Chapter 11

The industrial sector of the Duskrider bustled with activity. Teams preparing their magnacycles for the forthcoming Arrival Race created a festive buzz. The sounds of torque wrenches and welders mixed in and out of the music blaring from each garage. There were only a few days before the Lightyear Festival, and Lena had a tight schedule. She marched down the alley, headed straight for Zedd’s shop. The bay door was closed. Odd. Zedd usually had it open. She punched in the code for the side door and entered the dark garage.

The lights flicked on and a strained voice called to her.

“Lena?”

In a groggy voice, she answered, “Morning.” She placed her coffee on the nearest worktable.

Something was off. Where was their magnacycle? It was off the lift. She saw it in the corner of the room. Vela lie contorted on the floor.

“What the hell happened?” she cried. Not now. Not just days before the race. She jogged over to the wreckage to assess the damage. What she saw horrified her.

Blood oozed from beneath the vehicle, pooling in dark puddles. Some of it had dried already, leaving rust colored stains. A body, broken beyond recognition, struggled desperately beneath the wreckage. Blood-stained hands grasped at the floor, leaving trails of red where the fingers clawed at the ground. Lena screamed.

She jolted awake, her head throbbing. As the dream faded, she was unsure if she had opened her eyes. She blinked, and realized she was in total darkness. Her breath shortened as the fear returned in force.

Where am I?

Frantically, she felt around her immediate surroundings for the glasses. The ground was cold and hard. No. She had lost them. They had sunk in the bog. She began to remember. Howls in the darkness. They found her. She was certain she had met her death in the woods. But she was alive. And in what state? She felt her body. Still damp. No injuries. She felt for her celltab. It was gone.

Judging from the dampness of her hair, it had probably only been an hour or two since….since what? She remembered following a footpath through the woods. Running from...running from what? Then….the wolf. There had been that gigantic wolf. It had attacked her. How did she end up here?

The floor was stone. Uneven in spots, as if roughly hewn. She stood, shaking more from fear than the cold. Her head pounded harder. With her arms in front of her, she shuffled timidly through the darkness trying to find a wall. After only a few small steps she found it. It was also uneven stone. She felt along the wall, looking for a corner. Her hands came to a smooth, metal surface. A door.

It was heavy and felt rusted in spots. Her hands grasped in vain for a handle. She felt for a seam, but found the door was set tight in its frame. At the bottom of the door was a gap so narrow that her fingers weren’t able to penetrate. Air seeped in from the outside. She lay flat to peer underneath, but beyond only darkness. Claustrophobia began to set in. The unseen walls crept in on her. The air was suddenly stale and she struggled to breathe.

Lena felt around the rest of the room, trying to gauge her surroundings. It was small. A domed stone ceiling fell low enough to touch. She sat down and trembled. She placed her head in between her knees, trying to be rid of her headache and control her breathing.

She was motionless, listening for any clue as to where she was, but heard nothing. Zedd would send for help when she didn’t show up on Monday. But did anyone know where she was? She had given vague directions to Zark, but that may not have been enough. Why did I take this deal? Her heart filled with remorse. Why wouldn’t Zedd tell her about the deposit? I wouldn’t be in this mess if he had just been honest with me. She was filled with anger. At Zedd for withholding the truth. At Jael for putting her in danger. But mostly, she was mad at herself for making a choice out of desperation.

It was so quiet that she heard the air flowing in from the tiny gap at the bottom of the door. The door. She had no idea what was on the other side of it, but she knew it was the only way out. Staggering to her feet, she began to pound on the door with her fist. It resounded with loud, echoing booms. BANG. BANG. BANG. Her head rang painfully.

“HELLO!” she called, ” HELLLOOO!”

Less than a minute later, a warm light shot out from the gap under the door. Her heart skipped, and she drew back in surprise. There was the sound of a door opening. Footsteps. A shadow broke the light emanating from the gap in the doorframe.

A deep, garbled voice shouted from the other side. “Stand back!” it commanded.

She backed up against the far wall. A small slot opened towards the bottom half of the door. A rectangle of light shot into the room for a brief moment. She peered through the hole, but could see nothing through the bright contrast. A bottle of water dropped onto the floor inside her cell. The slot slammed shut.

“HEY!” she called. She rushed the door and pounded on it. “LET ME OUT!” she begged. PLEASE!”

The footsteps grew quieter. A door closed and the light at the bottom of her cell door disappeared.

She crumpled back onto the floor in despair. Lena lay in the darkness, her mind wandering through a black abyss of senselessness. She had no concept of time. It could still have been Sunday. A week later. Another lifetime. Visions of her life passed in and out of waking dreams. She strained for any sound that might bring her back as her mind floated in and out of reality.