The ship flowed perfectly on the sea and Cole smiled at the wheel, finally confident again. We were heading back to Central Cara where we would all find shelter somewhere. Hopefully. We didn't know how long we would be hiding. Cole, Landon, and I began to butter-up the royals. For all we knew, the two of them could easily tell the royal council that we kidnapped them. The royal council would believe them, too. We are crazy golden eyes after all.

    Prince Lucas was below deck and being abnormally quiet. I knew there was something wrong because he hadn't even yelled at Cole once today. I went down to go see if he was okay. "Oh! Hey, Vera." he said. I could tell he was upset.

    "What's wrong?" I asked.

    "I... I'm just nervous that if I go to Cara I'll have to face my parents again." he started to say. "You should've seen their faces when they took me away. It was like their hearts broke right in front of me."

    "If they love you, they'll forgive you." I comforted.

    "And my sister...it'll never be the same," he cried.

    "Princess Abigail loves you too. And she will protect you. She always has." I told him.

    "But, what if this is the one time she doesn't? What if she finally believes what the people say? What is see me as the rest of the kingdom does?" Prince Lucas asked.

    "If she doesn't see the purity in your heart, she has to be blind. You're one of the best things this empire has. I genuinely believe that. Don't let a few rumours take that away from you." I said. "I've got to go. Will you be okay?" I asked.

    "Yeah," Prince Lucas replied. I started to walk back up the stairs. "Wait!" he called up to me.

    "Yes?"

    "Thank you."

    I climbed up the stairs going to see how much longer we had until we reached Cara. Cole told me that we were almost there. And believe me, I love sailing, however I am ready to get back on dry, safe land.

    "We'll be in Cara just after dinner time," Cole reported to me. I smiled at the thought of being free again. I loved the rush of being on the run. I love knowing how far I can run.

    When we arrived at Cara, we were completely exhausted. We all searched for an abandoned cottage to sleep in for the night. "Here's one!" Prince Lucas observed.

    "Perfect!" Princess Heather said.

    "I don't know guys, shouldn't we go a little deeper into the country? You know, just in case?" Landon asked looking around nervously. Princess Heather grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

    "I haven't sleep in two days, my dress is torn, my legs have enough blood to fill a jar, and don't forget... I'm a princess. So, we are sleeping here. That okay with you?" Princess Heather sassed.

    "Yes, your highness," Landon obeyed. Prince Lucas and I held our breaths. This was going to be a long night.

    We each found our own corner of the cottage. Cole took the window where he looked out for anyone suspicious. Princess Heather snuggled against Prince Lucas claiming she was cold. I was appalled that she had the audacity to flirt at a time like this. We were LITERALLY on the run!

    To this day, I can still picture each face in our little group. Princess Heather's long blonde hair flowed and swayed as she talking, her eyes piercing. Prince Lucas's silly confused grin. Cole's broad shoulder that could carry a million burdens. And Landon's smile that I could never figure out.

    That night every single thing I knew (and I didn't know much) was swiped away from me right under my nose. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we all listened to Landon.

I felt a cold metal touch my neck. My eyes quickly snapped open, shocked. The warmth of men filled the cottage and the whimpers of my friends made me question what was going on.

    The men forced me up and kicked the door open, pulling me out of the cottage. It was morning now. The morning seemed less peaceful today. I witnessed the tragic faces of my friends. Princess Heather was silent and her face was still. Prince Lucas was on the verge of crying. Cole stood as straight and still and guarded as the day I first met him. And Landon. That day was the only day I saw true terror in his eyes. His eyes flashed golden almost as if he was playing reruns of old episodes he knows too well.

    "We need each of your names." the man commanded. When we hesitated he screamed, "NOW!".

    "Cole." Cole finally blurted.

    "Cole... what?" the man asked.

    "It's just Cole, no last name, sir." Cole told him.

    "Unusual." the man replied still in a strict tone of voice.

    "What about you, miss?" the man asked gesturing to Princess Heather. Princess Heather hid her face burying it into her cloak.

    "My name is Betty Lee." Princess Heather told them. The man nodded. We all went on like it was nothing. Princess Heather wasn't lying because she wanted to save herself. She was lying because she wanted to save us. At that very moment, she could have said she was the lost princess and all of us would go to prison for kidnapping her. Yet, she didn't. For the first time ever, I was glad she talked.

    The man glanced at the sight of Landon and immediately pointed to the carriage. "Where are you taking me? Let me go! Let me go!" Landon yelled at the top of his lungs. I closed my eyes for the fear that they would do the same for me. They were quiet. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes again. Once I did, the ground shook and the men all stumbled to the ground.

    "Put her in! Put her in!" the man yelled quickly. He seems terrified of me. I could never imagine being terrified of 4 '11 16-year old. The men grasped me tightly and violently crammed me into the carriage beside Landon. I looked for comfort in Landon's eyes but all I found was fear. Fear of going back to the place he knows too well.

    Once they realized who Prince Lucas was, he was in the carriage with us. He was a disgrace, too. The men told Cole and Princess Heather that if they were to be caught again associating with us, they'd be dead.

    The carriage ride was silent. The men were scared of us and we were scared of them. Not a single word was spoken. The tension in the air spoke too many words to count.

    Prince Lucas and Landon's heads pressed against the doors. Landon's eyes staring at the grass pass by through the hole in the door.

    I wanted to scream. I wanted to scream. I wanted people around us to know that we were like them. We're the same. We're all human. We're not monsters. We are just different.

    And then I realized something. When I lived at Gwenie's Angels, the village surrounding us was extremely poor. And every other week or so, big men like these would come and take someone away. And the person in the carriage would scream and scream at that top of their lungs pleading and begging for freedom. And my teachers would shield me away telling me it was too ugly to see. The students and teachers thought the people in the carriage were completely insane. I did too. I realized now that I am one of them.

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    If I could describe Dimmer's Prison in one word, I would say "cage". It is like all of us are a pack of wild animals being contained. Once we entered the prison, I was in complete awe of all of the golden eyes. Prince Lucas stood out being the only black eye... except for the men.

    The man dropped the three of us off in a holding cell with few words. Landon dropped to the ground once we entered. I had to stop the silence. "It's okay, guys. I have a plan! I saw a small dent in the stone when we were coming in. Maybe we can find a way to get out of here! Then, we'll go back home. It'll be fine!" I said in one breathe. Prisoners stared at him and rolled their eyes. Prince Lucas and Landon were silent.

    "Vera! Don't you understand? It took me over ten years to break out of here! And even in the process, I was almost caught. We are not getting out of here!" Landon said softly through his hands.

    "Well, it will work out. I promise. I'll get us outta here!" I replied hopefully.

    "Why am I so fucking nice? Why did I let those guards tell me that I was a golden eye to protect you? Why did I let you follow me when I knew this would happen? Why did I ever think that I would save you? I'm not a hero and I never will be! I should've left the both of you in that fucking cave!" Prince Lucas yelled.

    Landon grabbed Prince Lucas by the collar slamming the prince to the stonewall. "What the hell was that for?" Prince LUcas yelled. Landon shushed him.

    "You'll get us tickets!" Landon cried.

    "What are tickets?" I asked.

    "Tickets to the show!" Landon cried once more.

    "What show?" Prince Lucas asked rubbing his arm. Landon pulled us in close. I felt the stares of the other prisoners burning through my back.

    "If a prisoner is really bad or resisting, they get hung. And if you disobey or you are too loud, the men will give you a ticket to watch the show." Landon whispered. Prince Lucas and I looked at each other.

    "Have you... have you ever seen a show?" I asked.

    "Yes." Landon mustered to say not looking me in the eyes. I could tell that he didn't want me to see him as a prisoner.

    We heard a crisp knock on the cell. Our heads turned sharply. "Come on out, y'all are being moved," the man said.

    "Are we being freed?" Prince Lucas asked innocently. Landon nailed the prince in the stomach. The man didn't answer, but we all had an idea on what he was thinking.

    He took us into a bigger prison cell separating Landon and I from Prince Lucas. Prince Lucas went into a small cell by himself isolated from the golden eyes. Landon and I joined a group of golden eyes our age. Each teen was quiet and disturbed... that is until they saw Landon.

    "Landon!" one of the boys yelled.

    "Landon!" one of the girls squealed kissing Landon on the cheek.

    "Ooooh you have a friend!" the boy said sizing me up. I rolled my eyes. The boy shook my hand with a firm grip much like Landon's. "My name's Ross. And you are..."

    "Vera." I replied.

    The girl slung herself on top of Landon. "Landy! I missed you terribly!" she cried.

    "That's Liv." Ross introduced. Liv just waved. Landon pulled her off of him. He took my arm pulling me in close.

    "They are all golden eyes, each one of them." Landon told me. My jaw dropped open and I looked around. They all looked like regular people... well regular prisoners.

    "How'd ya get outta here?" Ross asked.

    "Long story." Landon said not looking Ross in the eyes. Ross was like a brother to him. Landon couldn't bear to dangle his few days of freedom over Ross. It wouldn't be fair. Ross deserved freedom just as much as he did.

     "So, ummm... Vera... you single?" Ross asked running his fingers through his hair. Landon lightly wacked him on the arm.

     "I'm not looking for a boyfriend or anything." I told Ross. Luckily, he respected my wishes and stopped flirting.

     "What about you, Landy?" Liv asked twirling her hair.

     "Liv, I told you already. I am not looking for a girlfriend right now." Landon lied.

     "Just know that if you ever need anything... anything... let me know!" Liv smiled.

     "Be careful or I might actually take you up on that..." Landon snickered. I followed him like a lost puppy around the cell. The cell reminded me of Wisehall in the way that it had obvious groups. There were people who were friendly and people who were frightening.

    "So..." Landon said.

    "So..." I laughed.

    "I'm sorry," Landon apologized out of nowhere.

    "What for?" I asked.

    "For everything," Landon replied. "For this. I know that you don't belong here... or fit in. I'm sorry."

    "Why are you sorry?" I asked nervously laughing.

    "Because I do." Landon mustered to say.

    "You know, Landon, I am as much as a golden eye as you are!" I laughed trying to keep things positive. I kicked a rock across the floor.

    "You may be, yeah. Yet, you still have the glimmer of hope in your eyes. Look around and you'll see everyone here has lost that long ago. That's something I love about you. You still have hope, even now." Landon smiled. I hugged him suddenly coming to the realization that it was very possible that we were in a prison cell.

    "I'm scared." I said.

    "I know." Landon replied pulling me closer and protecting me from the world I never knew existed. I wiped a tear from my face.

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