Chapter 1 - One Hundred

   

I snatched the rusted nail from its home, the back corner of my cage. I stared down at it, absorbing every crack, every dent, every flake of rust. One hundred days ago, I found this. On my first day of captivity.

It’s amazing how a rusty nail can make someone so nostalgic.

I put aside my silly connection to it and the slashed the wall, making the one hundredth tally. It squeaked loud and high against the metal, like a scream, leaving a deep white scar.

One hundred tally marks. One hundred days. One hundred days ago, my life changed forever.

And now it will change again.

I closed my eyes and felt the early morning clouds high above me. I looked up at my cage ceiling and felt them circling in the sky, filled with water. I lifted up my arms, and began to pull the water from its prison. I felt the water sloshing and rippling high above my cage ceiling, and the ceiling of the compound. My hands felt wet, though when I looked at them, they were chapped and calloused, as dry as my mouth. I hadn't had anything to drink for almost a full day. The warden did not allow a regular water schedule. He enjoyed seeing his prisoners suffer. But those days were over.

With a flick of my wrist, the droplets turned to pointed shards of ice, sharp and deadly. I stared at the window opposite my cage. Swiftly I curved my arms towards the window. Then chaos erupted. The shards flew through the shattered window. A guard shouted as chips of glass and shards pierced his arms and legs. Alarms and sirens blared. I blocked out all of the noise. Concentration is the key to my freedom. I directed a large shard over to my cage. I grabbed it and began furiously hacking at the bars and lock. The metal screamed with every cut. The ice began to melt in my hand. I began slashing faster, weakening the hinges. Guards poured in from every direction, flooding the Suddenly, the floor of the cage fell away, and I was free falling from where my cage was suspended.

My brain was dead for those few seconds. I was going to die. The floor flew at me faster and faster. I was going to die. As insane as I sound, I was happy. I would die free. I would die as someone who escaped. I smiled and awaited my death.

I landed on my wrist with a sickening crack. The pain was almost unbearable. I closed my eyes and screamed. Was I dead? Can you think when you’re dead? I moved my fingers and looked at the compound ceiling. I was alive. But not for long. I picked myself up, trying as hard as I could to ignore the horrible throb in my wrist and began to run. Guards gather at the doorways, their whips springing at me crackling with electricity.

I paused to look around. All the exits were blocked. Except for one. Turned on my heel and began to sprint as i steadily gathered more and more speed. I pushed one foot into the ground and leapt into the air.

I'd rather die free than be able to live barely alive in a cage

I crashed through a window.