Jasmine
VII
We plaque at the wall for hours, the dent growing by centimeters every half hour. It’s slow, but I know that it’ll work.
Despite his annoying demeanor, Cairo is actually quite helpful in this physical task, chipping away at almost twice the speed I am. And... he can even be funny. Sometimes.
We joke and have some light-hearted conversation through the process. After what I estimate to be 5 hours, we are almost done with the wall.
“So, Jas.” Woah woah woah, we’re not that close now, buddy.
“Jasmine,” I seethe.
“Jas,” He smirks. “Why were you caught stealing? Got a money issue, or are you a klepto or something?”
How on Earth did he think this was an appropriate question? I assumed that we would keep our conversation minimal and surface-level through this menial task, but I see that he assumed otherwise. Ugh. Never mind, maybe he is a jerk after all.
Despite this, I decide to answer him. It may be annoying, but I suppose that there’s no real harm in answering his question.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but... I just like... expensive things. I’m not obsessed with stealing itself; trust me, I’d earn all of this if I could,” I gesture to the bangles on my wrist.
“But, I just... can’t. There’s no way for me to get off this island and go to school. So, I can’t really earn money. It is and it’s always been an endless cycle of me stealing, getting caught by Zaro and his minions, getting out, and... stealing again. But... I think that this time I went too far.”
I look over at him, and am met with eyes of anticipation. Does he expect for me to tell him, a complete stranger, more?
“That’s all you’re getting to know. It was a lot, so be happy with it.” I might have overshared just a tad bit...
“I mean, I guess it was a lot. So, you want to know why I do the same thing, huh?”
“If you want to. Unlike some people, I don’t press for people to answer questions that they don’t want to. Besides. I don’t think anything of much interest can come out of you.”
“That was good,” he looked at me, a beaming smile on his face.
“It wasn’t to entertain you. It’s the truth.”
For lack of a better word, he giggles, and turns away again.
“Well, since you told me, I’ll tell you, because I’m just nice like that.”
I roll my eyes.
“Long story short, I just need the money for my family. My mom and sister, to be exact. That’s pretty much it.”
“Wow. That’s a pretty short story, compared to mine.”
“Not really. It’s just the condensed form.”
“Condensed. That’s quite a big word for somebody of such low iq as you.” We both look at each other, and start laughing. Maybe, just maybe... he doesn’t suck that bad.
Before we could strike up conversation again, my knife-like shard pops through the drywall, ad I lurch forward, not expecting the cavity in the wall I just made.
As my head nears the wall to a dangerously close level, I feel two arms wrap around my waist, and they pull me back, saving me from hitting my head on the wall.
I turn around, and we both freeze, with widened eyes.
We stay like that for a few minutes, before the shock is wiped from his face, and he smirks at me, again. Ugh. Quickly, I scramble to catch my footing again, and pull away.
“Hey, I just saved your life, princess.”
“Life? As if. Barely saved me from scratching my face.”
His grin widens, and he rolls his eyes. “Whatever you say, princess.”
I glare at him. I hate nicknames, let alone that one. This is the second annoying name he’s assigned to me. Ugh.
But I do suppose that he saved me from some... minor inconvenience, so I won’t say anything for now.
We both turn back to the wall.
“Finally,” I say.
“Yeah, what’s it been, like four hours?”
“Just about. Alright, give me a hand here.” He nods, and looks at me, anticipating his orders.
“So you see the obvious hole in the wall, right? Well judging by its apparent width, we can just grab either side. If we pull hard enough, we can rip off enough of the rest of the drywall, to be able to crawl through into ... wherever the outside of this odd building is.”
“Alright.”
We each grab a side of the crevasse, and grip it hard.
“3,” I say.
“2,” he continues.
“1!” Together, we peel back the drywall, and both fall back due to the unexpected easiness of the task.
“YES!!!” We scream together, realizing that... we’re about to be free.
We both scramble to get up, and look at each other, and back at the wall.
“Ladies first,” he states.
I roll my eyes. “Gotcha.”
I tentatively put my leg through the new path to freedom, and duck to get my torso and head out as well. Halfway through the wall, before I could get completely through, the door to the cell...
Slams open.
Cairo
VIII
What the hell was that?!
I whip around to see Zaro and some other guards burst into the room.
Oh no-
I feel myself get lightheaded, and then...
Before I can black out, Jas grabs my hand and yanks me through the wall, and I hit my head on the way out, promptly waking me up.
“Hurry! Why are you just standing there?! Run, RUN!”
She grips my hand even harder and begins to drag me through... a forest? We appear to be running through a large, green thicket, with dead leaves crunching beneath our feet. It’s the perfectly stereotypical forest, with lush, green trees, a dense underbrush, and singing birds in the sky.
“Hurry, hurry! We can’t let them catch up!”
“Okay, okay! Where are we going to go? We can’t run forever!”
At this point, her grip is so hard, I can almost feel my circulation being cut off. I hope she knows that my hand is a vital part of my body, that I need for the rest of my life.
“I... I don’t know. Just keep running. We’ll get somewhere eventually.”
We continue frantically darting between trees and sprinting through the brush. I can hear some guards behind us, but they seem far enough away.
I hope.
A couple more minutes of frantic running brings us to a clearing. There’s about a mile of plain, grassy fields ahead, before the jungle terrain starts up again.
Suddenly, she stops. The impact of the stop throws me forward, and I land in the soft flora.
“Hey, -”
“SHUT. UP.” Jasmine turns around, and looks at me with emotion-filled eyes. Fear? Anger? I can’t tell. She gestures to a spot in front of her. Slowly, I creep forward, to look at what she was pointing to.
My eyes are met with those of a reptile.
The stony cold ochre eyes of a snake stare back at me.
Before I could even react to that, I hear the slithering slimy sounds
“Stay still. I have a plan,” Jasmine’s cool voice instructs me.
“I-I-”
“Still.”
“O-Okay...”
“3” What?! What is she counting for? She didn’t even tell me what to do after one. I hope she knows what she’s doing. Otherwise? We’re screwed. Plus, on top of all of this, I think I can hear Zaro’s footsteps nearing our spot. Oh shit.
“2”
Here we go.
“1.”
I feel Jasmine pull me back by my shirt, and shove me into a tree.
“Why-” I begin, but the look of fear on her face stops me.
She points to a small opening in the trees.
“Run.”
“But what about-”
“RUN.”
With no further questions, I turn and sprint away from the clearing. Knowing her, she’ll be okay.
I hope...
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