The dark cell and an unexpected neighbor

Nora gestured with her hand for Kyren to get closer, then whispered, "This is the third time those things have come since yesterday."

Kyren frowned, "Yesterday? How long have you been here?"

Nora pointed at a certain part of the wall, where numerous tally marks were carved. "There's no telling day or night here, so I counted the hours. It has been around 18 and a half hours since I woke up. Also, you were asleep for about fifteen minutes after being thrown in here," she chuckled.

No wonder she was not at school yesterday, she was already kidnapped by that time. The boy then inquired, "What do you mean by those things that have come before?"

He did not expect to see a moment of hesitation from Nora, her gaze lowered, the emerald irises trembled slightly, the pair of lips repeatedly opened and closed. Right after, she tried to put up a tough front, raising her voice with a snicker and straightening her back.

Had it been someone else, who had not been spending the last five years alongside her, they would have been fooled by the facade. Kyren noticed the fidgeting fingers, even though she tried to hide, and the faltering speech.

"About three hours after I woke up, I heard footsteps and one of the doors being opened, then the thing outside dragged someone away. That person cursed a lot, but soon turned to begging for mercy. Still, it was all useless,"

Nora paused, her edge of her lips was raised, but her eyes were not smiling,

"After that, I heard their screams from afar. The screaming lasted for over six hours, like they were suffering from the most painful and cruel acts during the entire time. It was quiet after that. The second time, it opened my cell, I thought it was my turn to be dragged away, but then it threw you in here with me."

Kyren had no words to respond, unblinking stare at Nora, a strange feeling surging within. From the moment he found himself in this cell, he already had Nora as his company, but for Nora, had it not been just herself? Images of a lonely girl curling up in a corner flashed through his mind.

The cramped cell, closed door, poor lighting, horrid smell resembling that of sewer, jagged rocks on the walls stained by dark brown smudges, strange liquid that covered the ground. The feeling that the space was closing in, trapping her in the fear of the imminent terror and the unknown, was she enduring by herself for eighteen hours? Was she scared? Was she crying? Was she calling out for help, only to hear her own echo and the screaming of other prisoners as the reply?

There was guilt and anger towards himself for disregarding her suffering, calling her lucky. But was it everything? Nora, with her hands around her elbows as if trying to resist the urge to hug herself, looked so much smaller and more vulnerable than usual. The unknown urge filled his chest with heat, his hands felt itchy, his line of sight landed on her trembling shoulders.

He felt annoyed. He did not like the sight of a frightened and unsure Nora. He wanted to see the usual vibrant Nora, the girl who was always confident and ready to solve every problem coming her way with confidence.

For a moment, Kyren felt the heat in his chest spread outwards, taking over his body. His hands, firm but still wanted to be as gentle as possible, held her shoulder. Words came out of his mouth without his control, "I will definitely get you out of here safely." It was his own voice, but sounded so unfamiliar.

Kyren immediately got his hands off Nora the moment he saw her eyes open wide. He shook his head, "I'm sorry, I'm still a bit tired, I think my mind isn't working as it should…"

"Cringe, cringe, cringe, cringe, cringe!" screamed Kyren in his own mind. Hiding the hands behind his back, he pinched himself with all strength. He suddenly lost the courage to meet her eyes, afraid to be greeted by confusion, anger and perhaps disgust.

Kyren felt a light tap on the top of his head. Raising his line of sight, he saw Nora, whose outline flickered under the poor illumination of the quivering flame, showing her smile, her eyes curled up.

"Thank you," Her voice was soft, pouring into his heart like sweet honey, like a ray of sunlight piercing through a dark storm.

It was then.

"Be quiet, you two. Do you want the ghouls to come back?" said a third voice, as hoarse as sandpaper.

Both of them turned around in fright, but the weak candlelight only showed an empty room. The voice spoke again, "I'm next door. Look for a hole down low, near the floor."

Kyren squinted and finally found a small hole on the wall at the height of his knee. It seemed that even Nora was not aware of the hole that connected to the next cell. The two of them looked at each other with creased eyebrows. Kyren took the initiative to ask, lowering his voice on purpose "Who are you?"

"I'm just like you two, I was also kidnapped," came the answer.

The boy was not one to believe everything told, especially when it came from a person whose face he could not see while they were locked in a prison, guarded by monsters of otherworldly nightmares.

"Don't you sound a little bit too calm for a victim of a kidnapper? You have just been here for less than a minute but you don't seem to be afraid of those freaks outside," Kyren voiced his suspicion without beating around the bush.

The husky voice said without changing its tone, "I have been here longer than you think I have, longer than I can remember. Maybe not that long, but my memory has been terrible lately. But I remember that this has been my eighteenth attempt to escape, and the eighteenth time I am recaptured. If only my body was like what it used to be…"

There was regret and discouragement heard at the end. Kyren and Nora looked at each other again, this time, their expressions were more relaxed. The boy continued to ask, "Do you know what happened to the people being dragged away by the monsters?"

As if talking about matters unrelated to themselves, the voice still showed no emotion, "The lucky ones are dead, others became one of the faces."

The cryptic answer offered little meaning, but then Kyren remembered the appearance of the monsters - ghouls as the voice called - whose heads consisted of different faces, each with an unchanging emotion - fear, hatred, anger, ecstasy and more - each occupying an area on the bald head, always moving around, sometimes squeezed together, other times stretched the skin, as if blobs of flesh fighting with each others.

The moment that fate of the unfortunate was realized, Kyren and Nora simultaneously swallowed a mouthful of saliva, blood drained from their faces. They needed to get out of here, fast, before it was their turn.

Kyren controlled his voice not to show his panic, keeping the intimidating tone, "Why do you still fail after eighteen attempts to escape?"

In the first place, how was it possible that someone could make eighteen escape attempts? He should have been killed by guards or dragged away long ago.

Unlike his expectation, the voice showed no hesitation of sharing information, "I am an experiment in progress, so they can't lay a hand on me, and that allows me to move around as much as I want. After seventeen attempts, I have already figured out the lock mechanism, the weakness in their security, navigation and everything needed to get out of this hell hole, but this body of mine can no longer keep up with the action. How ironic. Right when the answer is already in front of me, I can no longer reach out for it. Perhaps it is already decided that my fate is to die and rot away in this place."

The voice never changed the way it talked, always matter-of-factly and detached, which resembled that of a spectator rather than the main character of their own life.

Kyren and Nora both had the same idea that this could be their tickets out of here. However, the boy was conflicted. Anything they had heard could not be verified. Though there was no obvious motive to trick them, the person next door did not seem to be in their right mind. It was unclear what would happen if they decided to reach out for those ominous tickets.

He directed his gaze towards Nora, attempting to ask for her opinion. What he saw was a blank expression, but her eyes were alive, focusing on him. Nora nodded, the edge of her lips curled up into an arrogant smirk.

"I trust you," the unspoken message was received.

Kyren closed his eyes. If it turned out to be a trap, both of them would likely perish. But if they sat still like good children, death would still come. Then, the answer was already clear

"Neighbor, I have an offer. Why don't we join hands and get out of here together?" Kyren wanted to control his own fates.