Cairo  

XXXI  

I gently lay Jasmine’s head on the ground, and get up, slowly. I can hear the guards. They’re coming back. To laugh at us, to mock us, to feed us; I don’t care. All I know, is that this will be their last time walking down this hallway, their last time to see each other, and the last day of their lives.  

As the voices near, I hide right next to the door, so none of them can see me as they walk by. One of them comes to the door of the cell, and looks through the bars. I’m so tempted to grab his face and smash it right then and there, but I have to be patient.  

For Jasmine.  

“It’s quiet, boss,” I recognize the gruff voice as Tashe’s. “I don’t see either of them.”  

“What?” a squeaky feminine voice peeps. “If they escaped again, I’ll have you meet a demise worse than Zaro’s!  

“B-but-” Tashe stutters.  

“Get out of my way!” The voice screeches, and a woman pokes her head through the bars.  

Is that...  

Calipso?!  

Cairo  

XXXII  

It is! Does that mean, that... all along... she-?  

It doesn’t matter. Stay focused, Cairo. You have to do this.  

For Jasmine  

I hear Calipso mutter under her breath, and some shuffling ensues, as I assume she moves away from the cell door.  

“Jasmine’s there. She’s on the floor, bleeding. Didn’t I tell you two not to hurt her?”  

“Yes ma-”  

“SILENCE! I told you to keep her out of harms way; I even said you could do anything to the guy. But now it seems as if he’s escaped, and left her for dead. Tashe, I swear-”  

“No, please! Let’s check on her-maybe she’s not dead? She’s not, I promise! The stab wound wasn’t that deep, and, I, I-”  

“Fine. But if she’s dead, this is the end.”  

I hear Tashe gulp, and the cell door latch pop open. He opens the door, and the metal scrapes and creaks as it’s moved.  

Before I can enact my plan, I look over to Jasmine’s dead body one more time. I wish she never-  

Wait.  

What?!  

It’s... not there?!