A plate of food was pushed in through a small opening at the bottom of the door. It was a small and long slit, suitable for a plate of food and anything else small that was to be placed inside.

Adar walked over to the plate of food, seeing meat for the first time in two weeks. Rice was also in the plate along with beans.

It had been a day since he attempted to attack Langstrom, and suddenly he received a plate of food.

What fools... do they believe me to fall for something as ridiculous as this ? Poison.

"Eat up. " said the guardsmen, looking through the bars. 

Adar picked up the plate and held it out to the guardsmen, behind the bars.

"I do not have much of an appetite right now,  you may have it if you wish or someone else who is hungry might appreciate it more than I. "

The guardsmen eyed him, "I'm under orders to give you the plate of food, nobody else may touch the food but you. "

"You're under orders to keep watch and to keep the prisoners in their cells unless called out. But you allow them to fight out of their cells." said Adar smiling. 

"I'm also under orders to make sure you consume your food. No matter what it takes even if I must forcefully and manually make you do so." 

Adar took a few steps back and threw the plate of food at the bars. The plate broke on impact causing food and plate pieces to scatter inside and out the room. The guardsmen cursed. The food had landed all over him. 

"I should teach you respect vermin! "

Adar put up his fists and pulled his sleeves down to his elbows. "Why don't you try to you sorry excuse for a guard. "

The guardsmen's face turned bright red. He pulled out his keys and began to unlock the door. 

This is my chance, thought Adar, Once I deal with him I can finally escape this miserable place. 

Another guardsmen came from behind the angered guardsmen trying to unlock the door. 

"Smith you fool!  Do not unlock that door,  no matter how angry you are!  Have you gone mad! "

Smith spun around to meet his fellow guardsmen, "Robert, he has disrespected me.  I will not allow that to go unpunished! "

"If you open those doors then Langstrom will bestow upon you a bigger punishment than the one you will give the boy!"

Smith seemed to hold his anger upon the reminder of Langstrom. 

" You'll be rotated out for the next guard in an hour." said Robert. " Hold that anger of yours in until then. We cannot afford to make any mistakes while Langstrom is here. He accepts nothing less than perfection."

Smith hit the door and walked away, cursing loudly. Prisoners from across the hallway began to Jeer from inside their cells. 

"The fools gonna get it now! "

"A fight I would bet on! " shouted another. 

Laughs began to rise.

Robert walked to the door and banged his fist on it.  "Keep quit!  If you persist to make noise you will be punished without mercy! "

The men seemed to have gotten the message,  thought Adar. Silence followed after the guardsmen's warning.

Robert walked back to Adar's cell, " One more mistake like that and you'll regret it. "

Adar looked forward at Robert , "The man's lucky I didn't throw the bucket of waste at him !" He said it loud enough for all to hear.

A roar of laughter can from all the cells. 

Smith shouted more curses, aggravation taking hold of him.

Robert turned and yelled, "Quit! All of you!"

Then resumed his attention back to Adar once it quieted down. "Look here, I have no patience for imbeciles such as you. One more act like that and you will wish you were dead! "

Adar smiled and sat on the floor.  Robert gave him a glare through the bars, then left.

I was close this time ... just a little more time soon I'll be free. 

He looked over at the bucket of waste, chuckling as he did so. Maybe I should've thrown the bucket of waste at him.

Langstrom was outside of the building. He was preparing the saddle on the horse he was going to ride. He turned to speak to the man who would be in charge when he left.

"Do as you usually do, you have done well here. I will be back in a few days to check up on the boy.  Be sure to have some information out of him by the time I return."

"Yes sir, we shall have more than sufficient information out of him. "

Langstrom mounted his horse and set off. A group of his men awaited near the path they would be taking. The man placed in charge of the building, while Langstrom was away, was Captain Barnett.  A man who had served and been with Langstrom, nearly since the beginning of Langstrom's militia.

Captain Barnett had been in charge of this building ever since it was made, only relieving his charge over it when Langstrom presented himself. That was the rule that applied to all Captain's in charge of any building. Several of these buildings were placed all around the 13 colonies.

Captain Barnett turned around and headed for the building. The horse stables were kept in the back. That is where most of the men hated to work,  the stables. Most preferred guard duty.  Not that it would matter, most of these men were paid equally low.

Melanie stood out of the cell she just came out of . She looked down, her arms hugging herself. Those poor girls, how they had been treated, and there was nothing she could do.

Melanie looked over at the guardsmen sitting on a stool, another stood leaning against the wall opposite the other. 

" Well, let's hear it. " Said the guardsmen leaning against the wall.

" Is it a fever?  should we be concerned and move the others to another cell ? We wouldn't want to spread the illness. "

Melanie Wished to help those girls. How miserable it must have been to live in that cell. Some had been her age, 13 . She wanted to help, but she couldn't.

"Its a normal fever. " Said Melanie  glaring at the guardsmen leaning again the wall . "And at this point it wouldn't help,  all you would do is spread the illness by moving the rest to the other cells. "

The guardsmen laughed, "Well it can't be helped can it. Thank you for the visit Melanie you may be on your way. "

Melanie waited until the guardsmen on the stool went to unlock the metal door at the end of the short hallway. The cells, holding all the women prisoners, were identical to the ones holding the men. Melanie had been to the men's cellar on occasion to try to treat a few of the sick men.  She had always felt uncomfortable,  most of the men in the cells whistled at her,through the bars,  as she passed by to get to the cell she needed to enter.  The fact some  were drunk did not help, she had wondered how the men had obtained rum.  Rum was prohibited to be given to the prisoners.  Of course,  she was always accompanied by a guardsmen while she was in a men's cell. She was an an important source.

Melanie began to walk to the steps once the metal door was opened. She walked up the stone steps followed by the guardsmen. The guardsmen knocked on the metal door once they were at the end of the stone steps.

The door began to slightly open. A guardsmen was outside, watching the door. He fully opened it once he saw Melanie and the guardsmen. 

They always took precautions when Melanie entered the cellar.

They locked the Metal door at the end of the steps, from the outside, and not giving anyone the key to open the metal door from the inside. Even if someone got by the metal door at the end of the cellar hallway,  it would never ensure they would be free. The would be escapee would be never get past the second metal door. There was no way to obtain the key to that metal door,  while Melanie was there.

Melanie stepped into the blue, rectangle room. The guardsmen , stationed to watch the door, closed it behind them.

Melanie walked to the doorway. The two guardsmen began to laugh behind her.

"She's a fighter. We tried to get her out of the cell for a little enjoyment,  but the others in the cell helped her out. We couldn't fight them all. But we'll be sure to get her out next time. "

Melanie stopped at the doorway.  She felt like turning around and screaming at them, telling them that women should be treated far better. She calmed herself.  She had heard worse, she would get word to Captain Barnett of how they were treating the women. Most likely he would only yell at them maybe even discipline them. But in all reality he himself didn't care.  He didn't bother with what occurred in the cells.

Only when Langstrom was there did anyone care.

Melanie entered the hallway that lead to the main hall of the building. She walked furiously down the hallway. A noise stopped her walk down the hallway. A man was cursing.

"That Is the last time that boy ever talks to me like that!  Ever! "

She heard another voice. 

" Relax, Smith.  They will hang him next week, that's what Langstrom ordered.  We just have to get as much information out of him as we can.  Langstrom seems to have a interest in him. "

Melanie walked forward.  The voices were  coming from the room to the right of her. She stopped near the doorway of the room, listening to the conversation.

"He threw a plate of food at me!  When it broke on the bars,  it went all over me . Then he had the nerve to say I was lucky that he hadn't throw the bucket of waste at me. I have no patience for a brat like that. "

Melanie gave a chuckle.  She immediately covered her mouth. She hoped they hadn't heard her. The man began to rant on, confirming that the man was to loud to have heard Melanie chuckle.

Melanie then passed the doorway.  The two guardsmen were standing in front of the metal door to the men's cellar. They seemed to have malice towards the boy were talking about.

She continued to walk down the hallway,  until she reached the main hall. It was surprisingly quiet today. Most of the time Langstrom's men would be unfocused on their work, procrastinating on most of their jobs and being just lazy.

She walked past the stairs towards a door at the other end of the main hall. She opened the door and entered a short hallway. At the end of the hallway was the room she was currently staying in. She walked to her room and opened her door. Once she closed the door,  she began to sob, putting her face into her hands. She made her way to her bed and sat on it. She couldn't take this life anymore. 

It had been a year since she had been kidnapped.  She was being held prisoner . The very first time she was held in one of the buildings,  she met an apothecary.  He quickly took her on as her apprentice. She already knew some herbal remedies from working with her mother,  who was a mid-wife .  She had started going with her mother  and learned from her mother as she delivered children since age 11. But at age 12 she was kidnapped.

The apothecary had died six months ago, from a bullet wound. There had been a battle, a town's militia had defended against Langstrom's militia. Langstrom's militia took the victory. They raided the town, taking many women as prisoners.  A group of men gave a final attack on Langstrom's Militia. The apothecary had been their during the attack. He was in the Crosse fire. He was shot in the midst of the battle, trying to get to a few of the wounded men. He was bleeding profusely on his way out of the battle field. He died shortly after. Melanie was devastated after she received news. He was the only friend she had.  She was always stationed across the colonies,  usually only spending two weeks at a building. she had traveled a lot. The apothecary was a good man,  but she could never understand why he would willingly work for the militia.

Melanie had cried herself to sleep and was awoke by a knock on the door.

She sat up and fixed her cap.  Her blonde hair came from underneath her cap.  Her hair was unkempt. 

Melanie walked over to the door and slightly opened it. "Yes?  what is it that you need? "

One of Langtsrom's men, Darius, stood outside the door. He was tall and burly.  Melanie recognized him,  she often saw him leaving the building. He worked with the outpost group.

"We need you to come down to one of the cells. A fight occurred between prisoners.  One of them was badly hurt,  we need you to come down and take a look. "

"I'll be right there, just allow me to grab a few things.  " Melanie went to her bed and pulled a bag from underneath it.  She kept her tools there.  She quickly made her way out of the room. Darius was waiting outside the door. 

Melanie quickly followed after him, once he began to set off at a fast pace. She was having a bit of trouble.  He must have realized it, She thought,  for he started to slow down.

They were soon at the room of the metal door.  Melanie looked out the windows, seeing the beautiful colors of the clouds and sky. It was going to be night in a an hour or two.

The guardsmen opened  the metal door,  and they both made their way down the steps to the cellar door.

Once inside the cellar, the guardsmen led them to the cell of the first injured prisoner .

The cell was opened and Melanie went in and began to work on the man. Darius stood behind Melanie, holding high a lantern lighting the room and observing the others in case any tried a reckless attempt.

The injured prisoner was about 20 , a healthy man .  He had brown, matted hair  and a round face.

His face was bruised,  his nose was bleeding and most likely broken.  As Melanie began to clean his first cut, she could smell his rank breath. It reeked of Alcohol. He grinned at seeing Melanie getting close to him. He made an attempt to grab at her. The act was quickly noticed by the Darius .

"If you want to keep your hand,  I strongly suggest you put that filthy excuse for a hand down. "

The man put his hand down and mumbled something under his breath. 

Melanie took a small cloth out of her bag, "Take this and hold it onto your nose with your thumb and forefinger. It should stop the bleeding. "

A prisoner sitting in one of the corners began to sneer,"Girl don't you know it's good to bleed?  Bleeding takes all the humours out the body.  "

Melanie ignored the man, the apothecary had told her otherwise.  He believed blood was a vital for the body. But that was just a theory said by the apothecary, nonetheless Melanie still believed it.

Melanie finished with the man and walked out of the cell and asked the guardsmen where the other injured prisoner was.

The guardsmen pointed to the middle cells.

"The other prisoner is in the middle cell on your right.  Might want to watch yourself,  he's a real troublemaker, has been ever since he got here. He's too dangerous to be with the others so we have to keep him isolated."

Melanie began to get nervous.  She had never encountered such a prisoner before.

"What exactly did he do? " asked Melanie.

"He murdered a few of our fellow militia men in cold blood, they say he has a demon in him. We had to beat him off the other prisoner or he would've surely killed him if we had not intervined. "

Melanie's eyes widened. The guardsmen seemed to enjoy seeing her scared.

"They say he evens talks to the devil while he's Inside that cell. "

"What exactly was he doing out of his cell? " asked Darius. 

The guardsmen dropped his laughing face." Well... He. "

"Captain Barnett will hear of this,  so will Commander Langstrom."

The guardsmen fell silent and lead them to the other prisoner's cell.

The guardsmen opened the cell door.

Melanie was reluctant to enter.  Darius  entered first, holding his lantern high.

Melanie followed after Darius. Maybe it was her or not,  but Melanie felt the air was colder than usual. The light in the lantern seemed to start dying down.

She first saw the black leather shoes, then the black trousers. The prisoner was sitting against the wall, opposite side of the door.His foot was on the floor and his  knee was pointing to the ceiling. The other leg was laying down, knee touching the floor with the foot underneath the lifted leg.

Darius walked forward. Now all of the prisoner was shown by the light,  except the upper chest and face.

Melanie began to feel scared. She saw the fingers of the prisoner resting on the stone floor. They were covered in blood.

Darius stopped 3 paces from the prisoner. The prisoner's head was now in range of the light. Melanie expected to see a demon. She only saw the top of his head, since he was looking down. Melanie saw the long sleeved, blue shirt.

The head lifted up. Melanie unexpectedly saw the face of a boy who couldn't be more than one or two years older than her. His hair was dark. His face had a bruise on the left cheek, he also had a cut on his forehead.

Adar looked up to see one of Langstrom's men. He was surprised when he saw a girl in a red dress.  She wore a white cap over her blonde hair. She had a slim face.  She looked nervous, scared even.

Melanie went forward and knelt down in front of the boy. She put her bag to the side and began to work on him.

Adar felt the girl put pressure on the cut he had received on his forehead. He received the bruise from the other prisoner and the cut from the guardsmen.

***

Adar had finally accepted the offer to step out and fight.

He had won, but when given the Rum he poured it all out. Infuriated, the loser of the fight attacked him. Adar sent the prisoner to the floor with a hook. The guardsmen intervened and delivered a few blows to Adar. Then they held him, holding his arms behind his back, letting the loser get a few free shots of him. Adar brought his legs up and pushed off the loser, ramming backwards into the guardsmen . The loser fell back and hit the wall. The same happened to the guardsmen holding Adar.  The guardsmen  became infuriated and threw him into his cell. One of the guardsmen threw the flask at his forehead, cutting it. He touched his forehead and brought His fingers down to see blood.

***

Melanie had finished cleaning the cut.

"This might hurt a bit. " said Melanie as she put honey on the cut. She expected the boy to flinch, but he never moved a muscle.

Adar looked at the girl's eyes. They were the color blue. She had unkempt hair, but even that didn't stop him from seeing her as pretty.

"Thank you. " Said Adar.

Melanie was astonished. She didn't expect the boy to talk. She was almost wordless. 

" Your welcome. " replied Melanie.

Melanie got up and brushed the front of her dress down.

Adar looked at Darius then at Melanie . A plan began to form in his head.

"Maybe I should get hurt more often, then I could see you're pretty face more. "

Melanie sighed, for a second she truly thought this boy to be different than the rest of the wild, lusting men in the cells.

"Don't be foolish. " said Melanie, " Its hardly worth it. "

Adar smiled, " I doubt it.  At the very  least I could talk to someone. Its lonely and friendless down here. "

Adar noticed the interest that showed on Darius's face.

That should do. Thought Adar. I just have to wait a little more.

Melanie felt a bit of sympathy upon hearing that.

" I'm sorry to hear that."  said Melanie.

She turned and walked to the door. Darius followed behind her. 

The guardsmen opened the door.  Before leaving, Melanie gave a quick glance back. 

The boy was leaning against the wall. He had a hard cold face, but his eyes told a different story,  they told a story of hurt . Maybe he had meant those words of it being a friendless place . Melanie regretted looking back. She couldn't do anything for any of these people no matter how much she wanted.

Adar saw Melanie leave. He felt a tinge of guilt for saying he only wanted to see her for her looks. Adar thought her nice and friendly, she sure seemed like it. The only thing that bothered him was the fact a girl like her could be in a place like this. Maybe she, too, was being held here against her own will. 

Once Darius had escorted Melanie back to her room,  He immediately reported to Captain Barnett's office. He gave a full report on what had happened. 

"Yes, those two guardsmen will be punished." Said Captain Barnett. " Is there anything you would like to augment? "

Captain Barnett was seated at his desk,  while Darius stood in front of his desk.

Darius nodded, " Yes, Sir. I would like to add something else.  The boy showed interest towards Melanie. He seems to have a weakness for pretty faces. "

Captain Barnett smiled, " It seems we may be able to get some information out of him without having to use force. Melanie could very well pry it out of him. Good work noting that. Langstrom well be very pleased to hear your success. "

Darius nodded once again,  "Yes sir,  and thank you. "

Adar sat on the cold floor, thinking deeper and deeper.  He had over heard some of the guardsmen speak of having to get information out of him.

Whatever they want from me they won't get it. Soon I'll be out of here. I just need to get a hold of that girl. She is the key to my escape.

Adar smiled. Soon he'd be out of there. After that he would quench his thirst for revenge.

                   End Of Chapter