❝How can the dead be truly dead when they still live in the souls of those who are left behind?❞

-The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

✕✕✕✕✕

Darkness.

That's all there is.

I have no dreams as I sleep. It is always just eternal night. Even after I open my eyes, all I see is shadow. No memories or visions flash before my eyes.

It takes time - maybe minutes, maybe hours, maybe longer - for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting.

Only then do I realize the situation I'm in.

My hair is plastered to my face with sweat; I anxiously brush it out of the way. My throat is tight and I'm breathing hard. My back aches as the hard floor underneath me pushes against my skin. Every inch of me is shaking.

I can vaguely recall what happened. I went to the cemetery, Mor appeared, and then we were taken away by Angels of Death.

Mor. 

I sit up. Mor... where is he? Where am I?

Taking in my surroundings, I see smooth marble floors and black walls, similar to Mor's apartment. The ceiling is pyramid-like, with a small lantern hanging from the point. But that's not all - I have my back to something, too.

So I turn, and see a wall of bars. Beyond that lays a hallway with more cells, and standing outside of mine is a figure in a black dress, jacket, and boots. She holds her scythe at attention, as if she's guarding me.

I'm in a dungeon, I think to myself. Oh my God, I'm in a fucking dungeon. I've been transported to Narnia and now the White Witch is going to execute me.

I try not to panic, taking a deep breath. I have to find Mor - I have to find out the whole truth.

And somehow, more than that, I want to make sure he's okay.

My neck cracks as I shift forward, and my guard turns around. The sight of her eyes makes me want to throw up.

It's Sabine.

"Lila," she says cloyingly. "That's your real name, right? Lila Aleja Cabrera Diaz. Pretty. Forgive me if I can't do the Spanish accent as well as Amara."

"Sabine," I reply weakly. "Where am I?"

"The Citadel of Souls."

She glances down and starts picking at her stiletto nails. I wait a moment for further explanation, but I get nothing.

I take a breath and try not to give into how drowsy I feel. The Citadel of Souls, I echo to myself. My shock sets in a second later.

Mor had said that's where the mysterious Council works. Oh my God, I think to myself. What if we're here to be punished? What if - shit.

"Sabine," I repeat, "Where is Mor? What's going to happen to him?"

Sabine rolls her eyes dramatically as she looks up at me again. "I have no idea where he is, okay? He's probably somewhere in here. And they're probably going to send him to Hell or something, I don't know."

Send him to Hell?! I don't mask the shock on my face. He truly was risking his future by talking to me. Now I feel horrible, as my thoughts echo, Oh my god.

He's a deity of death, a veritable monster, and yet...  I decide I have to find him. I have to help him.

I have to get out of here.

My guard has turned back around, her apathy getting the better of her. I sigh deeply, wishing I had an ally in what I'm about to attempt to do.

I scan the cell again, picking up more things as I wake up further. There's cracks in the marble, cobwebs in the corner, and - there, on the left wall, a vent.

I guess they do have to provide ventilation to humans like me.

Grimacing at the thought of more innocent people struggling to stay conscious on hard marble floors, I stand up. Sabine doesn't turn, thank God.

The vent is covered with a grate, so I can barely see the shadows lurking behind. I'm just tall enough to reach the screws. It's bolted in tight - but the screws are big enough that if I had something to turn them with, I could probably get them out.

I'm still wearing Will's letterman jacket. How many flowers have I bought in this jacket? How much change have I saved up?

Fishing in my pockets, I feel around for coins. In the left, there's a hair tie, a receipt or two, and a tube of lip balm. In the right, there's 4 or 5 dimes, and I'm about to pull them out, until my hand lands on something folded.

It's small, and papery, so I curiously retrieve it. Then I open it, and my intrigue turns to surprise as I put a hand to my mouth to muffle the inevitable sob that chokes out.

It's a photo of Will and I. We have to be about 9 or 10. We're both grinning big, each missing a tooth or two, and we're standing outside The Ridge. Will has a Jackals hoodie on and I'm holding a maple creemee, despite the fact that it has to be September or so.

I had no idea this was in here. This had to be a remnant of when Will still owned the jacket.

I wipe salt from my eyes.

To my chagrin, I can't remember the exact moment the photo was taken. But I was happy - I can see that in my toothy smile and twinkling eye. There's ice cream dripping down my chin.

I touch my chin in the present, and feel it's now wet with tears instead of Vermont's signature dessert.

My eyes turn over to Will. He's happy, too. His hazel eyes are focused on something beyond the camera, and if I can recall correctly, I believe it was his dog, Blue, who must've been just a puppy at the time.

Will had begged his parents to get the dog for months, before they finally gave in. I went with them when the Nyquists drove to the nearest shelter and picked a Great Pyrenees puppy who'd been abandoned by its breeder. She'd been severely malnourished, but Will and I took pride in how we quickly nursed her back to health. Frank, Will's dad, decided to name her Blue, after one of his favorite classic rock bands - Blue Öyster Cult.

The band that sang (Don't Fear) The Reaper.

I glance at Sabine. She's still paying no attention to me whatsoever. I glance at the vent. If I use the dimes, I may be able to loosen the bolts.

I glance at the picture.

Young Will and I's smiles tell me to keep going.

So I gently stand on my tip toes, slip the dimes into the screw heads, and turn. It takes a while, and I almost start feeling hopeless, before finally, one screw falls out. I quickly catch it before it can clatter to the ground.

Sabine hums unknowingly.

Sparing a wary look in her direction every few minutes or so, I loosen the other three as well.

After the last one, my luck runs out. The grill tumbles out of my grasp, crashing against the marble floor with a sharp bang. I fumble to pick it up, but not before Sabine whirls around faster than I can blink.

"What," she hisses, her confident, uncaring demeanor gone, "do you think you're doing?"

"Uh... escaping?"

Sabine sneers, immediately producing a key from her jacket and unlocking the cell to approach me.

Her walk is determined, her eyes black diamonds. She's going to hurt me in some way, I know it. She'll take me to a cell I'll never escape.

I don't know what to do. So, impulsively, I throw the vent grill at her.

It smacks her square in the head, knocking her back a few a feet. I don't wait to see how else she reacts.

I turn, and rapidly pull myself up into the vent shaft. Years of climbing to things - namely Will and I's tree houses and the Nyquists' roof  - makes me prepared for this moment. It's a challenge, definitely, scrabbling through the small opening. But I hear Sabine swearing at me, low and gutteral, and I know I have no other choice.

I've seen movies where in the most dire of situations, people become mystically calm. Perhaps its the intense desire to escape said dire situation, but that's how I feel right now.

My heart is about to pump itself out of my chest, and my neck hurts like hell, but it only takes a second before I have both feet inside. There's only black ahead, but behind me, Sabine is recovering from her injury. I know she's coming towards the grate, about to attempt to climb after me.

So I take a deep breath and crawl down the vent shaft, into the heart of darkness, never looking back.

✕✕✕✕✕

A/N: I'm trying to make my chapters shorter so I won't lose y'all's attention!

What do you think will happen next? Will Lila escape? How are they going to punish Mor? Will Lila and Will ever see each other again?

You'll find out soon :)

Please vote and comment! I have a select, like, 8 of you who always read these chapters and I just have to say thank you for the consistent support!

Positive vibes, stay awesome!

xoxo, Athena

✕✕✕✕✕