Vengeance Is Mine

by Katherine Elizabeth Curtis

  He was examining his cell for the millionth time on the seventh day, looking for any possible loose bricks or imperfections when he came across something he'd never noticed before, a miracle really for he thought he'd examined every inch of the floor, walls, and, to some extent, the ceiling. The discovery was a small door, like a door to a cupboard, just above the little ledge he had noticed the first day he was in the cell. “What in the world?” he muttered as the door refused to budge open.

  He still had his duffel bag with him, although they had examined it and taken out anything they thought would help him escape, and there could be something to help jam it open. He opened it up and assessed the contents by feeling rather than looking. Not much was in there except the match book and a few articles of clothing. Well, the match box was quite large, made of wood, with a lid that slid off. The lid was thin piece of wood that could probably be used for a wedge, especially since the door was wood as well.

  It was at least worth a try. Now curiosity was filling him and finding out what was in that cupboard was his next goal in life, no matter how small it may be. Who knows, the cupboard could potentially lead to a rescue, if he was lucky. He doubted it would, but hope filled him anyway.

  After what seemed like hours of working dirt and grime away from the crack of the door, wedging the wood in again and again and wiggling the knob back and forth, the door finally swung open with a loud creak. Nathan jumped back a little and paused before probing its shadowy depths to try and make sure no one had heard. There was no call of alarm, no running footsteps, so he relaxed a little and cautiously reached his hand inside.

  At first his hands felt nothing, but then they came in contact with what felt like a soft leather pouch or box covered with leather. Boxes and pouches were excellent for carrying supplies so he pulled it out. Right away he could tell by the feel of the whole thing that it wasn't a box or a pouch. It was a book. Disappointment filled him so strongly that he could almost taste it, but before shoving it back, he decided to at least see what it was.

  Hunter had taught him some basic reading in the facility, although where he had learnt it was anyone's guess. Nathan was probably rusty since there were no books in the facility (Hunter had taught him by writing words on precious scraps of paper) and Hunter couldn't practice it will him all the time. Still, he knew enough to be able to decipher whatever this book was. It was probably quite expensive, as it was made of leather – good quality leather, if the soft, supple was anything to go by – and perhaps he could use it as a bribe of some kind.

  He brought it close to the crack of light. Sure enough, it was leather, though perhaps soft from use than from quality. The gold embossed letters on the cover spelled out Holy Bible. Nathan frowned. What kind of book was this? He flipped it open and in the weak light he could see that the pages were crammed full of endless small print. There were numbers in bold at certain parts of the page. They cropped up at irregular intervals and Nathan had no idea what they meant, although they did seem to come in numerical order. He had no idea what the word 'holy' or 'Bible' meant.

  He decided to read a little bit to see what sort of book it was. With all his flipping he had come to near the end of the book and began reading at a random page. It was all about rejoicing and prayer and not repaying evil for evil...all concepts that he knew really knew nothing about. He was about halfway down the first column of the first page he had chosen when he came across something that would stick with him for a long time to come.

  “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”

  The words seemed to jump out at him with the intensity of flames. The words burned into his mind and he couldn't erase them, no matter how uncomfortable it made him. He hastily shoved the book into his duffel bag – why he didn't put it back in the cupboard, he had no idea – and tried to relax. He had no idea who 'the Lord' was or really grasped the entire meaning of what he'd read, but he knew enough to give him a pause.

  He was seeking vengeance, wasn't he? And what was so wrong with that? Hunter needed to be revenged, and who better to do it than his best friend and almost-brother, Nathan? And the queen and her cronies deserved to die, didn't they? It wasn't like he was doing anything wrong – ridding the world of vermin was never wrong. That book had no right to speak out to him like that, and, after all, it really hadn't. It was just a strange coincidence, that was all.

  He didn't want anything to deter him from his course. Not a dungeon, not any silly weakness that might crop up, and certainly not an old, beat-up book.

  :::::

  Something happened to change the natural order of things.

  Nathan knew by the sound of approaching footsteps and creaks and slams as door hatches opened and fell back into place that dinner would be arriving shortly. He knew it was dinner, and not breakfast, because he hadn't slept between the two meals. He kept his eyes on his already opened hatch, interested to see who brought him his food – or see as much of them as he could.

  Two feet appeared in his line of vision. They were relatively small compared to most of the others he'd seen and they had, of all things, pink paint on the toenails. He'd never seen such a thing before, but he knew it was for decoration. How odd. He'd never seen anybody like that before in the prison. He longed to know who exactly had come to his cell.

  A plate of food was shoved in and he scrambled hastily back, not wanting to be hit in the face, or seen. Then he heard something that made his heart jump. A creak of bolts being slid back, but hushed as though whoever was doing it wanted it kept a secret. A thunk as the lock turned. He tensed, expecting the door to open and not sure if he wanted to go out with whoever it was, or not. However, the doors didn't open and almost immediately he heard the footsteps going away. Soon the corridor outside his room was as quiet and still as it could possibly get.

  It could be a trap. In fact, Nathan was ninety-nine percent sure it was. People in the prison didn't bring food, unlock the door, and not do anything about it. But what would the trap be? Get him to try and escape and then punish him for that? Doubtful, as he could be punished harshly right now just for attempting to kill the queen. He couldn't think of any other reason for the trap and so he decided to risk it. After all, what did he have to lose? If he was caught, he'd either be taken back to his cell or executed. Either way was better than what he was going through now.

  As cautiously and quietly as possible he eased the door open, wincing when it creaked a little. But it was much quieter than he'd expected it to be, and for that he was grateful. Just as he was about to walk out into the hall, he remembered his duffel bag. He went back and grabbed it, surprised for a moment at the weight. Then he remembered. The book inside. Why not just put it back in the cupboard and not be burdened with it? But something held him back so he shrugged and left.

  Once out in the hallway he was careful to walk with determination and purpose. No doubt other prisoners watched through their hatches and he had to appear to be confident or they might be suspicious. As they could only see his hiking boots and perhaps a little bit of his khaki pants, they probably wouldn't take much notice. He walked as quickly down the hall as he could until he came to a room at the end of it, off to the right.

  Looking through a small window near the top of the door he could see several guard women sitting down, talking and laughing. They looked like ordinary people enjoying some time together but Nathan wasn't fooled. They could just as easily turn ugly and hard. He'd have to find some other exit because this one was out of the question. Then, just as he was about to slip away from the door, a guard looked up and locked eyes with him. Her facial expression froze and for a moment she just looked at him.

  Then she yelled out something Nathan couldn't hear because of the door and pointed to him. All the others turned to look and Nathan ducked out of sight just before they could see him. Almost as soon as he crouched down he was off and running down the hall in the opposite direction. He hoped and prayed, even, that there would be an empty room, a staircase...any
thing that would help him escape. Now, more than ever, he didn't want to be caught.

  He heard an explosion of noise – shouting mostly – behind him as he also heard the door to the room he was running from open and slam against the wall beside it. He didn't look back, he just knew all this from the sound. They were gaining on him. He could hear it, and even feel their presence. He saw a door at the end of the hall. If he could just reach that, there might be a modicum of safety. Straining every muscle in his body, he sought to reach it, running along what seemed like an endless hallway. The prisoners much be getting the show of their lives.

  He reached the door and flung it open, not even noticing what was inside. He locked the door behind him – a simple latch lock that wouldn't take too long to break through – and then looked around. Thankfully, all that it was was a stairwell with a flight of stairs leading up and a flight leading down. Both of them were empty. He only had a few seconds to chose whether to go up or down, a few seconds before they would come and see what he decided.

  He flung himself up the stairs, instead of down – it would be more tiring to go up, but for that reason they might not think of it – but he felt prepared. Adrenaline was once again making its presence known and he felt as though he could run up anything, no matter how long. He ran and ran, going up endless stairs, seeing doors whenever he reached a stairwell that probably led to other corridors. As he ran he heard an alarm pealing through the building. Probably wouldn't take them long to find him now. Everyone would be on red alert.

  After a few more minutes of running, Nathan reached the top. He could go up no further, the only way was down. He didn't like that position. Even now he could hear the clattering as guards went up the stairs. They were still quite far away, but gaining closer every second. On impulse, he opened the door on his right and went in to wherever it would lead him.

  It was as though he had entered a completely different world. The carpet was soft, plush, light blue, tiny lights twinkled in the walls and ceilings, giving the impression of stars, and the walls themselves were of deep red velvet edged with gold. This had to be the home of someone important. Perhaps even the queen. His heart quickened within him. He wouldn't be able to kill her, since he had nothing, but maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to retrieve his knife.

  If only he had the slightest clue of where to look.

  Just as he thought that, he noticed a flutter out of the corner of his eye. Someone was rounding the edge of hall, going away from him. All he could see was a bit of her gown trailing behind and then that too disappeared. Perhaps it was foolish, but he followed whoever it was. She hadn't raised an alarm, and he was intrigued. Maybe she was on his side. When he rounded the corner, however, the figure was nowhere to be seen. There was an endless row of doors on either side of the corridor, though, so she could have gone into one of those.

  Then, one of the doors, one quite near him opened slightly and then shut. It was as though it was beckoning to him, telling him to come in. He approached it hesitantly. Should he trust whoever was doing this? A small whistling sound that sounded inviting and reassuring met his ear so he went in. No one was there. Not that he really expected anyone. He was getting quite used to this little game. The woman was leading him somewhere, for what purpose he knew not, but he felt he could trust her.

  The room he had entered made the corridor look poor and shabby. There was gold everywhere. Gold cloth, gold gilding, gold jewelry and cushions and clothes. And plenty of glittering gems were scattered everywhere as well. It was a bit much for Nathan's taste, but it was obvious that this room could only belong to the queen. Only, she wasn't here. So why had the woman brought him here?

  His eyes fastened on the one thing that looked out of the place in the garish opulence of the room. His knife. Its simple hilt and dark metal made it jump out as though it were flashing light and calling out to him. It was laid on a small night table beside the queen's bed – gold, of course. He walked over to it, quite confident now, and picked it up. Nothing happened. No bolt of lightening or laser jumped out at him, striking him down. He allowed himself a smile and was about to leave the room when he hesitated. He would wait for the unknown woman to show him where to next. A small sound came from a corner of the room and he looked over at where the sound had come from. As soon as he did so, he heard the door opening and then shutting. He leaped toward it and yanked it open. No one in sight. It was getting frustrating. He did feel a grudging admiration for her. She certainly knew some tricks.

  There! Another door opened and closed. He hurried over and entered the room. This was another stairwell and since down was the only way he could go, he went down. There was no sounds of pursuit anymore and he trusted the woman to take him to a place that wasn't a trap. She'd had ample opportunity to trap him before now, so he guessed that that wasn't her motive. No. It was something else and he was itching to find out what. He knew she'd show him what door he would enter to get off the stairs.

  Down and down he went until she showed him, in her own unique way, of course, to enter the level eight door. The hall he found himself in was much more modest. It was normal, not rich like the top floor or terrible like the very bottom. Per her 'instructions', he went into the first door on his left – and found himself in a kitchen. He looked around him for a moment. Glorious smells were coming from ovens (there were several), stove tops, and there were mountains of food on the counters. He was about to snitch some when he realied he wasn't alone.

  A young woman was stirring a large pot of soup that sat on the stove. He wore a sort of filmy, flowing dress the exact same color and material as the bits Nathan had caught sight of earlier on. One of her feet peeped out from under her gown and the toes were bright pink. Nathan felt a sense of triumph fill him. He had found her. It was very strange, but he had. She turned around then.

  “I see you finally got here,” she remarked in a casual tone of voice.

  Nathan just stared at her. Wasn't it supposed to be more dramatic than this?

  “Have some soup.” She ladled out a good portion into a bowl, cleared a small place on the counter, pulled a tall stool up, and gestured toward the soup as if commanding him to eat. He sat down and obediently started eating and stopped trying to make sense of the whole thing. If everything was strange today, was anything? As he ate, he studied the girl. She was the first woman he'd seen in the palace that wasn't ravishingly beautiful, despite her clothing.

  Her face was too thin as well as the rest of her to really have her be beautiful. She did have nice blonde hair, but her eyes were a strange mix of green and blue and grey and although they suited her general appearance, they weren't beautiful or sparkling, even though they were full of energy. “What?” she said when she caught him staring at her.

  He shook his head a little and went back to his soup. “Nothing.”

  “Don't you have something to say?” she said after a moment.

  He gave her a puzzled look. What did she mean?

  “Well, I did rescue you.”

  “Oh, yes,” Nathan said, understanding now. “Thank you.” That seemed the best thing to say. Simple and polite.

  “I should hope so,” she said a little tartly.

  “Um...why did you do it?” he asked as he gulped down the rest of his soup. Delicious.

  “I can't tell you right now,” she said, becoming a little unsure for once. “Maybe later.”

  Nathan nodded. Fair enough. He wasn't ready to tell her all of his secrets, for that matter. He slipped of the stool as he was done his soup, and as he did so his duffel bag fell over, spilling out the book he'd found in his cell and a few matches. The girl bent down and picked it up, dusting it off as she did so. She was about to hand it back to him when she noticed what exactly it was. Her face lit up with excitement.

  “Where'd you get this?”

  “It was in my cell.”

  “I can't believe you actually found one of these. I thought they were all destroyed.” Her voice was full of excitement. Nathan di
dn't share it. He didn't see what was so exciting about an old book that had annoyed him earlier. It was just a book, anyway. “Did you ever hear the legend about these kind of books?”

  “No.”

  Lily ignored his bored tone of voice, probably because she was too excited to really notice. “I've heard that there's a great treasure connected to this.”

  Nathan was faintly interested. “How?”

  “We have to find the Nonexistents,” Lily said, “take this book to them – what's the title, anyway? I can't read – and then claim the treasure. Everyone's heard of a reward connected to it. It even says it somewhere inside, I think. Do you know anything about that?”

  Nathan's head was spinning a little from her fast-paced talking. He decided to take things one at a time. “Who are the Nonexistents?” He'd never heard of them and was surprised that there was a whole group he didn't know about. And what a strange name.

  “Oh, I'm not surprised you haven't heard of them. They're a group of people that's supposedly been hidden away for years, only nobody knows where they are.” She ran a hand through her hair for a moment and then continued. “I think there was some sort of trouble with what they believed, or something, so that's why they just all disappeared. I know we can find them, though. I have contacts everywhere.”

  Next thing. “It's called Holy Bible,” Nathan said, “but I don't know what that means. Do you?” She thought for a moment, a faraway look in her eyes, and then shook her head. “And, no, I didn't read anything about a treasure.” He didn't tell her about the vengeance bit. That would lead to too many awkward questions. “But I hardly read any, so it could be there.” He was starting to get excited about the prospect before him. A quest with this girl would prove interesting, and perhaps he could even use the treasure to fund some sort of attack – the thought of fighting was never that far from his mind.