Unwilling (Book One of the Compelled Trilogy 1) (27 page)

As always, Jacob carried a large dirty bag with him and he placed it on the ground now, beside him, turning to place the light he carried on the table that sat against the wall a few feet away from the cage. Jacob pushed things around inside his bag, muttering to himself. He turned his head to the side and Rowan spied what looked like bird feathers poking out from the back of his tangled hair.

Jacob pulled a metal fork looking thing from his bag and he held it out to the light. Then he turned away from her, bending over the lock on the cage door. Rowan could see his hands moving, though she couldn’t tell what he was doing.

He jiggled the fork inside the lock, his face screwed up in concentration. He cursed several times and the words sounded funny to Rowan in his sandpapery voice. He hit the cage door with his palm then continued moving the fork around, first fast, then slowly, spinning it in an ark until at last Rowan heard a faint click, and the cage door swung open.  Rowan could have hugged him, her heart leaping in her chest, but Jacob stooped to grab his bag, returning the fork to it and hobbled off quickly, grabbing the lantern from the table. Rowan followed hastily, hoping the old man knew the way out of the maze like cave, cause for the life her, Rowan knew she would never be able to lead them out of the caves.

They creeped down the long walkway that led to the cage. Rowan hardly breathed, listening for sounds of someone coming, her heart hammering inside her chest to loudly. When they reached the end of the tunnel Jacob sniffed the air, his nose crinkling. Moon Shine mimicked the notion and Jacob followed as the ferret made a left turn, scampering ahead of them in the dark.
Is that how he plans to get out? To follow the ferret?
Rowan was skeptical, but for all she knew the little creature was capable of sniffing its way through the caves to fresh air.

Rowan heard voices and they flattened themselves against a wall. Jacob doused the flame and it hissed in protest, little tendrils of smoke whirling toward the rock ceiling, betraying their location.

“He’s getting closer.” A male voice said in the tunnel ahead of them.

“We might need to move.” Kastor mused. Rowan would know his voice anywhere. His dry, cruel voice haunted her every thought .

“He could be standing right on top of us and never even know there was a door.” The first voice responded and the pair laughed, turning into another tunnel before even coming into view. Rowan exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding, her heart pounding almost painfully against her rib cage. Sweat dripped down her forehead and she wished that she had thought to grab the dagger before vacating her prison. The least she could do was take one of her captors into death with her if she and Jacob were found, crouched together along a rock wall.

Jacob grabbed her wrist, his fingers like ice on her skin. His hands were moist but they felt strong and Rowan allowed herself to be led from the wall, down the path Moon Shine had scampered off down. It was hard to see and Rowan continually stuck her hand to the right of her to be sure they still followed the wall. The stayed on the same path and every few minutes Jacob would click his tongue urgently.

Rowan grew more and more nervous when Moon Shine did not reappear, wondering where the ferret could have gone. Rowan wondered if they would be lost down here forever, circling the same tunnels again and again in search of freedom if the ferret never came back.

Rowan detected a miniscule light ahead of them, a tiny pinprick in the unbearable darkness, and they edged toward it cautiously. It did not sway as a lantern would, so she doubted it was a person coming toward them, but if there were light then there would likely be a person in the general area.

As they came closer, they found that the tunnel opened up into a cavernous room. The ceiling was low, but the depth and width of it astounded Rowan. She could hardly see the other side of the room, across from them, and it was shrouded in darkness. Shadows danced on the cave walls, making the room look malicious and frightening. The width of the room appeared to be dozens of her height across, probably more. An uncountable number of tunnels splintered off from every side, like a spider web, and they were snared in the very center it. Rowan deflated.  Despair ricocheted inside her as her eyes flicked from one tunnel to the other. There were too many to choose from and without Moon Shine to choose one, they would never pick the right one.

Jacob clicked his tongue; Moon Shine was nowhere to be seen. He clicked it again and whistled slightly and Rowan could feel the desperation behind the shrieking sound. Rowan wondered how long they would stand there, waiting for the ferret to come back. They didn’t have to wait long.

They heard footsteps coming toward them from behind and they rushed forward, looking for a place to hide. Jacob tripped and fell, crying out as his knees struck the hard, rock, ground, his bag flying through the air to land with a thud, where it toppled over, spilling jars and other strange looking devices out onto the ground. Rowan whirled around to help him, pulling him urgently to his feet with a complaint from her body. The footsteps echoed closer toward them, filling the cavern with the sound of their inevitable capture.

“Does this belong to someone?” Kastor asked stepping from a tunnel just in front of them. He held Moon Shine by the hind legs, her long skinny body scrambling underneath his outstretched arm. Kastor had a scratch mark across his face and Rowan could see blood welling between his fingers as if Moon Shine had bitten his hand.

Moon Shine skittered agitatedly, twisting her body and scratching the air with her tiny paws. Jacob made a horrified sound deep in his throat and looked at his pet desperately, fear and anguish engraving themselves on his wrinkled face.

“Just let them go, I promise ill come back with you.” Rowan pleaded, questioning why she ever thought she could escape.
What had possessed Jacob to even come down here in the first place? He is but an old man with a ferret
. Rowan knew none of them would be leaving the caves alive, knew it from the moment she was carried down here.

“Well I can’t let that happen.” Kastor replied, his voice filled with mock concern. Kastor reached down- it seemed to happen slowly- Jacob lurched forward as Kastor’s thick fingers gripped around Moon Shines neck. Rowan cried out. Jacob was three steps away, two, when the snap rang through the room. It bounced off the walls, reverberating back to them. Rowan screamed. Kastor overturned his hand, letting Moon Shines lifeless body fall flaccidly to the floor with a thump, just in time for a sobbing Jacob to fall to his knees and scoop her tiny body into his arms. Jacob buried his face in her pelt, her tail hanging limply, her small head turned to the side. The small animals’ lifeless eyes stared at Rowan accusingly.

Jacob lifted his head, tears streaming down his face. He shook his head at Kastor, who responded by kicking the old man in the stomach. The impact sent Moon Shine flying into the air, and Jacob backwards, his head smacking painfully against the floor. Jacob mumbled, trying to move. His hand reached out toward Moon Shine as though she had not just died and she would come scrambling toward him. He clicked his tongue.

Rowan hurried forward, falling to her knees beside Jacob. His eyes were red and dazed and when she lifted his head, red blood seeped into her hands.  Behind Kastor another man appeared, he was smaller than Kastor, but still massive, muscles rippled across his body. He had sandy hair and his eyes seemed to far apart, his nose small and crooked as though it had been broken. Jacob clicked his tongue again. Tears pricked at Rowan’s eyes as she soothed the old man’s scraggly hair away from his face.

“Grab her.” Kastor ordered menacingly. The sandy haired man started toward Rowan, she would have backed away but refused to leave Jacob, who continually clicked his tongue. The sandy haired man’s hands were rough as they grabbed Rowan by the shoulders, holding her tightly. Rowan thrashed against him, kicking her legs and trying to scratch at his arms, but it was futile, like trying to break apart a rock with her bare hands.

“Just let him go please! He’s just an old man!” Rowan begged, tears falling in earnest down her cheeks. Jacob rolled onto his stomach, the back of his shirt was growing dark with blood. He reached again for Moon Shine, for her unresponsive corpse that lay crumpled on the floor several feet away. He clicked his tongue again as though that would force the life back into her.

Rowan pushed against the sandy haired man but he squeezed tighter, his long fingernails digging into the fleshy parts of her shoulders.

“He’s an old man with a tongue, and I can’t have him telling people where I am. I have to protect Cecily.” Kastor explained to her. His voice was hard as he took decided steps toward Jacob, who was crawling along the floor on his belly, inching his way toward his precious pet, his tongue clicking all the way.

“Please!” Rowan screamed, the word thrown back at her as the echo carried around the room. Kastor stood over Jacob, who was still slowly trying to make his way to Moon Shine, his hands becoming bloody as they tore on the razor-sharp, tiny, rocks that made up the cave floor. “Please!” She begged again. Kastor looked up at her and she thought he was going to heed her pleas, but he only gave her a sharp look, careful not to look to long into her eyes. He raised his heavy boot above Jacobs head, and grimaced as he slammed it down.

“JACOB!” Rowan screamed, raging against the man that held her. He held strong though and she couldn’t even loosen the grip he had on her. “Nooo! NO!” Rowan shouted again as Kastor brought his boot up once more.

Jacob writhed on the ground, his face a bloody mess as he dragged air in and out of his lungs. His hand was stretched as far as it could, trying to reach still for his ferret even as he lay dying. “Moon Shine.” He called, his voice small, barely a whisper. He tried clicking his tongue but his mouth was full of blood and he gagged on it, spitting the red liquid across the floor. Kastor raised his boot for a final blow.

“Rowan. My son… you must tell him… I need him to understand why… for Katia, and for you and your brother, I am sorry. I have failed you.”
Jacob spoke, the words bouncing around inside Rowan’s head, a foreign voice her brain had trouble accepting.
Kastor’s boot was descending now, and descending fast.

“Please stop, please just stop!” Rowan begged, tears blurring her vision as she thrashed against the sandy haired man. Kastor’s boot came down and she heard the sickening crunch as Jacobs’s skull caved in. “Jacob!” Rowan screeched, trying harder than ever to free herself. She kicked hard behind her, her foot connecting with the sandy haired man’s knee, causing him to stumble slightly and loose his grip on her shoulders. She snapped her head back, connecting with his nose and he cursed loudly as he released her.

Rowan bolted for Jacob, already knowing there was nothing she could do. Rowan could hear the sandy haired man just behind her, trying to snatch her, but she was faster and his thick fingers just grazed her back.

“GRAB HER!” Kastor yelled, his face an odd shade of purple.

The sandy haired man swooped his arm around her waist, flinging her back into him midair. She slammed into his chest and he held her so tight she could hardly breathe. Rowan gasped for air, trying to push him off her, digging her fingernails into his forearm and drawing a thick line of blood.

“Damnit!” The sandy haired man shouted, squeezing Rowan so tightly she coughed and bright spots popped up in her vision, blurring the world around her into small spots of color and sound.

“Get her out of here.” Kastor demanded, turning and walking down a path to her left, his boot leaving imprints of blood where he walked.

“NO! NO! NO!” Rowan bellowed as the sandy haired man dragged her from the room, back toward her cell. “NOOOOO!” She thundered again as the cage came into view. She scratched his arm again drawing more blood and it rolled down his arm onto the floor, but she doubted he even batted an eye at the meager attempt. He opened the door and chucked her into the cage, searing pain ramming into her body from the impact.

Rowan sobbed on the floor as the cage door swung shut, the lock clicking into place.

TWENTY-THREE

“I brought you some food!” Cecily said energetically the next morning. Her hair, pulled away from her face by thin string, swung back and forth as she skipped over to Rowan. She pushed the plate of food under the bars, her eyes shifting across the room. Rowan made no effort to retrieve the food, it wouldn’t matter if her stomach was empty or full in just a little while anyway. Rowan had stayed awake all night debating her next move, arguing with herself, tears slipping from her cheeks mindlessly, her consciousness ebbing, flowing, and slipping from her.

Rowan stared blankly at the child wishing she would leave. She had things to do, and she would prefer not to have an audience while she did them. Rowan saw no other choice, she didn’t want Kastor or the sandy haired man to decide her death, she didn’t want to die like Jacob, with a boot to the face and a sickening crunch that played itself in her head over and over and over and over and over and

Rowan shook her head, refusing to fall into the cycle of reliving every second, thinking of something she could have done to save Jacob and agonizing over the smallest details that replayed in her memory like a broken clock, chiming midnight on repeat. If only she had been stronger, or faster, or better, or or…