Path of Destruction

Everything had happened so quickly, as though it were nothing but a dream. And she felt like she could wake up from it any moment. She didn't know how long she had slept for, or how far away from home she was. All she knew was the amount of rest she was getting.

Claire woke up from her dream in a slight daze. She kept her eyes closed because she felt relaxed and at ease, but she knew something wasn’t right. Even as comfortable as she was something felt wrong. Her bed didn't feel quite the same today. And she had a strange stabbing pain in her lower back.

She opened her eyes to see that she was in a cave. This was the first thing to startle her. She could feel soft furs below her and cotton, no doubt a normal sheet that covered her. Pushing herself up on her elbows she looked around. No one else was in the cave with her, and that was good. Candles covered most of the space, they were all lit and left very few shadows that things could be hiding in.

Claire wrapped the sheet around her and stood up. Her first few steps were shaky like she had been laying down for a very long time. Her body felt somewhat weak, and her mind was still racing over how she might have ended up here in the first place.

She spotted a box nearby that sat beside a block of wood. If she had to guess, the wood was a stool or some kind of seat. A beautiful array of candles caught her eye, on a shelf that looked like it had been carved clean into the wall of the cave. She admired the different colors for a few moments, before picking up the box she had come over here for.

Opening the simple cardboard revealed a set of clothes. Shirt, pants, socks. Even a thin pair of flats. They looked like what she had on before going to bed. Claire plucked clothes out of the box and put them on. Leaving the sheet where it had fallen on the ground. She had to find a way out of here before whoever left her here came back.

When she went to close the box the lid toppled down knocking one of the blue candles over. The cardboard ignited almost instantly, fire rising up to lick her heels. As the sheets she had so carelessly left on the ground started to burn, the fire raised to her calves. Fear swept through her quickly, panic gripping her heart and forcing her still.

After a long few moments staring at the growing flames, Claire spun on her heel, racing towards a large door. Originally she hadn't planned on going near it until she was covered, by clothes or sheets she didn't care now.

She pulled and pushed for a while, begging it to open. Even going so far as to pound on the door. It was a risk, if her captor was out there it would alert them, however, panic kept that truth from her. As the gorgeous furs began to burn in the background she looked over the door frantically. Maybe there was a way to get it open beside just pushing the thing. It was during this look over that she noticed the keyhole on the door.

Covering her mouth and nose by pulling the collar of her shirt up some she tried to fight against the smoke that was filling the space. Her gaze traveled the room frantically, and when she finally saw a case at the other end of the cave. Her heart fluttered. The foul smell of burnt hair filled her nose as she zipped past the bed of burning animal furs. As though the smoke wasn't enough to gag her already.

Claire scrunched up her nose and closed her eyes. She ran straight into the wooden case but managed to grab it before she fell backward. Yanking it open there were over three dozen keys. All were silver, with three notches in different places. Claire felt her temper rising. She didn't have time for this, the room was filling with flame faster than she could have imagined, and with nothing to put it out, she was sure she would die in here.

Forcing herself to try and calm down she looked over the keys one more time. One seemed to be missing, but there were plenty to chose from. She took down each of the keys and held them in her shirt. She made her way back to the door and focused on remaining calm. After trying every key twice, however, she broke down and cried. None of the keys were working, no matter how careful she was. Was there no escape from this torment? What had she done to deserve this?

The door was winning, the fire was growing, eating anything it could wrap in the tendrils of its flames. As she was giving up hope, and ready to accept defeat a sound outside caught her attention. A moment later a cat walked through a small door at the bottom of the one she had been trying to open and quickly left when it saw what was going on inside.

Claire pushed her velvety blonde hair under her shirt and slumped lower to the floor of the cave. She pushed on the small door the cat had come through and decided it was large enough for her to fit through. Ignoring the dirt on the ground she pushed it open wide.

Claire pushed her arms through first and started pulling herself out. She had her torso out the door and was working on getting past her hips when the heat of the fire prickled her feet. It burned, and she couldn't help the sound of anguish that left her lips. She was coughing from all the smoke she had inhaled and overheated from the sheer amount.

As her panic began to rise again, someone grabbed her hands and pulled her through. For a very short moment she stared at the ground as though she had never seen it before, and while her feet hurt, she ignored them. She was alive, and out of that wretched cave.

She jumped up, arms flying around her rescuer. It didn't matter if they had been the one to put her in the cave in the first place anymore. If they had wanted her dead they wouldn't have pulled her free of the door, would they? Tears stung her eyes as she whimpered against his chest. “You're alright now.” He said soothingly. “You're safe.”