Scott just shouted at me.

I froze. All the uncertainty that had been haunting me for the past couple of months began to creep in again.

My ears were already pounding. The voice that had been bothering me since Scott loaned me the crystal had been basically screaming the entire time, I helped Scott into Gilded Helianthia. My ears felt like they were about to fall off. And here they were again...

I told you. No one can stand you for long...

I barely heard Fwhip's next sentence...but then I heard him say Xornoth. I completely lost myself and I don't remember telling my body to attack him...but I did? Breaking Fwhip's nose wasn't really a bad thing I guess...but then I fell to the ground, pulling the chains on my wrist and almost pulling my arms out of socket.

That wasn't me.

Now we were getting dragged off the platform as the train containing all of the rulers zoomed off into the distance. My one chance to get them all in one go. And kill me.

I was surprised when the guards dragged us passed the mansion and down towards the inner, much thinner wall around the city. I knew these streets like the back of my hand and as soon as we took a left at the gate and started to travel down Escape Avenue, I knew we were headed to the Eastvale high security dungeon. The name of the streets a joke, as no one has escaped the prison before.

Scott looked nervous as we approached the barred gates. It opened right after Fwhip stepped in front of the body scan. It closed behind us with a clang and Scott jumped. I swear a look of pity crossed Gem's face.

Black stone bricks made the walkway up to the dungeon. A huge castle looking thing with turrets for watchtowers and arrow slits covered up with "unbreakable" glass. This castle was the original Tay resident hundreds of years ago, but it had been converted into a prison during the last decade.

Prison guards lined the turrets and walkways armed with crossbows and spears. There was a courtyard where the lower security prisoners were let out once a day, but higher security prisoners, a.k.a. me and Scott, weren't allowed out of our cells under almost any circumstances.

Ok, I know a lot about the prison. I wanted to know how to break out if I was ever landed here...but there wasn't a way. Yay us...

The metal drawbridge lowered down over a large trench dug right around the perimeter. It was reinforced by blackstone, and my legs felt like lead as we walked across it.

The gate shut, and it went pitch dark for a moment before lights above us flickered on. There was another reinforced gate right in front of us that Fwhip also had to scan for. Like I said, this prison is intense.

Then, without warning, something dark and rough was pressed against my eyes and I struggled to get out of Gem and the soldier's hands as they blindfolded me. "What the hell is this for!?" I cried in protest.

"So, you don't know how to get out." Fwhip answered simply and the soldiers shoved us on.

I tried to pay attention to which way we turned. Left, left again, a ramp down, right, a few steps down to the right again, left, left, right, left, right- I finally lost track and stopped trying. This place was a maze and specifically designed to confuse the prisoners.

I heard clanging as more gates opened and closed letting us in and out of special hallways and down staircases. Suddenly, we stopped. I felt someone untying the ropes bound around my wing joints.

"What are you-" I started but then a heavy metal clamp, clamped around them. I sucked air in through my teeth to stop myself from screaming in pain. I could already feel the fresh blood dripping down my back.

Then my blindfold was roughly ripped off my face and I blinked in the extreme yellow light that cast an eerie glow over the whole place. I was facing a decently large cell. Coils of chains lay on the ground on either side, parallel to each other.

I saw Scott beside me, looking around. I saw a spasm of fear pass quickly across his face right after we made eye contact.

The door of the cell creaked open, and Gem dragged me and Scott inside. She unhooked Scott's cuffs from each other and hooked them to the coils, and they did the same to mine. Unfortunately, I wasn't as lucky as Scott, and I didn't get my neck clasp taken off.

I glared at Gem as she made sure my chains were fastened tightly. I tried adjusting my sitting position, but the tip of my wing dragged across the metal wall, pulling at the rest and I winced as the broken bones cracked against each other.

"We can get that fixed after questioning." Gem said in a neither friendly nor hostile way. Just as if she were stating a fact. Although I'm almost positive I saw a trace of pity on her face, and that made me angry.

Gem could probably sense my fury, so she stood up and stepped back, glancing over my chains as if to double check. Then she left the cell and shut the door behind her. Fwhip stepped up the keypad and dialed several numbers, at least a dozen. I heard a pressurized something and two metal sheets began to close in front of the bars.

I felt a stab of fear when I realized we were about to be left in complete darkness, and I saw a smirk on Fwhip's face right before the doors shut. Everything was pitch black for just a second before a lightbulb on the ceiling flickered on and four cameras at all corners of the room turned on, casting a sort of weird red glow.

"Are you ok?" Scott said in a low voice.

I looked away. "I don't know, am I?" I snapped.

Scott's face fell. "Erin I'm sorry about what I said in the train. I didn't mean-"

"Then why'd you say it?" I said, trying to stop my lip from trembling. "Normally when people blurt things out its because they had been trying not to say it."

Scott didn't answer.

See? He doesn't care. What's the point of holding on anymore...?

And the voice was right. I suddenly felt an avalanche of hatred towards Scott pour over me. But why did I hate him again...?

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to get rid of the feeling but it kept getting stronger until it was all that I felt.

"Erin what's-" Scott started again.

"HOW ABOUT FOR ONCE YOU SHUT UP!" I screamed at him. "IT'S ALWAYS SCOTT THIS, SCOTT THAT, WHAT ABOUT HOW I FEEL? HONESTLY, IF I HAD JUST LEFT RIVENDALE, I WOULDN'T BE IN THIS SITUATION RIGHT NOW!"

A look of absolute fear and anxiety crossed Scott's face as my voice echoed off the walls of the room. "Erin- Erin get a hold of yourself." He said quietly.

"GET A HOLD OF MYSELF!? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET A HOLD OF MYSELF!? WE ARE CURRENTLY INSIDE OF THE WORLDS MOST HIGH SECURITY PRISON WITH NO WAY TO ESCAPE AND NO FRIENDS TO BREAK US OUT! WHO LANDED US HERE HUH? SO DON'T TELL ME TO-..."

"Please." Scott said and I swear I saw a tear run down his face and his ears seemed to droop. That made me shut up.

Scott leaned against the wall and covered his face with his hands. I just stared at him. Then I noticed he was trembling. "I-I'm sorry. I never- I never meant for- for any of this to happen." He said in a barely audible whisper.

I was speechless. But my silence was loud in the small room. So instead of answering him I turned around and studied my bounds. There were roughly 10 feet of chains connecting the cuffs I was wearing to the wall. A metal panel reinforced it and the chains traveled deeper into the wall than I could see.

I twisted my body, so I was facing the panel and dug my fingernails in between the panel and the wall, trying to pry it out.

"What are you...-" Scott started.

I grunted as I tried to pull the metal from the concrete-seeming walls. My fingernails started to bleed, and I started to lose circulation in the tips of my fingers from squeezing them into the tight space.

"Stop, Erin you're going to hurt yourself!" Scott said. I, of course, ignored him.

I had managed to pull the plate a few centimeters from the wall when I heard a loud ringing, almost like a shriek begin to vibrate around the cell, canceling out all other noise. I immediately let go of the plate and pressed my hands against my ears as the sound went on. I couldn't even hear myself scream over it. I felt blood start to drip down my neck from my ears when the sound finally stopped.

"Sorry!" Came Fwhip's overjoyed voice from one of the cameras that apparently had a loudspeaker in it. I mean, come on, we can have talking cameras but not cars in every kingdom? BS. "Just testing it out. It'll turn on every time you step out of line. So, I suggest you don't try to break anything Phoenix."

"STOP CALLING ME PHOENIX!" I screamed at the camera.

"Uh, uh. I've got my finger over the button, Major." He said.

"I DON'T GIVE A CRAP ABOUT YOUR STUPID BUTTON!"

The horrible sound started again, and I clamped my hands over my ears right before it stopped. "I think you will in a few days." Fwhip said, and I heard a beeping noise that meant the loudspeaker had been turned off.

I looked at Scott with wide eyes. Fresh blood was dripping from his ears as well and he looked terrified.

"Uh oh." I peeped.