Chronicles of Araxx - Forever Broken

Everything in Annaleah’s cell had gone quiet. She finished her vegetable soup then placed the bowl on the ground.

A rat came out from under the door to finish off any scraps she might have left, but Annaleah did not leave anything. The food was far too precious to waste and leave to the rats. Besides, they were not her friends. The rats only paid her attention when she had food, and they were dirty. She was not much cleaner than the rats.

Annaleah looked down at her hands, her nails, and the years of dirt buried beneath them. She would give anything for a nice hot bath, and soap, and to be out of the hell-hole she was living in.

Maybe that time would come soon.

She could always hope.

Noises in the corridor outside her cell caught Annaleah’s attention. She strained her ears to listen.

It had been about two hours since her morning bowl of soup, and Annaleah was feeling a little more energised than usual.

If Kane was coming for her now, she was ready for it.

She readied herself for the inevitable pain to come, but the noises Annaleah could hear were different from Kane’s usual approach. She heard something she’d never heard before. A loud metallic bang different from that of a bowl being placed on the floor, and then it banged again. What could it be?

Annaleah moved towards the door, wanting to hear better, curious to know what was going on.

With her ear pressed to the heavy door, Annaleah listened closely.

Footsteps ran down the corridor at great speed, and Annaleah heard a voice she recognised.

“Whatever you do, don’t let them take her!” Kane shouted.

Panic filled her. Kane was already here.

She stayed by the door, listening intently, even when she wanted so badly to move away. To get as far away from Kane as possibly could, but she also needed to hear what was going on outside her door.

Why was Kane so afraid, and who was he talking about when he said don’t let them take her?

Annaleah stayed with her ear pressed against the wooden door, her heart beat so loud she wondered if Kane could hear it on the other side, but he was far too preoccupied with what was going on in the corridor.

“Who are they, Sir?” The guard who took over from sleepy just a few hours ago asked.

“Araxx,” Kane said.

Just one word, but from the reactions of the other guards, Annaleah could tell they knew what it meant. Her palms began to sweat. She was even more worried now because if Kane was scared of this Araxx then it could only be bad. Annaleah had never witnessed Kane being scared, ever.

“What are the Araxx doing here? I thought we’d stayed under their radar,” another guard said.

Annaleah could hear the voices of six guards outside her door, not including Kane.

“I thought we had too,” Kane admitted.

To Annaleah it sounded as if he was worried. If something could worry this cold-hearted man, then she sure as hell was worried too.

The sound of his fist slamming against the door made Annaleah jump back as the wood shook under the power.

“Get the girl,” a voice yelled from down the far end of the corridor.

Annaleah looked around her cell.

From the sounds of things, ‘Araxx’ was after her, and she wasn’t so sure she wanted to go with them. It didn’t sound as if they were there to rescue her. She had to find something to defend herself, but there was nothing in her bare cell.

Nothing but the walls, the door and the spiders creating intricate webs on the ceiling.

Nothing except her window.

The sounds were drawing closer, and her panic got worse. She’d felt fear often, but this was different. She did not know who or what was coming for her, or if they were friend or foe, but she did not want to stick around to find out.

Annaleah slapped herself on the forehead. “Idiot,” she said. She did not have to wait in her cell for ‘Araxx’ to come for her, she could escape through the window.

She looked over to the window with the bars leading to the outside world. This was her chance. This would be the day she escaped from the prison she’d been captive in for most of her life.

She smiled slightly, then caught herself.

Before celebrating her escape, she would have to first get through the window. After all, she did not know if she was even going to make it out, and for all she knew, there could be people waiting outside for her, anticipating an escape.

She had to hurry. It was either attempt to climb out through the window or get taken again by another person she did not know.

The shouting and loud noises outside in the corridor became louder and deafening.

Annaleah knew she didn’t have a lot of time before the ‘Araxx’ reached her door, then soon it would be her.

She heard the death-cry of one of the guards.

The shouting from the invaders grew even louder, and Annaleah could hear them clearly now.

“Our orders are to take Kane and the girl alive,” she heard one of them say.

That was enough to push her to the window.

Annaleah knew it would be a risk to escape in the daylight, and she was hoping she could wait for night, but now she didn’t have a choice any more.

She moved quickly towards the window, and using all her strength, jumped up to grasp the ledge. It crumbled a little under her weight, but it held. Annaleah then proceeded to push and twist the loosened bars at her window. She managed to get them out and they clanged on the cold steel floor when they fell from her hand.

Except for the last one.

She had not worked on this one yet, and it was not budging at all. Her fingers grew sore quickly from pushing and prodding on the bar, and her arm began to shake from holding up all her weight.

There were more loud bangs and cries of pain from outside the door. The sound of a punch landed in the corridor, and then a retaliating bang.

Annaleah was not sure how long she had to make her escape. In a desperate attempt to free the last bar so she could escape, she pulled and twisted it faster, trying to pry it from the concrete, but it was stubborn.

“Come on,” Annaleah spat through gritted teeth.

H hand began to bleed with the force of twisting the bar making her palms slip around it and then it moved a little but was still far from coming loose.

Something slammed hard against the door of her cell, then a booming voice came through the wood. “I take it she’s in there then Kane?” It asked.

“You killed all my men, you bastard!” Kane shouted. From the sound of things, he had his face pressed up against something, most likely the door.

Annaleah let herself imagine his handsome face pressed up against the wood, wrinkled and ugly from the pressure, his blond hair all messed up and no longer perfect.

“Yes, we killed your men, but you will stay alive. I have a need for you,” the man said. “Open the door,” he ordered.

Annaleah pulled at the bar frantically but it was not budging no matter how hard she pulled at it.

The door shook, but it did not open.

“It’s locked,” one of the men with the Araxx said.

“Of course it would be locked,” the man with the gruff voice said. “Where’s the key?”

Kane just started laughing. “As if I’m going to tell you... Ugh.” It sounded as if a punch landed in his stomach, knocking the breath right out of him.

“Break it down!”

A repeated barrage of knocks, bangs and pushes on the door followed the order until the wood creaked under the increased pressure.

Annaleah knew then she was not going to free the bar from its hold before the door broke down.

Instead, she decided to try a different tack and started lifting herself through the gap she had already made. It did not look big enough, but she had two choices; be captured by this ‘Araxx’ or get through the gap, and this choice was more preferable.

She pulled herself up, getting as much of her body on the ledge as she could, then she put her right arm through the gap, followed by her shoulder and head.

When she heard the sound of Kane laughing again, she took a millisecond to glance at the door. They had not yet broken through.

She managed to get through to her waist before the doors opened and she heard it go with a crash as it hit the floor, shaking the walls of her cell.

“Quick! Before she gets away!” The man with the gruff voice called out.

“Idiots!” Kane called.

Annaleah knew he’d be mad when he found out she’d escaped. She turned around as she pulled her legs and bare feet through the gap.

It was then she caught sight of the silver weapon in the hand of one of the guards. It didn’t look like much, but the guard who was holding it looked like he knew how to use it.

She caught a glimpse of Kane through the broken doorway. His face was crumpled and there was blood on his cheek from where it had been smashed against the door. He looked pissed.

Annaleah just couldn’t help herself, the look on Kane’s face was just too good to waste. She looked directly at him, smiled and stuck her middle finger up at him, before turning and running as fast as she could.