-Lidia-
“No, no, no, no! This girl is a rude, violent, and clearly delusional individual.” Before David or Alexa could say a word regarding Callia’s insane and outrageous claim, I tried to shut down the conversation. For some reason this immediately angered Alexa immensely as she physically interposed herself between me and the girl with a glare that clearly communicated her disdain for me.
“Just like all the other girls you’ve abused? You probably don’t know, but every girl in this tower knows who you are: Lidia the abuser, Lidia the beater, Lidia the fake.” I recoiled at the statement. Immediately my anger and pride bubbled back just as violently. This outsider dared judge what I was doing for the girls in my care when she knew nothing!
“How Dare You! You know nothing of the efforts I put in to make sure every girl in my care is granted the best opportunities in the tower. I am only stern with the ones with potential that even the pope recognizes. I have been entrusted to ensure the girls I send to the highest reaches of our tower are obedient! Someone like you understands nothing of my efforts!” I’m not sure what reaction I expected, but I can’t say I’m too surprised my words didn’t reach the impudent girl at all.
“So you admit you're grooming them for that old monster at the top of the tower! Do you ignore all the stories spread by the girls rescued from him by the high priest? Or are you so caught up in "Teaching Obedience" that you aren’t aware of all the horrible things he has been doing?” My mouth gaped at the question. Not a word or whisper of anything so outrageous had ever reached me. Furthermore, I was certain that many of the girls I had brought into his service were flourishing under our leader. While it was odd that he took in so many female assistants, I have always believed with all my heart that he was just giving promising girls an opportunity to shine. To insult me was one thing, but to dare insult the pope was a step too far. I raised my arm intending to strike the girl when David’s voice reached us from the edge of the tower.
“A Demon! A real demon is climbing the tower!” Both Alexa and I froze mid-argument, her defiant stance facing my raised hand. David immediately turned from the tower's edge and sprinted back to us. He didn’t hesitate to scoop up Callia, throwing her over his shoulder while grabbing Alexa’s hand and pulling her with him as he started running deeper into the tower. For a second I’m locked in indecision, trying to put together the impossibility for a demon to be within the tower. There hadn’t been any incursions since our current pope took office. It was one of the reasons I so greatly admired him. I looked back at the edge of the landing pad towards the outside of the tower, and a chill crawled up my spine warning me of danger. Without hesitation I called out for the others to wait for me as I stumbled into a hasty sprint chasing after them.
By sheer years alone my stats were just slightly higher than Alexa's, allowing me to slowly close the gap that had opened up between us. When I caught up, I managed to wheeze out an urgent question.
"David, where are we going?” He didn’t spare a glance for me as he answered confidently.
“Kitchen, to get Abigail, and then we’ll start going up the tower. That thing shouldn’t know where its way is through the tower, so we might be able to get some distance.” I nodded firmly but froze as I remembered one of the key differences of floor three. This floor was the first of the female dormitories, and I could remember in a past conversation with the mother of this floor that the girls had voted to incorporate the common room with the kitchen. It was a recent change that most wouldn’t know about, but judging from the direction Abigail left, she knew. However, David and Alexa clearly didn't, as he was leading us through the winding passages towards the opposite side of the tower. I opened my mouth, but fear of turning back held me in hesitation. Just as I found the courage to speak, a shrill scream from behind us echoed through the corridors. We all froze in place, the others in confusion, but my lips betrayed me as I whispered out the truth in horror.
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“The kitchen is the common room near the landing zone.” The moment the words slipped from my mouth, Alexa grabbed my shirt with both her hands, pulling me to face her.
“You hag! Why didn’t you say so earlier?” She stared into my eyes for a moment, but all I could do was stammer. She didn’t give me a chance to say more before shoving me down and turning to run towards the scream. David grabbed her, pulling the now hysterical girl back for a moment, and as she struggled, he gave up trying to calm her down instead throwing her over his other shoulder while she was kicking and screaming. He turned decisively to the right, leading us towards the next floor. We reached the stairs with Alexa fighting him the whole way. It slowed his pace just enough so that I had time to watch behind us anxiously as the darkness of the corridors seemed to invite my imagination to see things in the shadows.
Reaching the next floor, Alexa had worn herself out, hanging limply on his shoulder, a soft, nonstop, quiet sobbing accompanying us as David led us towards the next stairway. We continued to push all the way through our floor and to the next before the burden on David finally reached its limit. He fell onto one knee panting desperately before grunting as he forced himself back up.
“David,” Alexa’s voice now was little more than a whisper. “Set me down. I won’t run down to my sister, I promise.” David pushed forward another couple seconds before he must’ve reached some kind of conclusion and stopped to bend down, freeing Alexa from his grasp. She reached over and grabbed Callia from his other shoulder, and he gave her a grateful look before pressing on. We reached the stairway, and David came to a stop again; his breath was coming out heavily as he wheezed.
“I’m slowing us down. I can hear it chasing us; it isn't far behind. Alexa, Lidia, whatever your disagreement is, set it aside and work together. I'll hold it here for as long as I can.” I looked back at him in shock, my mouth opening and closing as I tried to find the words to convince him, but fear settled in my gut, choking out my objections. To my side I saw Alexa’s hand float up for a moment as she stepped forward, grief and fear showing heavily on her tear-stained face. He stepped forward, placing a hand over her mouth, and gently commanded, “Go.”
Alexa turned around, stumbling up the stairs with an urgency of purpose inspired by terror and grief. Together not a word was said between us as we continued to make our way further up the tower. Behind us I could briefly hear the clashing of metal against metal that came to an abrupt end far too quickly for my liking. As we continued, my eyes kept glancing back again and again. Our pace felt far too slow to escape from anything. I looked at Alexa, whose face had hardened into an emotionless line as she continued to stumble forward. I wanted to offer to take Callia, but the silence between us felt too heavy. The burden continued to weigh down the emotionally exhausted girl as I watched helplessly from the side. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. My voice broke the silence.
“Let me carry Callia. You're exhausted, and we don’t know how far it is.” She didn’t say anything, instead choosing to try to keep walking. I spoke up again, wondering if she didn’t hear me. “Alexa?” At my word she dropped to her knees. Callia slipped off her back, sprawling on the ground as the girl curled into a ball. I reached down and picked up Callia and tried to get Alexa to keep moving, but something snapped.
“WHY! WHY should I run? I don’t care anymore. You run like the coward you are. You run from the truth, so run like a coward.” Her voice snapped before fading weakly, “I can’t keep running; I have nobody left, and I refuse to die with you.” She immediately curled back up, and the sound of something falling in the distance made my attention snap away from the girl as my heart started hammering. I wanted to stay and convince the girl to come with me, but the sensation of impending doom overwhelmed my reason. I turned from the crying girl and pressed on.
Nothing but the quiet crackling of torches, the steady breathing of the girl on my back, and the heavy tapping of my feet against the stone accompanied me as I reached a familiar floor; it was my floor. My breath wheezed slightly as the most recent set of stairs left me winded. As I moved through the corridors, a distant memory sprang back up unbidden. This floor had been my whole world, and I could remember the kind mother who raised me and my sisters. She was the reason more than anything else I wanted to be a dorm mother, but the memories drift back to the cold connection I held over my girls, and my heart shatters as I realize just how greatly I failed.
I look to the side, and a memory of when I was little and eager to explore comes unbidden. We had explored every room on the floor, even the adult-only rooms. Only a single place was left uninvestigated, the trash bin. One of my big sisters dared me to explore it, and I found myself in a slide that took me all the way to the second floor of the tower, the tower landfill. Retrieving me from the piles of old smelly trash earned me the longest and sternest lecture my mother had ever given. My moment of reminiscing broke as the sound of metal dragging against stone echoed from behind me. I turned back and came face to face with the monster that killed the others. It was the guard captain of the Vault Guards, but his body had swelled in a grotesque manner. His arms hung loosely, elongated and nearly reaching his feet; his legs were swollen beyond human limits. His eyes were glowing red from his helmet, and the sides of the metal twisted out as newly grown horns pierced through it. My body shook heavily as I stared death in the face.
