Photo by Greta Farnedi on Unsplash

Jorden felt a sweet breeze touch his body. It was a sharp contrast to the stale, putrid stench inside their cell. He pushed against the big oil drum until it keeled over on its oxidized rim and he rolled it away. It took him several minutes to clear the towering barrels stacked three high next to what he had assumed was a wall. With them gone, a weathered, rusty metal-clad doorway greeted him. Between the gaping fissures around the door handle, glimpses of freedom leaked into the darkness.

He gritted his teeth and strode toward the glad rag girl cowering in the corner.

"I thought you said there was no way out?" Jorden paused his fists clenching and unclenching as he waited.

Sidera slumped, hanging her head she concentrated on the toe of her shoe as she traced patterns in the dirt.

"They leave and never return."

"What? No waiting list for this paradise?" Jorden smirked, then grimaced as slime oozed down the walls trickling into the cracked foundation where everything disappeared.

"Wait. There have been others? Where are the keys?"

Sidera hands flew to her neck, and she dropped, crouching close to the ground. Jorden looped a finger under the chain and pulled them free.

"You ready to go?" he asked extending his hand to her.

With tears streaming down her face she looked up at him.

"The gatekeeper cannot escape unless someone comes for her."

"I'll come back to get you. I promise."

"They never keep their promises."