My eternal punishment, being shut in a metal tube that doubles as a cage. It’s spacious for an air duct but not spacious enough to find the capacity to pull air back into my lungs.
I can’t get out.
“I used to have these dreams.”
Calista’s voice echoes through the chamber, bouncing off metallic surfaces and slamming back into me.
“Dreams that made me think I could fly. Grow wings and soar through the sky, feel the brush of wind in my hair and the warmth of sunshine on my face.”
Sweat drips from the end of my nose and splatters on the surface beneath me.
“I would watch these kingdoms grow and thrive, rulers come into power until somebody was strong enough to take theirplace. Bad things would happen to good people and good things would happen to bad people. There was no sense of justice in my world.”
The red soles of her heels shift along the ground, a bright line forcing my body to follow.
“There was always a prince. A knight who would come charging in, fighting to save the princess waiting for him. She had nothing but a dwindling string of hope, watching man after man fall victim to the monster who guarded her.”
I listen to her tale, feeling Calista dragging my mind through the darkness. Forcing my body forward with words and tangled knots that distract me long enough to keep moving.
“The longer I watched, the more the story changed. The prince turned out to be a fraud, a tired man who wanted to go home after a long day of work. The girl was nothing more than a solitary object, an empty mannequin who could not save herself if she tried.”
“I watched this story unfold night after night, and throughout it all only one thing remained the same.” A small laugh escapes her, “The dragon.”
Metal grates seal the space around us, but suddenly I’m seeing a smear of ink. A vicious creature wrapped around Calista’s body, sinking its claws and teeth into her skin until monster and woman become one.
“No matter the challenge, no matter the number of men she slaughtered, at the end of the day the monster was always there. Willing to fight, ready to defend.”
A drop of sadness softens her tone, a quiet confession that has my heart sinking.
“The monster never got a happy ending. But I found myself wishing one day it would.”
It’s a hard truth to swallow, knowing this strong fucking woman sees nothing but darkness at the end of her tunnel. Realizing the creature she sees in the mirror shows only the blood on her hands and none of the good.
The joy she brings to my life just by being alive.
“Never been a fan of mannequins. Or princes, for that matter.”
Forcing the air back inside my lungs, I find myself willing to breath if it means I can lift Calista Drache back up off the ground.
“Happy endings don’t do it for me, either. Too simple, tied up with a bow and wrapped in some cheap paper. Give me a final clip with some fast cars and a bit of violence and I’m sold.”
“That does sound like your type of ending, Devil.”
I can’t see her face but I can hear the smile in her voice.
“I know what I like, Miss Drache.”
And that’s you.
“We made it.”
A beam of light shutters past her face as the grate gets pushed to the side and a wave of fresh air hits us. Tears spring to my eyes at the sight of freedom, the metal gap waiting to drop us twelve feet into the room below.
“You’ve got the rope?”
I’m ready to launch myself out of this space but Calista’s level thoughts keep me on track. Shifting uncomfortably, I pull at the superficial stitches holding the top layer of my dress pants together. Silk material falls to the side as I tear at the seams, ripping off the excess material until my supplies are accessible.
“Ladies first.”
