Just for you Kirsten, a teaser of what is to come... If I don't edit it out.
***
There is someone there. Someone at the door. Someone who will kill her to get what he wants.
She won't let him. She can't let him. The fate of her whole world rests in her arms.
"Kitty, Kitty, Kitty! Why are you hiding?" He taunts from behind the door. "Time to come out and play."
Her eyes dart from the fireplace to the door. How much time do they need?
"Kitty, I know you are in there. I can feel you in my head."
She sees it in his head, how she can get them out. She runs to the fireplace clutching onto hope that she can free them. It's all she can do before it ends. The wall at the back of the fireplace should move. It should give way to a staircase. She pushes it; it doesn't move. Two pairs of little hands join hers, pushing until it budges an inch. Then two. Three inches.
The pounding on the door halts and they stop pushing to silence the scrape of rock on rock.
"What are you doing, Kitty Cat? You are taking too long to come to your senses."
The pounding begins again. This time it's louder; he is using something to bust through. The splintering of wood tells her it's an axe. There is a foot of space now in front of her.
"Go! Just keep running," she tells them. Their scared faces are covered in soot. Maybe they won't be recognized. Their small frames disappear through the opening just as the center of the door gives way. His head pops through with a suspicious stare. He realizes he showed her exactly how to get out.
"Guards, to the east wall!" he yells.
He'll deal with her later.
