Chapter 26

After supper was delivered that night, I curled up on my little cot and waited impatiently for the next morning. Sleep eluded me for hours as Keanu’s plan replayed over and over in my mind. His idea was certainly a lot better than the one I had hatched only the day before.

Mine entailed breaking the mirror in my cell and hiding it in my jumpsuit. Once I got to the showers, I was going to cut my thigh, near my groin, and pretend like I was having a miscarriage. Upon calling the guard for help, I would stab the poor man and then make my getaway.

In hindsight, I’m not entirely sure I could’ve gone through with it, both the idea of cutting myself and possibly killing another human being just didn’t feel like my style. Not to mention, where was I going to escape to? I still had the acres of nowhere to deal with.

I wonder what Keanu has hidden in the shower?

I hoped it wasn’t a knife or gun, I wasn’t sure I could live with myself if I took someone’s life, even if it was essential for our escape.

Escape.

Daydreaming, I thought back to the moment the door swung open when I tried to flee with Jessica. Remembering the way the sunlight cascaded onto my face and how the wind ran its invisible fingers through my hair made me long for the outside world even more. Even the scent of the gasoline that hung in the air from the vehicles on the army base elicited an ache in my heart as I pined for freedom.

A tiny kick from inside my womb reminded me how important tomorrow was.

Soon, little one, soon. I won’t let them hurt you.

Closing my eyes, I let a wave of unconsciousness lull my weary soul to sleep.

Tomorrow.

My lips twitched into a smile as I drifted off.

***

The dream, which had been so consistent all my life, was suddenly unrecognizable. The golden ocean of sand that had always lay before me as my nemesis had transformed to a sea of white. Millions of crystalline shards of snow glinted and gleamed by the light of a lessened sun.

The sun.

The once colossal source of heat which had blazed within my dreams had retreated into the black fabric of space, leaving a bitterly cold and unforgiving landscape of ice to dwell below.

My bare feet burned with the bite of frost rather than the sting of hot sand as I shuffled through the frigid terrain.

Standing statuesque amidst the backdrop of white, scores of cacti bravely held their ground, their posed limbs surely appalled at the snow resting upon their shoulders.

Still in a thin gown of white cotton, I could feel my body shutting down as hypothermia assaulted me. With the last light of day glimpsing over the horizon and the haze of snowfall raining before me, I surrendered.

Falling to my knees and laying upon a bed of snowflakes, I closed my eyes and waited for the icy hand of death to still my beating heart. Fresh fallen snow descended onto my naked arms like tiny crystal butterflies, only to shatter and dissolve the moment they landed. A biting wind snaked around me as it whipped minuscule shards of ice into my face and eyes.

Sensing a presence around me, I forced my head up. I blinked and squinted as snowflakes landed on my lashes. Shielding my face with my hand, I looked out into the blizzard and saw movement. A shadow figure, dressed in a hooded parka and snowshoes, moved swiftly toward me. The crunch of the snowshoes surrounded me as the figure reached my side.

“Cassia.” A familiar male voice whispered as he knelt beside my half-frozen body.

Wrapping me in a brown, wool blanket, he lifted me up. He walked with me cradled in his arms for what felt like miles. Pressed against his chest, I felt a comfort that I’d never known. Protected. Safe.

Feeling him slow to a stop, I somehow knew we’d reached our destination.

Peeking out from the side of the blanket, I beheld the familiar sight of the cave. Carrying me in, we were greeted by an already roaring bonfire. Placing me in front of the fire, I shivered uncontrollably as I thrust my frozen hands toward the blaze. Even though they stung terribly from the thaw, I welcomed the heat with open arms.

The man sat on the other side of the fire, only his eyes visible from beneath the fur-lined hood of his parka. His brown eyes glinted from the waving flames of the fire as he stared at me. A kindness dwelt behind the windows to his soul.

Somehow, through some unspoken exchange, I knew this man loved me. Raising his hands to his head, he began to pull the hood away from his face.

Just as the fur lining moved past the frame of his face, I felt my consciousness stirring.

No!

I cried out in my dream as the image of his face blurred and I was thrust back into the reality of my cell. As lucidity flooded back into my system, I cursed the timing of my awakening.

Rubbing my eyes and stretching, I felt the odd sensation of being watched.

It was then I realized—I was not alone.