Cairo  

XXVIII  

…  

Jasmine  

XXIX  

I try to wield the frying pan in front of me to block the guards from getting to me, but one of them manages to get behind me, and knocks me in the back of the head.  

Everything goes black.  

Cairo  

XXX  

I wake up from a deep slumber as I’m being dragged through a dark hallway. I can’t see anything beyond rows and rows of grey cells.  

Before I can get a good grasp on my surroundings, I’m thrown into one of the cells, and I can hear Jasmine cry out as she’s thrown in too. The door screeches and latches shut, and I can hear the guards laughing as they leave.  

I quickly move over to Jasmine.  

“Hey, Jas? Are you okay?” I can feel a worried expression on my face.  

“I... Yeah..,” she says, then begins gasping for air. What’s going on?!  

“Jasmine? What happened?! Are you okay? What did they do?” I frantically ask, as I lift her head onto my lap. “Jas...?” I search for her hand to hold, but my hand grazes over what feels like a gouge in her rib. I move my hand back, and I feel it. It’s...  

It’s...  

It’s a stab mark?  

~  

NO. No, no no. This can’t be happening. I-I can’t have her... NO!  

“JASMINE?! Jasmine, please! Answer me, are you okay? What happened? Why do you have a stab mark, did this happen when I was... Jasmine, are you there? JASMINE? PRINCESS?!”  

I can feel a tear escape my eyes, as her silence answers my many questions.  

Jasmine. The girl I’ve only known for a few days. The smart, beautiful, and strong friend that I found less than a week ago. The person who stuck with me, even though she could have left me behind to be taken and killed. Jasmine.  

“I... I love you...,” I softly whisper, as my one tear turns into many, and my heart shatters into a thousand pieces.  

The world seems to end, when I can hear her whisper, “I love you too, Cairo,” back.  

They can’t get away with this.  

They won’t get away with this.  

Not this time.  

Not again, ever.