Aleigha stood against the wall, her head leaning against the hard surface. Mikiel looked at her.

"They may still let you out," he told her gently.

"Why am I here in the first place? I didn't do anything," Aleigha whispered, trying to hold back her despair.

Mikiel studied her for a moment before speaking. "I don't know the charges. They didn't tell me. I'm normally at the east gate, but I'm covering for a guard who is helping out in the clinic. He was a medic for a while and didn't like it. They brought him in to help with the sickness since he was trained."

"Seeran is at the east gate. He's the gate commander. I have never seen you. I spent a lot of time at the east gate." Aleigha challenged. She didn't believe him.

"The east gate is a new position. I was moved from the north gate because of the camp," he explained.

Aleigha hung her head, tears falling, not sure what to do.

Mikiel turned and headed back out of the hall. He opened the door and stepped out of the hall and into the main office, pausing to take one last look at the girl radiating despair. He really didn't know why she was there. He wanted to know. Everything he knew about her was positive. There was nothing indicating that she would do anything wrong to land her in the cells to rot.

The air around him shifted as the door closed and locked behind him.

"Aleigha," the voice of Niki beside her whispered.

Aleigha looked around her, seeing nothing. "Great, I'm going crazy now," she complained aloud.

"No, you're not," Niki whispered. "I'm cloaked. When they open the door to feed you, I'm going to slip a knapsack inside your sell. There's a cloaking shield on it, so you'll have to feel around. There's a small bag in the front that has four more. I brought you weapons and clothes. Jada provided the cloaking shields. No one knows she had them. You can slip out of the cell when they open the door to take your food tray. Go to Jada's house. We can't trust my mate. He's been acting off. You should know that Finn is alive and well. I've been babysitting."

Aleigha breathed a sigh of relief. She took a few minutes to let the good news of her son wash through her before she spoke again. "What's the plan after I get out?" she whispered.

"You'll have to ask Jada. She's really good at plans." Niki responded.

The hall door slid open, and Mikiel walked a cart of food trays down the corridor, giving each prisoner one of the trays. When he stopped at her cell, he hesitated before opening the door and putting the tray inside. Niki tossed the bag in the cell before he exited and closed it back up. Aleigha could feel the fabric of the knapsack next to her. She didn't move. She didn't want Mikiel to think she was going to escape. "IF you find out why I'm here, can you tell me, please?" Aleigha whispered to Mikiel. She made sure she kept her head down in fear he would see the change in her mood.

"If I am not forbidden from telling you, I will," he assured her, then pushed the cart out of the corridor. She knew her sister had already left.

Nearly thirty minutes later, she was dressed and cloaked in the items her sister had delivered. She hid by the side of the door so if it was even slightly opened, she could be able to escape undetected.

The corridor opened, and a new guard pushed the food cart out. She had left her pile of clothes in the darkest corner of the cell, so they thought she was asleep. She pulled the untouched food tray just far enough away for the guard to have to enter the cell to retrieve the tray in order to give her time to step out.

It worked. She watched as he looked at the dark corner, opened the cell, and took the tray, going back out and reclosing the barrier. In only the seconds it took for him to be out of the cell, she was already standing next to the corridor's door. She would exit the hallway ahead of the food cart.

She waited for the door to slide open. She had to wait for the guard to finish collecting food trays. When he was done, he pushed the cart toward the exit. The door slid open, and she stepped through, making sure to stay away from the guard pushing the food cart behind her.

Mikiel was sitting at a desk. He looked up when the guard pushed in the cart full of trays. "Did everyone eat?" he asked. "The female didn't eat last night when she was brought in?" he asked the guard with the food cart. "I was told that a medic has to be called to use a feeding tube if she doesn't eat today."

"No, she didn't eat it," the guard stated. "She was sleeping in the corner when I collected her tray."

Mikiel sighed. "She won't be sleeping for long," he groaned, lifting his comm link. "Sir, the female, Aleigha, did not eat again tonight. It was requested I notify you," he stated in the comm link.

Council Leader Vorik's voice came through the comm link. "Call medic Kaul for a feeding tube," he barked out. It was clear he was angry.

"Yes, sir," Mikiel stated.

Aleigha watched Mikiel. He didn't like calling Vorik or the Medic. It was clear to her that he didn't want to put her through what was going to happen when Medic Kaul arrived. She could tell that the young guard had a good heart.

"Medic Kaul. Council Leader Vorik ordered me to call you for a feeding tube for Aleigha, who did not eat last night or tonight's meal." Mikiel told him reluctantly.

Medic Kaul's voice came into the comm link. "On my way. I'll make her eat," he spat out. Hatred and anger seeped into each syllable.

It was only moments later that Medic Kaul came in. He had three bags of nutrients and a feeding tube in one hand. "Take me to her," he spat out. Anger radiated around him.

The door into the corridor filled with cells slid open, and he disappeared. With two guards flanking him, he stormed down the long hallway to her cell. She stayed put, wanting to be as close to the front door as possible. She worried that since she didn't leave when it opened for Medic Kaul to enter, it would be nearly impossible to sneak out now. She knew she might have cost herself her freedom.

Aleigha watched as the door slid open, and the guards and medic Kaul rushed out of the cells. "Sir," Medic Kaul called through the comm link. "Aleigha has escaped the cells. The only thing in her cell was her clothes. The guards stated she was there when the tray was delivered. She escaped."

Council Leader Vorik's voice came through. "Find and detain her!" he bellowed. The comm link vibrated with his rage.

Medic Kaul went to his bag to find a scanner. "I need my scanner. It's in my clinic," he hissed.

Aleigha understood what he wanted it for and began to panic. She pressed herself against the front door of the prison. Freedom was only separated by the door beside her.

The prison front door opened slightly, just enough for Aleigha to slip through. "It's now or never," she thought as she rushed through the crack in the front door.

She heard the voice of one of the guards as she exited. "We have one for emergencies; I will get it for you." Then the door closed again. She was happy she made it out of the building before the doors closed, and they locked down the entire building.

Her first thought was to go to her sister's dwelling.

Aleigha ran as fast as she could, winding through alleyways and between dwellings, trying to stay quiet. The alarms were blaring, echoing through the dome that there was an escaped prisoner.

Aleigha kept running, heading for her sister. She was cloaked so no one would see her. If Rask were home, she wouldn't be able to talk to Niki. She hoped with everything she had that he wasn't home.

She knew she needed to stay hidden. The only ones she knew for a fact that she could trust were Orik, Jada, and her sister.

As she approached Niki's home, a line of guards rushed by, headed to the same place she was.

They stopped at Niki's front door and forced it open, not giving Niki time to even come to the door. Soon after, she heard Niki's angry yelling. "How the hell am I supposed to get my sister out of the cells if I can't even leave the house? I have two infants. You tell me how I can do that with two infants!"

They didn't seem to listen. They continued to search for her. After they searched the dwelling, Council Leader Vorik arrived. Niki told him the same thing. She couldn't go rescuing her sister with two infants in tow. It was impossible. Confusing Aleigha, Vorik had agreed with her.

The group of guards headed to Jada's home next. The process repeated. Jada and Orik were in the living room, holding each other, when the line of guards forced their door open and searched the dwelling. They gave Orik's truth serum. It was only luck that they asked the wrong questions.

"Did you break out, Aleigha?" the lead guard asked.

"No, my mate is grieving; we haven't left the dwelling," he stated. His voice was monotone, his features slack.

"Do you know where Aleigha is?" the guard asked him.

"She is in the cells," Orik told them.

Council Leader Vorik growled. "He doesn't know. The truth serum doesn't lie. If he thinks she's in the cells, then that's where he knows her to be."

Turning, Council Leader Vorik left the residence, the group of guards following behind him.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.