Escaping the Dark
This is a slightly longer story I wrote a long time ago and recently went back to edit to better match my current writing style. This story features a twist at the end, something that I often find myself writing, especially in short stories. And while I don’t typically read stories that consist of horror and/or gore elements, I do tend to enjoy writing them. I have, however, always enjoyed stories with a good plot twist, or something you least expect happening, and this is something I definitely tried to include within this story. Hope you enjoy!
After a day and a half of walking, the group suddenly stops at a wrought, iron door. If it weren’t for the guards surrounding her and directing her forward, the girl in the front would have nearly missed it as vegetation has hidden the door behind thick foliage, almost as if the jungle is trying to swallow it whole.
They all pause, standing and waiting for something to happen. The girl feels her pulse quicken and a lump catches in her throat as anticipation for her impending doom seemingly hangs in the air around them. Then, almost painstakingly slow, the door begins to open with a deafening groan. Above them, birds scatter, startled by the sudden noise.
The girl now takes a moment to stare down into the dark tunnel before them, the cool misty air an almost pleasant greeting from the summer heat. She then glances at the four guards surrounding her, forming an almost square formation. They stand tall, their armor imposing and glinting against the sunlight. Large spikes protrude from their shoulders, the points incredibly sharp. Every inch of them is covered in metal, their masks hiding their faces and boots heavy on their feet. Each of them holds large spears in their right hand, the weapons standing almost as tall as the guards themselves. Not one of them made a noise the entire journey here, and they had not taken a single break despite it being so hot in the jungle.
She turns to the tunnel once more as every bone in her body is begging her not to take another step, not to begin the inevitable descent down the winding staircase leading to the dark. She can faintly make out lanterns lining the walls, but otherwise, she can tell no light penetrates the thick stone walls of the dungeon.
Having decided she has hesitated for too long, the guard directly behind her suddenly barks an order and shoves her forward. With a squeak, she barely catches herself from falling over and begins walking. The stone is cold beneath her bare feet, bloodied and scratched from walking barefoot through the jungle. She wears a torn, white dress that is stained with either blood or dirt - she hasn’t quite decided which. Her face, legs, and arms remain covered in the same dried-up substance and her brown hair sits on her head in an unruly mess. Her blue eyes stare forward, struggling to adjust to the darkness and she has a hard time keeping herself from frequently stumbling down the steps.
The ceiling grows taller as they descend, any outside light vanishing as they go deeper, and she faintly hears the door shut behind them, beginning her long sentence. Every couple of feet sits a lantern above them, swinging back and forth in invisible wind and creaking slightly. Water drips somewhere into a puddle, the sound loud in the silence. Despite the heat outside, the stone of the dungeon allows the area to remain cool, and she finds herself shivering as they continue down.
Forever passes before the group finally reaches the bottom. A large, wooden desk sits at the end, and a young man quickly stands from a chair upon their arrival. After giving a short bow, the man reaches for keys hanging on a hook beside the desk, and they give a small jingle as he secures the ring around his wrist. No words are exchanged as the man leads them down a dark and narrow hallway. Every few feet lays a turn to either the left or the right, leading into unknown darkness, but the group continues to move straight.
All along the hall sits iron bars and doors on either side of them, silent prisoners sitting or standing on the other side. Most of them remain quiet, watching the group slowly pass by, but every so often a hand will reach out and brush their fingertips on the girl’s dress.
“So beautiful,” one prisoner mutters to himself. “Let her stay with ole Chester. Chester will take good care of her.” The girl shudders and suddenly finds herself trying to quicken her pace.
Minutes pass by before they finally stop outside an empty cell. The man lifts a key and unlocks the cell door. The guard behind the girl now grabs her arms, removing the thick iron chains dangling around her wrists. Then, the guard to her left pushes her inside with such force that she stumbles and falls to the ground. She reaches her hands out in front of her, barely catching herself, the stone cutting into her palms. Pain lances through her knees and she can’t help but cry out as the cell doors slam shut behind her. She turns around, tears brimming her eyes, and she sees the guards already marching off back from where they came.
The man, however, remains, staring down at her.
Their eyes lock and it’s as though time slows down. His eyes are a deep chocolate, a stark difference from her blue ones. His hair sits in a tousled mess on his head, and the color reminds her of raven feathers. He’s young, she decides, but definitely still a few years older than her. He looks like he’s been down here for a long time, though, and not at all what she would guess a prison guard to look like. He wears a white blouse, stained from sweat and dirt, and his pants seem loose around his thin waist. He looks kind, she thinks to herself. But she knows looks can be deceiving. Still though, perhaps he might be able to help her get out of this desolate place.
Several moments pass as he continues to stare down at her, and the girl quickly becomes annoyed, erasing any curiosity she still has. Finally finding her voice, she says, “What?” The word sounds scratchy, but her tone is clear. She’s not questioning him, but rather letting him know she is officially displeased with this interaction.
He smirks. “Nothing,” he says, his voice deep as he places his hands in his pockets. He has a thick accent, one that she has never heard before.
“You keep staring,” she accuses, her eyes pointed in a squint. “Go away.”
He looks away with a shake of his head. “I’m sorry, Miss. I don’t mean to. It’s just, you’re not the usual kind we get down here.”
“What’s the usual kind that you get down here?”
He thinks for a moment, his eyes locked on a lantern next to her cell. “Well, for starters, they’re not usually young and pretty,” he starts and she feels heat rise in her cheeks. “Also, they usually have this look on their face, one that says that they’ve done wrong. You? You don’t have that look.” His eyes move back to hers. “What’s your name?”
“Didn’t they tell you?”
He shakes his head. “Nah,” he begins, “they don’t usually tell me who they’re bringing me and why they’re bringing them. I just know when they’re coming.”
The girl contemplates this for a moment, and she’s finding it harder and harder to distrust the man as time passes. Still, though, she remains wary. “Lily,” she finally answers. “That’s a little strange, though, don’t you think?
He shrugs. “If you think about it, then sure, but I think that it’s sometimes best that I don’t know what some of these people have done. Gives me nightmares.” Lily nods in understanding and the man gives her one last smile. “Well, I should get back to my station. I’m Thomas by the way.”
Thomas then walks away, leaving Lily alone. She takes a look around her cell, suddenly feeling the coldness and the fear that she had managed to ignore up until this point. She takes a moment to assess her surroundings and takes note of some cracks in the cell walls and a puddle of dark water in the corner. Time no longer seems to exist as there is no way of telling where the sun or moon sits in the sky. Very faintly, the sound of rushing water is heard from nearby and Lily wonders if it’s raining outside or if there’s a river flowing somewhere close.
Moans and groans can be heard from up and down the hall. Someone begins crying out in the distance followed by the sound of chains scraping against the ground. Someone else shouts back, yelling at them to be quiet and everything goes silent once more.
Lily slowly stands, her knees sore from landing on them during her fall. She notices that they are scraped and bleeding slightly, but there’s nothing she can do about it now. She walks over to the bars of her cell and peers down where Thomas had gone, but she can’t see him in the faded light of the lanterns. Never in her life has she felt this alone and scared before and it takes her a moment to realize that she’s crying.
She slides back down to the ground, her body shaking as she finally lets out all the pent-up frustration she’s been feeling. She’s innocent, they have to know that. So why did they bring her here? Why did they lock her up in a place where she surely doesn’t belong? She cries for what feels like hours, but when she’s done, she walks over to a patch of old hay placed by the back wall of her cell and cries some more. She lays down, her mind swimming as she attempts to close her eyes. It takes some time, but eventually, she falls into a deep sleep, the dungeon disappearing around her.
***
Lily doesn’t know how long she sleeps as she slowly opens her eyes and sits up. She doesn’t remember where she is at first, but her heart sinks as she gathers her surroundings. Oh… Right. She sighs and leans her back against the wall as she stares at the metal bars in front of her. The lantern still flickers outside, the flame dancing around in its little cage. She isn’t sure how long she’s been down here, or how long she was asleep, but it already feels like an eternity has passed.
Her stomach growls and she puts a hand to it. When was the last time she had eaten? Or had water? Are they going to feed her or let her die of hunger and dehydration? While part of her hopes not, she can’t help but believe it might be a better fate than rotting away here forever.
She continues to sit there, only moving to get as comfortable as she can be. She sits there, her mind blank as her eyes concentrate on the tiny flame within the lantern. Hunger gnaws at her insides and her throat is dry as she tries to will the need for food and water away. Every so often she’ll shiver as the cold gets to her, the thin fabric of her dress no match for the cold dankness of the underground. Perhaps if hunger or thirst doesn’t kill her, the cold surely will.
Minutes, hours, or even days must pass before Lily suddenly hears the sound of footsteps coming from down the hall, and then Thomas is suddenly standing outside her cell once more. Their eyes meet and he looks at her with a big smile. “How are you doing in there?”
The smile annoys her and she can’t help but glare at the boy. “Fine.”
Either he ignores the death look she gives him or he doesn’t notice, but he continues smiling and rocks back on the heels of his feet, his hands stuffed into his pockets. “I know that it can get pretty lonely down here. It’s dark and cold, but I promise you it’s not all bad.”
“Oh, really?” Lily asks dubiously while surveying her cell once more. “Do enlighten me.”
He rubs a hand on the back of his neck as he thinks for a moment, not really sure what to say. “Well,” he starts, “there’s… You see…” When nothing comes to him, he sighs and looks down at his feet with a sad look. “I guess there isn’t anything that great about being locked away, is there?”
Lily rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, officially feeling done with him and this conversation. “What do you want?”
He shrugs. “I just wanted to see how you’re doing,” he states. “You’re different from the others, I can tell. So I wanted to make sure you were doing okay.”
“Well I’m doing fine,” Lily says with a warning in the back of her throat. While she might be cold and hungry, she doesn’t exactly have the patience to talk about the state of her well-being at the moment. Why does he care anyway? Is this all just some sick game to him? Does he get pleasure out of standing there and watching her suffer?
Thomas stands there, chewing on his lip as he thinks about what to say next. “What are you down here for anyway?”
Lily looks away now, a feeling of sadness suddenly taking over her. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” she says more to herself than to Thomas. “I tried to tell them that, but they didn’t believe me.”
Thomas nods. “You look like the innocent kind,” he muses. “You don’t look like you could hurt a fly let alone commit a crime.” When Lily doesn’t say anything, Thomas continues, “How old are you?”
“Nineteen.”
Thomas whistles. “I don’t think anyone down here is any younger than thirty,” he says. “What do they think you did?”
Lily looks back at him, a hollowness filling her chest. “I don’t know.”
Thomas gives her a strange look. “You… don’t know?”
She shakes her head and looks down. “I… I can’t remember anything. All I know is that I closed my eyes and when I reopened them, I was being held to the ground by some guards. I’m not sure how I got there and I tried telling them that I didn’t know what happened, but they wouldn’t listen. Instead, they made me walk through that jungle to here and-” Lily chokes on the tears that now stream down her face. “I don’t know what they think I did or what I could have done. Maybe I am guilty, but I couldn’t tell you what I’m guilty of. I have no memory of the incident and all I want to do is go home to my parents. I know that they must be worried about me.”
“Hey,” Thomas says, going to his knees so that they are at eye level. His hands go over the iron bars as he looks at her. “Hey, it’s okay.” Lily buries her head in her knees and sobs, her whole body shaking. She doesn’t hear the door open nor does she hear Thomas enter her cell, but she jumps when she feels his arms wrapping around her. “There, there,” he whispers. “It’s okay.”
She cries for a moment longer, but the comfort of Thomas hugging her calms her down and she looks up at him with a grateful look. “Thank you,” she manages as she wipes tears from her cheeks. “I’m just so scared and confused.”
Thomas rubs his hand up and down her back. “I know,” he says, his voice soft. “I know.”
They stay like that for a while, neither of them talking or making a move to stand. Lily’s eyes move to the open cell and she thinks about making a run for it, but she knows that it’s pointless. All she would end up doing is getting lost down here and surely Thomas is faster than her and would catch her in no time. Plus, running wouldn’t help her case. If anything, it would make matters much, much worse.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Thomas whispers and her eyes snap over to him. “And honestly, I wouldn’t blame you. I don’t even know if I would stop you. But I do know that you have a better chance at surviving down here than you do up there.”
Lily nods in agreement. Even if she did manage to escape, there’s no telling what she would face out in the jungle. Just thinking about it causes the hair on her arms to rise. She looks away again as she straightens her legs out. “Won’t you get in trouble for coming in here?”
He shrugs. “Not like anyone is down here to tell me otherwise,” he laughs. “Besides, I couldn’t be the asshole that just stands there and watches you cry. What kind of gentleman would I be if I did that?”
Lily laughs, the sound foreign in her ears; it feels like it’s been forever since she’s laughed. “I don’t think you would be a gentleman at all.”
He laughs some more, the sound warm and comforting to Lily. “Exactly. I’ve got a reputation to keep up with around here.”
Lily raises an eyebrow and shakes her head mockingly. “We wouldn’t want to ruin that, now would we?”
Thomas smiles and stands up. “Of course not. Old Billy a couple of cells down would be truly disgusted.”
Lily laughs some more, causing Thomas’s grin to widen. Soon, though, he sighs and Lily’s own smile falters. “Unfortunately, I have to get back to my post,” Thomas says. “They’ll be bringing down rations of food and water here shortly and they’re never happy when they have to wait on me to return from roaming. I’ll be back soon, though.”
Lily nods but perks up at the idea of food and water. “I understand.”
Thomas smiles once more before leaving the cell and locking it behind him. With one final look, he gives Lily a curt wave before walking back into the darkness and disappearing once more.
***
Days pass and Lily finds herself beginning to settle into her cell. Sure, it’s cold and it’s wet and there’s nothing comfortable about it, but Thomas visits regularly and she gets food and water twice a day. Even though she has no concept of day or night, she’s starting to notice a pattern. One meal comes in the morning, and one comes in the evening. The portions are small and consist of a brown sludge and stale bread, but she’s coming to tolerate it as it eases the hunger pains.
Thomas spends most of his time with her but disappears every so often to either wander around the dungeon or to greet the guards bringing food or new prisoners. She soon learns that he’s been an orphan for nearly his whole life, his parents having passed away when he was only six years old. He’s twenty-two now and has been working as the dungeon “key master” (as he calls himself) since he was sixteen. He’s allowed to leave the dungeons every fourteen days for three days at a time to clean himself and visit with friends out in the world. He doesn’t know who takes care of the prisoners while he’s away, but when he returns it’s as though he never left.
“It’s not the most pleasant job,” he said one day. “But it pays in food and shelter, and it definitely beats working as a servant in the King’s castle. I would take isolation over the kind of abuse those people face any day.”
He also knows the names of every prisoner in the dungeon and how long they have been down there. He avoids learning what crimes each prisoner has committed, though he’s acutely aware of which cells to steer clear from and which cells are safe to get close to. Lily is the first he’s befriended and the only one he feels comfortable around. He’s heard the whole “I’m Innocent” story from hundreds of prisoners in the past, but Lily is the first he truly believes.
“I leave tomorrow,” Thomas says one day as he sits outside of Lily’s cell. “I’ll only be gone for a few days, though.”
Lily looks down at her hands in her lap and nods. She feels a wave of sadness washing over her, but she tries to push it away. “That will be nice.” This isn’t the first time he’s left since she’s been down here and she’s always aware that it is coming, but it doesn’t make it any easier. Loneliness creeps in fast when he is away and the guards who come to ration the food aren’t nearly as nice as he is.
He nods in agreement and the two fall into an awkward silence. Lily’s mind goes to the outside world and all she has probably missed. Her father’s birthday most likely has come and gone and her older brother’s baby has probably been born. It scares her to think that she might never leave this place and never see the light of day again. She misses the sun on her face and the feeling of the summer breeze on her skin. There’s one thing she wants to do most and that’s to take a bath. Her skin is caked with a good amount of dirt and she feels as if she will never be able to get it off if she gets the chance.
“Do you think I will ever get out of here?” Lily asks Thomas, looking back up.
He sighs and looks away. “I’m not sure,” he admits. “I don’t think anyone has gotten out of here before.”
Lily shakes her head in confusion. “It just doesn’t make any sense… Is there no trial? No innocent until proven guilty?”
Thomas shakes his head. “Unfortunately, no. I’ve never heard of anyone getting a trial before. I guess that’s just something the King does. He locks you down here and then that’s that.”
“So you’re saying I’m stuck down here forever?”
Thomas stands up and looks down the hall, a stern look on his face. He looks as if he is fighting an eternal battle within him.
“I’m not sure, Lily,” he says, his eyes cast down. “But I really hope not.” He then walks away, leaving Lily alone once more. She doesn’t know why, but the air suddenly feels colder with him gone, the knowledge of her future weighing her down.
***
Lily doesn’t know how much time passes when she is woken up by the sound of her cell door opening. She cracks her eyes open in confusion and she barely mumbles a “What?” before Thomas’s hands reach out, helping her up.
“Come on,” he whispers. “Let’s go. We don’t have a lot of time.”
Lily stumbles after Thomas down the damp hallway, sleep still clouding her mind as she tries to process what is happening, “Where are we going?”
“I’m getting you out of here,” Thomas replies and takes her hand. “We need to hurry.”
They finally reach the desk that sits at the bottom of the staircase and Thomas hurries up them. Lily finally realizes what is happening and quickens her pace to keep up with him. Her heart beats heavily in her chest, her mind swirling at the idea of being free. Just last night she had come to terms with being a prisoner for the rest of her life, but now with freedom so close, she nearly sprints past Thomas to get out faster.
It feels like ages before they finally reach the dungeon’s door and Thomas swings it open. Hot air hits their faces and Lily nearly cowers back into the darkness, the bright light blinding her. She might have only been down there for a month or so, but it felt like years. She pushes through the pain and continues, knowing that if they were to hesitate for even a second they could be caught.
They run through the jungle, the bushes and trees reaching out to scratch them. Thomas doesn’t slow down for anything, not even when Lily begs him to stop. Her lungs are on fire and her muscles hurt from the lack of using them. The sun beats down on them overhead, the rays poking through the trees burning their skin. They seem to run for miles when Thomas finally slows and turns to Lily, breathing hard.
“How are you doing?” He asks, placing both hands on her shoulders as she tries to steady her racing heart.
“I-I’m okay,” she answers through pants. “What is happening, though? Why are you doing this?”
“I couldn’t stand to see you suffer down there,” he says. “I’ve seen what happens to people who get put down there. I’ve seen what that place does to them. I couldn’t let that happen to you.”
Lily shakes her head as she places her hands on Thomas’s arms. Her legs are shaking and she feels as if at any moment she will fall over. “You’ll get in trouble though. Why risk it all for someone you barely know?”
Thomas shrugs and helps steady her. “I… I really don’t know. I honestly don’t know. Every day I would visit you and I could see how lost you were - how confused you were. You didn’t belong down there. You didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”
Lily opens her mouth to reply, but before she gets the chance to say anything, a shout is heard from the distance. “We should go,” she says, though her body protests as they begin running again. They run fast and take sharp turns in hopes of losing the guards now chasing after them, but it’s no use. The shouts keep getting louder, the guards quickly gaining on them.
“This way,” Thomas yells back at her and he turns. The pair comes to a river, the water flowing rapidly. “Once we cross this river, we will be close to the neighboring territories. Once we cross that border, they can’t touch us.”
Lily nods and they quickly make their way to the moving water. The water is cold on her feet and she resists the urge to cry out at the sudden temperature drop. The river attempts to hurdle the two downstream, the rapids strong as it nearly sweeps them off their feet. They wade out, the water slowly rising to their chests. From behind they hear another shout and Lily turns to see two guards pointing at them from the water’s edge. They begin to throw rocks at them as two more guards push their way through the thick jungle, bows in their hands. Arrows barely miss the duo as they keep pushing through the strong current.
“Thomas,” Lily calls out, her breathing heavy and her muscles on fire. “I-I don’t know how much longer I can go.”
Thomas looks back at her and reaches for her hand. “It’s going to be okay. Just come on.”
“Thomas,” she says again and stops, the current knocking into her and she barely manages to hold her ground. “I can’t.”
“You can,” he says, grabbing her arm. “We’re almost there.”
Lily reluctantly lets Thomas pull her along and they somehow make it to the other end. They breathe heavily, their clothes heavy with water. Lily lies in the grass, her hands below her as she tries to push herself up, but it’s no use. Her vision is going dark and she can faintly hear Thomas in the background yelling at her to get up, his arms around her as he attempts to lift her. Her body is rolled onto its back and she’s lifted into the air, her damp hair floating behind her as Thomas presses her into his chest, his feet moving once more.
He’s not entirely sure what’s happened with her. She was mostly fine moments ago, but something changed when they were almost out of the river. He curses to himself, hating he waited so long to decide to break her out. Of course she wasn’t ready for something like this. Her body is too weak to run for this long.
Behind him, he hears guards shouting and the splashing of water as they try to make it across. Arrows continue to zip past him as he runs in the now open space of a field, Lily heavy in his arms. He’s still not sure why he’s doing this, but ever since the day she was brought into the dungeon, he’s been obsessed. She has this aura around her that makes her presence addicting and he feels like he would do anything for her.
Pain. That’s all Thomas suddenly feels as an arrow strikes the back of his calf, sending him falling to the ground and he cries out.
Lily tumbles out of his arms and her limp frame rolls a few inches in front of him. He looks at the arrow that has impaled him, a crimson substance oozing out from around the wound. Tears stream down his face, but his determination allows him to momentarily forget about the pain as he stands once more. He reaches for Lily and finds her skin cold to the touch, her eyes pointed up at the sky with no sense of life left within her.
He looks back at the guards who are almost to the river’s edge, the current strong enough to slow them down. Thomas looks back to Lily in confusion before he begins picking her up once more. How could you be dead? He thinks to himself. How on Earth did you die so quickly? When we are so close to escaping? Perhaps the stress of being wrongfully arrested had finally gotten to her? Escaping might have been the last straw and Thomas doesn’t think he could ever forgive himself.
The boy begins limping forward, wincing at the pain stretching from his leg to his chest. He feels sick and sweat marks his brow as he continues to push himself. However, he is so focused on getting away that he doesn’t feel Lily turn in his arms and the warmth spreading through her body. He doesn’t see her white irises turn black and the stream of blood that slowly starts streaming from her mouth.
A loud crash comes from behind and Thomas pauses to turn. His eyes go wide at the scene displayed before him. A large tree from the jungle had fallen into the river, crushing a few guards that were too close. The water levels rose and washed away any remaining guards in the river. Three more guards stand on the other side of the bank and two more had successfully made it across. All five of them stare at the fallen tree and the still-rising water in shock before turning back to Thomas and Lily.
In Thomas’s arms, Lily begins to shake. Heat radiates from her skin and Thomas nearly drops her in surprise. Dark, red stains her lips and runs down her chin in thick sludge. Her skin turns pale and dark veins stretch along her arms and face. Thomas sets her down on the ground in fear. Horrified, he takes a step back as she slowly stands, her face dark as she regards him and the guards.
One guard shouts and sends an arrow flying through the air. It slams into Lily’s chest and she gives out a scream as it knocks her back. Ripping the arrow from her chest, she lets out a horrifying screech and raises her hands. To Thomas’s dismay, the ground begins to break apart beneath them. Tree roots grab at the guards and wrap tightly around them, bringing them to the ground. The guards scream and try to remove the roots choking them, but it’s useless. Eventually, their struggles become slow until they aren’t moving at all, leaving Thomas to stare at them and the monster in horror.
The boy falls to his knees as he watches Lily fall back to the ground, her body still once more. The color returns to her skin and the dark veins disappear. Her eyes flutter open, the color returning to her face, and she slowly sits up in a daze. Her dazed eyes wander around the clearing until they land on Thomas.
“W-what happened?” She asks, but before she can get a good look at the guards behind Thomas, he quickly stands and helps her to her feet, blocking them from view.
“You fell asleep,” he lies. He’s not sure why - moments ago he was prepared to run away from her while screaming. Seeing her now, though, back to her normal self reassures him and he feels that obsession to protect her coming back. “We got away, but you were so tired you immediately passed out from exhaustion. But you’re awake now, so we should keep going.”
Lily nods, but she knows something is missing from her memory, just like the day she was arrested. She feels something stir inside her, a terrible feeling that causes the hair on her neck to stand up, but she ignores it and shakes her head. It’s nothing, she reassures herself. Nothing's wrong. With that, she allows Thomas to lead her away from the clearing and over the hill, leaving everything behind.
