Chapter 2

When we get back to our room a note has been taped to our door.

"You will regret" it says.

It's not hard to tell whom the note is from as the actual note reads, "Uoo whil raggret".

"Jimson spelling has gotten better from the last note." I say. This brings a rare smile to my brother’s face.

He rips it down and crumples it, "This is the fifth threat this week," Shadow says, "I have yet to see a follow through."

"Don't worry." I pat Shadow on the back, "I don't think they'll ever actually do anything. It's all just talk."

Shadow replies with a shrug and opens the concrete door to our room. I set Willow down in the middle of our sleeping mattress and cover her with blankets.

"Story!" Willow begs.

I shake my head, "Not tonight, sweetie. Shadow and I have to get up early tomorrow,

so, we all need to sleep."

"Where do you have to go?" Willow asks.

I glance at Shadow who is replacing the bloody bandages on his hand. He shoots me a look that I know says, "Not yet".

I turn back to Willow and sigh, "Which story would you like to hear?"

Willow gives one of her killer smiles, "The one about the kingdom!"

Now, the phrase "the one about the kingdom" could be a number of stories but I know the one she means. I take a deep breath but tonight I can't bring myself to tell it. I turn to Shadow, "You have a good story telling voice, Shadow. Why don't you tell Willow the story?"

My sweet little brother sighs, I know how much he hates talking but I need him to tell this story. He tells me it hurts if he talks to much but deep down I know it's because he is ashamed of his voice. Shadow doesn't like when people see him when he is weak so that month when he was sick was complete Hell for him, mentally and physically.

Shadow moved beside Willow and began, "A long time ago there was this kingdom called-"

He looks at me but Willow beats me to the name, "Gold!"

Shadow nodes," Yeah, Gold. So, anyway, this kingdom called Gold had two princesses and one prince who were very wise, just like the king and queen. But one day the two princesses and prince got kidnapped by a rival kingdom called, um, Coal. They were held prisoners of Coal for a very log time and soon Gold gave up and pronounced them dead." Shadow's voice suddenly becomes distant, "But the two princesses and price stayed strong and tried to think of a way to escape because they knew that Coal would try to attack Gold and kill everyone they knew and loved." Shadow stops.

"Did they escape?" Willow asks even though she has heard the story at least a dozen times.

Shadow looks up, almost surprised, "Oh, yeah, of course they did. They got back home and saved their kingdom."

Willow smiles "They sure were brave, weren't they?"

Shadow gives a hint of a smile and nods, "Yes, they certainly were."

I bring my knees up to my chest and watch Shadow give Willow a good night hug. My brother never shows compassion unless he's around her.

Soon Willow falls asleep and Shadow comes to sit next to me. The clock above the door shifts to a different position and loudly the door automatically locks. We are the only room that has a curfew. Shadow and I sit in silence for a while; the low buzz of the electricity that encompasses the door fills the air.

"It's Willows birthday tomorrow." I say.

Shadow nodes.

"She'll be ten years old."

"Two more years." Shadow says softly.

Unfortunately he is right; two more years and they would start on Willow. Two more years and they would take her every day to be hit and slapped and yelled at. It hurts my heart to think about. I lean my head down on Shadows shoulder; even though he is younger than me he is still taller.

"We have to get out of here, Shadow." I say. Just like I do every night.

And, just like every night, Shadow says, "We will."

Together we crawl under the covers on either side of Willow on the mattress.

The hands on the clock on the wall shift once again and the already dim lights turn off.

"Avril," Shadows voice says through the darkness, "Don't make me tell that story again."

He sounds so much like a little brother that it makes me want to cry.

"I won't." I say.

He hates the story as much as I do. To Willow the story is just a story but to Shadow and I … well we know who's story it really is. It is ours. Two princesses and a prince lost in another kingdom, thought dead by all. Of course, the only difference is … we don't make it back.

I am awoken by the lights in the room flickering on. Willow is still asleep; she is used to sleeping with the lights on. Shadow is over by the door, grimacing as he slowly unwraps his hands. If the men who keep us captive knew that Shadow is trying to stop the pain, they'd just hurt him even worse. I roll off the mattress, hoping not to wake Willow, and sit next to Shadow.

"Are you alright?" I ask.

Shadow throws his bandages on the ground and stares at his hands. He nodes and together we sit in silence listing to the humming of the lights, the buzzing of the door and the beating of our hearts. Suddenly, the electrical field surrounding the door stops buzzing and a hand pounds on the outside. Shadow tenses; he knows it is time. The men burst inside the room and grab Shadow and me by the arm and drag us out into the dank hallway. The man holding Shadow drags him to the left and I am dragged to the right. We give one final look to each other, and then a black bag is placed over my head.

 The bag comes off when I am in the interrogation room. It is dark and I am in a chair with my hand and feet tied. There is strange technology all around and beeping that I recognize to be Morse code. There are at least five other men with dark skin in the room working the machines; their backs are to me. One of them turns around; the same one that yells at me every day. He is tall and big, his face is like a rock and he wears the standard Stone military uniform.

He babbled to me in his language and once again I simply say, no.

This goes on for five minutes before he starts to slap me. I scream, no and even yell at him in English but he keeps on.

"Well, this just isn't working is it?" A voice says behind the man, who stops slapping me.

My heart starts to pound. He is speaking English.

The big man moves aside to reveal a younger man, perhaps in his early twenties. He wears strange clothes I have never seen before. His hands are in the pockets of his long pale trench coat. He wears black pen stripped pants and a black silver lined waistcoat with a white necktie.  His belt is covered with unidentifiable gadgets and his wrists and neck are covered with strange jewelry.  Atop his head sits a small fedora with a pair of workmen’s goggles around the band.  He looks like a well-dressed engineer.

"A little bird told me, well, two little birds actually, told me that you don't speak the language of Stone." The young man continued, "So, I'm here to make absolutely certain that we get every little ounce of information about that resistance camp we can." He walks up to me and smiles wickedly, "Let's get started shall we?"