Lights

She believed herself to be dreaming, then, when she heard her door open and slam shut in the middle of the night. That is, until her father shook her awake. 

In the light of the fire from the fireplace, Alessia could see that her father had a huge cut across the left side of his cheek that extended from his cheekbone to half an inch away from his nose. Any drowsiness she’d felt before she opened her eyes was completely gone, and she sat up herself. “Papa?!” she exclaimed, “What happened to you?!” 

Her father pulled her to her feet while saying, “The rebellion has started! You need to throw on clothes as quickly as possible; we need to leave!” 

Alessia scrambled across the room to her dresser and pulled out her riding clothes. She could hear swords clashing and people screaming in the distance. As she pulled her clothes on, she asked, “So soon? I thought you said you weren’t even sure if it was happening.” 

Her father was across the room and was barring the door with every piece of furniture she owned, except for the dresser she was using. “This--” he said with a grunt as he heaved an armoire in front of the door, “--was nothing like what we expected”. 

He quickly tied together some sheets, threw open the window, and tossed the makeshift rope outside. 

“THAT’S how we’re escaping?!” Alessia exclaimed. 

Seeing that his daughter was dressed, he grabbed her by the wrist. “No, of course not. Come quickly!” Alexander threw open Alessia’s closet door, where again, Alessia guffawed. 

“We’re just going to hide in the closet?!” she exclaimed. 

“No, no! Keep quiet, come quickly!” Alexander felt the back of Alessia’s closet for what felt like hours, though it was, in reality, less than a minute. He finally found what he was looking for: a tiny keyhole. Alexander shoved a strange looking key in the lock, turned it, and threw the door open. “Close the closet door and step in,” he said, stepping over Alessia’s boots and chests into the darkness on the other side of the strange door. Alessia did as she was told, though she did it with great trepidation. It was pitch black on the other side of the closet. Alessia heard her father shut and lock the door again before he grabbed her hand. “Rest your hand on the wall and follow it. I’ll be right beside you.”

Alessia reached out and touched the wall; she instantly recoiled when she felt its cold, damp sliminess, but quickly put her hand back. The two began walking, slowly at first, picking up speed the longer they went. After fifteen minutes, light came into view. The pair approached a torch that was placed on the wall before a large, vault-style door. The door itself was constructed of numerous stone rings surrounding the handle in the center. Alexander approached the door, pushed in the second outermost ring, and rotated it 180 degrees. He then took the next ring, the third outermost, and rotated it 90 degrees in the opposite direction. Moving inwards, he moved the sixth ring to the right 180 degrees, moved the seventh ring a full 360 degrees to the left, and moved the tenth ring- the innermost ring- 180 degrees. This act was followed by the sounds of many, many clicks. Finally, with a loud thump, the handle clicked. Alexander grabbed it, opened the door, and motioned for Alessia to enter. Alexander walked in after his daughter and shut the vault; the clicking sounds were heard once more as the stone rings reset to their original position.