dimming light. His raven hair practically disappeared into the dark, and his clothes helped with the illusion. I didn't know how I hadn't put together that he was a thief before in my dreams. But perhaps that was because I was too busy staring into his wine colored eyes. They matched intoxication with their descriptor.

But seeing as he was looking ahead, instead of at me, my thoughts seemed clearer now. He was still handsome, but seemed more real than before. I was starting to really see him, and it made my cheeks hot in more than one way. Why did he steal? I didn't understand. But if I asked, would he snap at me? I was a stranger to him after all.

We continued along the path until coming up on a fork in the road. Barrett stopped, looking both ways before deciding on the right path and pulled me along. I started after him without complaint. This seemed...familiar.

My dream suddenly came to mind, and I gasped in horror. There were traps ahead of us, and if we continued forward, I was going to have something clamp shut around my head like in my dream.

"What?" Barrett looked back at me, still heading up the path when I planted my feet, stopping us both.

"We shouldn't go that way. It's dangerous." I told him, shaking my head. I definitely didn't want him to get hurt that way, but I also really didn't want to die. I put my free hand to the side of my head. Just thinking about the sensation almost made me shudder.

"Oh, really. Did you have a vision?" He asked, challenging my words. I felt my hand drop to my side as I stared at him.

"No, this was my dream. The one I told you about."

"The one you said you didn't remember."

"Well I remember it now."

Barrett folded his arms as he arched a brow in disbelief. "I know this way is darker, but we can't go to the left. We'd be more likely to run into Lord Dominic. Do you want that?"

I shook my head. "No. But I don't want to end up dead either." I blurted before looking past him into the dark. That was why we hadn't seen the traps. It was too dark, and trying to head back in the dark was an even worse idea. Nope, I wasn't reliving that dream. Shaking my head again, I turned around and headed back.

"Seriously? You think that by heading this way, you're going to die?" He called after me before I heard him growl. "Fine, know what? That's it. You're on your own. I'm done with your idiotic, 'prophetic' powers anyway. They're utterly useless."

I paused, looking back to see him disappearing into the dark. Then, shutting my eyes against the sting of tears, I walked back to the fork in the path. Settling down in the underbrush off to the side. If Lord Dominic was headed this way, he would be heading past in the morning. Better to hide and let him pass. Then...I'd figure out what to do next after that.

Man, this guy is a real jerk, huh? Good thing Monica isn't based off of me. I'd have hit him. Or at least wanted to.

Have a lovely night,
G'Night Stars!