Droplets (DROPLETS Trilogy Book 1) (29 page)

     My chest fell up and down as the reality of his words hit me like a blow to the gut. I realized what he wanted me to do, but couldn’t think of actually doing it. Would I really be able to escape without him if I got the chance? I shook my head at the absurdity of it all. It wasn’t going to happen, why would I need to answer him?

     “Promise me. Please,” Patrick spoke, his voice urgent.

     “I don’t think I can,” I choked out, deciding to tell him what I really thought. He exhaled loudly as though frustrated.

     “Look,” he said, his voice sounding fiercer in its raspy tone, “I love you more than anything I’ve loved in all the years that I’ve been alive. You’re the most important thing that has ever happened to me. Please promise me.” His croaked plea plucked at my heart and water filled my eyes.

     “I know,” I said, the emotion overflowing in my voice. “But I can’t leave you, I just can’t.” A sob escaped my lips and I reined in my strength to hold back the other sobs creeping up my throat.

     “Lissie.” He was frustrated and there was pain in his voice. “I’m not going to get the chance to escape. Even if I had the chance to I wouldn’t have the strength to take it.” He heaved a large irritated sigh. “Please let me have this one comfort. Let me know that you’ll try to save yourself if you get the chance.”

     The sobs I was trying to hold back broke through my thin layer of strength. I gasped for air as my whole body shuddered over and over again. I nodded my head to agree to his request before remembering that I actually had to speak.

     “I will, Patrick,” my tear-clogged voice spoke in the silent dungeon. “But I’m going to promise you something: if I get out of here and make it back to Lathmor, I’m coming back for you. I promise you that. We will come and rescue you.”

      My voice had grown fierce at the end of my little speech, and a plan began to form in my mind. I could escape, somehow, someway, and if I got to Lathmor, Tunder would know what to do. 

     Hope, which had been abandoned, crept back into my veins. It felt like the sun might yet rise again; that Patrick and I just might be together. Determination came with this hope and I realized that I was going to do this, that it had to be done.

     “Thank you,” Patrick said for the second time tonight.

     “I love you,” I said, hoping it was enough to comfort him, and he sighed happily.

     “I love you,” he said dreamily and then added, “more than you know.” I was going to reject that and say it wasn’t any more than I loved him, but stopped myself. He was too tired to argue and needed to rest. I let my thumb continue to rub his hand and he gave a contented sigh.

     Figuring that I would be sitting like this for a while, I moved to a more comfortable position. My back pressed against the flat, cold iron bars, with my hand still holding Patrick’s. I rested my head against the stone wall and softly hummed a tune, lulling us both into the peaceful bliss of unconsciousness.

28. Taken

Slowly I came to my senses, the grogginess leaving me and replacing me with awareness of how cold and stiff my body was. Shivering slightly, I looked around. It was darker in the dungeon now; the torches that lit the aisle the night before, had burned down and were emitting very little light.

     With a yawn, I moved slightly and stopped. My hand was still holding Patrick’s, and I didn’t want my movement to wake him. I could feel how icy our fingers were. I couldn’t help but notice that his hand was colder than mine.

     Biting my lip, I tried not to worry about him, but the rattling sound of his breathing only made me more fearful.

     I let go of his hand carefully. I had no blood left in my fingers and had to shake them to get some warmth. Our hands separated and I felt a stickiness on my palm and fingers. Curious, I pulled my hand back through the square bars and gazed at it. Horror filled me as I realized what was all over my hand.

     The dried red substance caused my stomach to turn and I began to see why Patrick was so tired. Desperate to know if the rest of him was so, I got to my feet with the help of the bars. My legs were wobbly as I stood and walked to the far end of my cell.

    Worried about what I might see, I took a deep breath before I squatted down. I hoped that with the curve of the cells I might get a glimpse of Patrick’s back or at least his arm.

     Through the dim light I tried to see him, and it took a long time for my eyes to adjust. After a while, my peering paid off. But what I saw didn’t help my stomach, but rather made it worse. I was able to see his arm, from his hand to just below his shoulder. Every area of skin was covered in some kind of bruise or cut.

     Tears spilled over my eyes as I realized the pain that he had been suffering. Part of me knew that I should have expected this, but I had been too stubborn to really believe it before. The tears flowed down my cheeks and I crumpled to the cold hard floor. I sat there silently crying, thinking of how he might die.

     Just then my promise returned to me; I was going to escape, I had to. If he was going to stay alive then I had to leave, and soon. Taking him with me was not plausible at all anymore. I had to get help immediately.  

     A new sound filled the dungeon. There were voices in the direction of the entrance. They were mumbles and I couldn’t make out what they were saying. It was not until I heard the loud clacking and grinding of a lock that I realized someone was coming; whether for me or for Patrick I didn’t know.

     I quickly crawled back to the edge of my cell and reached for his hand.

     “Patrick,” I whispered and shook his arm. He didn’t stir. “Patrick!” I said, louder through gritted teeth, and jerked his hand. He awoke with a groan. I felt bad for hurting him, but couldn’t worry about that now. If I saved him from being beaten for talking to me, then that was enough for now.

     “Listen, Patrick.” I hoped he was able to understand me. “Someone’s coming.” The pounding feet were headed our way. “You have to move.”

     Silence followed my words and I was just about to berate him again when I heard a very soft moan and knew that he was moving. His body slid against the ground as he pulled himself across the floor. I sighed with relief and skittered to the back wall of my cell. If I was the only one with strength then I could play the part of innocence. I could lie and say that I hadn’t spoken to him.

     The sound of thumping boots came closer and closer and I realized that there was more than one pair of feet. My heart beat began to pound in time with the footsteps and my breathing accelerated.

     Morven came into view first. Behind him were two other mermen but, not the ones who were the guards to the dungeon the night before. All three of the men stopped in front of my cell and stared at me. I glared back, hoping that I looked furious and not nearly as frightened as I felt.

     “There she is,” Morven said, the awful cold smile that he liked to wear present on his face. I just glared at him even more. I was shaking inside with fear, but refused to show it. Morven took a few steps back and glanced into Patrick’s cell. I couldn’t see his head as he tilted around the wall to look at Patrick.

     “Good morning,” I heard him say in a voice that made me furious. How could he still taunt Patrick after all he had already done to him?

     Morven’s head reappeared again after a moment and he looked at me. There was a burning glow in his eyes that I could not define. I realized that something big was going to happen in the next few moments, and that whatever it was it did not bode well for me nor Patrick. I hardened my expression and waited for what was to come.

     Morven kept his eyes on me, but cocked his head toward the mermen next to him. The look in his eyes reminded me of my nightmare. I could feel the chill in my spine as I watched Patrick dying on the open shore. I could feel the touch of Morven’s powerful arms around me, pulling me away from him. I swallowed hard, and forced myself back into the present. 

     “Take her,” he said, and I impulsively pressed my back harder against the wall, wishing it would swallow me whole.

     The mermen unlocked my cell and marched toward me. I didn’t have time to think, my mind was all in a whirlwind. I sat there, breathing heavily, my chest rising and falling with each foreboding step they took.

     The guard reached down and grabbed me under the arm near my armpit, just like Morven had done. I winced as he touched the area that Morven had made tender the day before.

      I was yanked to my feet. My hair swished in front of my face and the black fabric of the dress got caught between my legs. My wobbly ankles felt like they couldn’t support my weight, and for a moment I was happy to have the merman holding me.

     The second merman walked behind me with a rope in his hands, and it was only a moment before my arms were wrenched backward and tied together tightly. All the while I glared at Morven, hoping that my stare would kill him. He looked back at me, unaffected, the grid pattern of the bars shadowed his face, making him appear more mysterious.

     Something black closed my sight of him and the tight knot of the blindfold was secured over my eyes. My heart began to pound heavier. It was one thing to be handicapped without your hands, but without vision I felt completely dependent on those around me. My other senses heightened in response.

     The merman who still held my arm shoved me forward. I stumbled, and for a second thought I would hit the ground, but his powerful hand jerked me back to my feet. He led me toward the open cell door. 

     Once through the door, the merman surprised me by tugging me toward the left. I had assumed that we were going to leave the dungeon, but apparently not. We took a few steps and then I heard Patrick’s raspy voice.

     “Morven, no.” His voice was so full of pain that I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. We stopped walking. I heard Morven sigh heavily as though this was all so troublesome to him.

     “You know what?” Morven’s voice was dead and spiteful, the hatred clear in every sound he made. “You have been less than helpful lately so you’ve left me no choice.”

     “No,” Patrick said, his scratchy dry voice filling my ears. “You can’t. Please, I’ll do anything.” He was pleading, but I was confused and knew that I had missed something.

     “No,” Morven replied, his voice as cold as ever. “You’ve had your chance and this
thing
is just a distraction to you.”

     There was the sound of sudden movement like someone turning around, and then Morven’s powerful steps could be heard echoing off the dungeon walls. The merman jerked my arm painfully again and we took a few steps in what seemed to be the same direction as Morven. There was a loud groan to the side of us that I knew came from Patrick. Water filled my eyes at the thought of being separated from him again.

     “Morven!” Patrick’s loud yell reverberated through the silence and surprised me. I was not the only one who was jostled by the voice—the merman beside me paused momentarily.

     “Morven!” Again the dry, cracked voice yelled angrily.

     It was a frightening sound. I knew that it came from Patrick, but the voice was so foreign and full of anger that it terrified me to the core. There was a definite challenge in the voice; Patrick was furious. It brought to mind the few times I had seen the anger take over, when his eyes went blank and he became secluded. It was a fury that ran deeper than my understanding, anger that had been imbedded in him for the past seven hundred years.

     We started walking again. The merman beside me seemed cautious, but I was too distraught to think about it. My heart was left behind me.

     I heard a soft moan and wished that we could get out of this dungeon as soon as possible. I couldn’t stand to hear anymore of his pain. It was ripping away at my heart piece by little piece.

     “Lissie.” I heard my name being moaned and tried not to listen to what else he had to say, but my ears strained over the pounding boots anyway. “I’m sorry.”

     The tears were flowing fast now. The desperation and defeat had been so evident in his voice. I stumbled even more and relied completely on the merman’s strength. My weight didn’t seem to bother him.

     I heard the sound of a squealing door up ahead. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and my fingers became icicles. My senses were on complete alert. Something was definitely about to happen and I wanted to know what. The sounds around me became muffled and I realized that we were in a more enclosed pathway. And then a hand grabbed my head and bent me forward.

     “Watch your step,” the gruff voice of the merman beside me said.

     I put my foot out tentatively and tried to find the floor. I leaned down a bit and realized that we were supposed to go down some stairs.

     After about five steps we reached the bottom. I felt the merman straighten beside me and I followed his lead. We walked forward, and then all of a sudden he let go of me. I wavered in fear, feeling like the world was tipping and turning. A sharp blade cut my bonds, my wrists sprung free, and I heard footsteps retreat quickly and head back up the stairs. I waited for the loud squeal of the door closing, but it didn’t come. 

     I reached cautiously for my blindfold and pulled it off my eyes. The darkness that met my pupils was almost as bad as the blindfold. I blinked, trying to find some point of reference or object I could focus on. I could see nothing before me and turned to see if there was anything behind.

     A small sliver of light appeared in the darkness, I assumed that this was where we had entered. My mind was confused. Could I just go? What was happening? I stood there, frozen, unsure of what to do.

     A soft rustle brushed upon the floor. My breath caught.

     “Hello?” I asked, frightened. My voice was barely above a whisper.

     Nothing happened. I waited in the silence, not sure of what to do. Looking back, I found the sliver of light and took a quiet step backward toward it.

     Again the soft movement revealed itself. I froze, my blood rushing through my veins like never before.

     Everything happened so fast. I heard the fast sound of a step and almost instantly something grabbed me from behind. A blood curdling scream escaped my throat.

     Then, in the silence, a soft chuckle belonging to the creature I hated most filled the darkness.

     “Perfect,” he said under his breath.

     I turned to look at him, but something hit me hard on the back of the head. 

     Everything went black.