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My head feels like I’ve been hit with a thousand bricks when I come to. I sit up slowly, expecting to no longer be in the tower, but as I look around, I’m still in the same dungeon. The sun is just starting to set and cast a shadow on the ground.
“Liesel,” I breathe, but I already sense the loss. She isn’t here. She’s been taken out of this room while I was unconscious.
I scramble to my feet, and my body realizes instantly it’s a mistake. I shake, my stomach writhes, and I almost vomit. But I push past all of that, just like I push past the pain in the back of my head and back. My body is slowly falling apart, but it’s nothing compared to how my heart feels.
I failed Liesel, again.
I failed.
I’ve wanted nothing more than to protect her. She owes me an explanation, but she doesn’t get to die at another person’s hand.
“Liesel!” I shout, like she’s somehow going to reappear out of thin air. Rage floods my veins as I spin around the room, trying to come up with something, anything, to save her from the hell I’m sure she’s in.
I don’t know who has taken us, but it doesn’t take much to guess that she’s currently being tortured by our captors while I sit down here useless.
There are only three options for trying to escape from this tower.
Climb out.
Dig out.
Or break out.
Climbing seems like the most likely option, but after watching Liesel attempt it yesterday, I don’t think I’ll make it very far.
Still, I move to the wall. I put my hands into the stone bricks and begin to hoist myself up. The climb starts easy enough, but quickly my fingers struggle to fit into the holds. No matter how determined I am to reach Liesel, I can’t climb higher.
As hard as it is, I let go and land on my feet back on the ground.
I don’t waste time. I move around the room where the wall meets the floor and look for any weaknesses that I could use to start digging my way out.
The best I can find is a small crack in the corner of one of the stones. Liesel’s high-heeled shoes are lying on the floor. I grab them and use the heel to start digging. But after twenty minutes, I’ve barely made a dent.
I don’t know what’s happening out there, but I won’t make it in time to save her from the worst of it, whatever she faces.
I stand up, considering my last option of breaking through a wall. I slam my body as hard as I can against one of the walls. I know it won’t help, but it feels good to hit something, to feel something.
I yell at the top of my lungs as I slam my body again. And then tears burn my eyes as I collapse in a pile of worthlessness.
It’s no wonder Liesel and I drifted apart over the years. I’ve failed so many times to protect her, to help her, to save her. This time is no different.
“Take me instead! I know more about the treasure than Liesel. Take me!” I shout up, hoping someone is listening.
I can’t think beyond making sure Liesel is safe. I don’t care what happens to me, but I can’t stay down here, losing my mind while Liesel is being hurt upstairs.
My mind is going wild with all the ways Liesel could be tortured as I collapse back onto the floor, grabbing Liesel’s shoe and resuming my futile digging. It may be useless, but it’s the only thing that allows me any progress in getting to her.
Images of her beaten, whipped, tied-up, tortured—they all flicker through my brain. Of her being raped, again.
Jesus, why did I think Liesel deserved death? She’s already died a thousand times, and somehow she’s survived. I can’t blame her for her sins after everything she’s been through.
If she survives, I should tell her the truth. I should tell her how I feel. I should…
I hear a creak of the window, and I look up.
“Let her go! Take me instead,” I shout as I stand.