Chapter Two Noah

It was after midnight, and he was exhausted, but Noah hurried on. Now that they'd made the decision, he wanted to get there as soon as possible. He rounded the final bend and sped up, eager to keep his promise. Reaching the wooden barrier, he bent to unfasten it, trying to loosen the bolt as quietly as possible.

His fingers were stiff and unwieldy, and it took him quite a while, but eventually he loosened them and pulled the wooden barrier out of the way.

"Hey," he called, "it's only me."

He peered inside. A figure was slumped in the far corner of the cave, her head down and her knees hugged to her chest. She didn't move. His heart stopped.

"Ella?"

She raised her head slowly. "Noah? Is that you?"

"It's me." He took a tentative step inside. "How are you?"

She shrugged. "How do you think?"

"Honestly, it doesn't look like you're doing so great."

"I'm not." She let her head drop on to her knees again. "I'm really not."

Noah remained where he was, shifting from one foot to the other as he considered what to say. "Um… we thought you might like to go to the bathing cave…"

"What time is it?" She looked up again, her face creased with confusion. "Sorry… I lose track."

"It's twenty to one."

"In the morning?" Her voice was brittle. "I see. Jacob doesn't know about this, does he?"

"He doesn't."

"That figures."

Noah was hit by a wave of sympathy for the older girl. He thought back to the events which had led to Ella's imprisonment. Immediately following Faith and Diane's escape, the community's first priority had been Carl. Alongside Ella, he'd been guarding the Danforth girls at the cottage during the guard attack on the tunnels. He'd received a severe blow to the head with a heavy branch, presumably delivered by one of the girls.

In contrast, Ella had simply been knocked out with a dose of the sleeping solution. She had woken up with a slight dizziness and contacted the base immediately to ask for help. Despite this, Jacob had doubted her story, claiming that she had helped the escapees.

It didn't help that Carl had told the Eremus leader that Ella had been extremely friendly towards the girls. His head injury had thankfully not caused permanent damage, but it hadn't stopped him using it to gain sympathy from anyone who'd listen. Clearly, he was afraid Jacob might think he was somehow to blame for the Eremus girls' escape, and as a result, he'd been quick to accuse Ella of sympathising with their situation.

He'd also made public Ella's relationship with Helen, one of the Danforth students. Noah knew the relationship had been borne out of Ella's great compassion. She had been the only one able to help Helen when she'd suffered from crippling anxiety after being dragged into the forest at night and used as bait by Jacob himself. Noah also knew that Ella, despite showing real kindness towards the girls and caring for them better than most of the Eremus citizens, would not have simply let two of them leave without raising the alarm.

He'd told Jacob as much. So had Ruth and Anna. But their defence hadn't done Ella any good. Jacob had questioned her repeatedly, but her responses had never satisfied him. No matter how many times she had denied knowledge of the girls' plans, described the way they'd waited until she was sleeping and dosed her thoroughly with the Sleepsol, Jacob remained convinced that she'd played some part in their escape.

Flynn said Jacob needed someone to blame. That he would ease up on Ella in time. But after three days of attacking her with questions, the Eremus leader had flung her into a cave in one of the deepest tunnels in the system and had Harden barricade the door. Since her imprisonment, Ella had only been permitted food, a bathroom bucket, a lantern, and a bucket of clean water in which to bathe.

Worse treatment, Ruth argued, than the Danforth girls. It was the reason for their subterfuge tonight.

Ella rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes. "You think Jacob's planning to punish me forever?"

"I don't know." Crossing the cave, Noah crouched by her side. "Look, we've been working on him… but it doesn't sound like he's going to come around." At her pained glance, he qualified, "Not any time soon, anyway. For now, sneaking you out is the best we can do."

"We?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Me and Ruth." The older girl brightened at the mention of her sister. "She went to get you some fresh clothes. She's waiting at the bathing pool for you." He glanced over his shoulder at the open door. "We know Jacob's busy checking the outer guard posts, so we figured now was as safe a time as any."

"I'll admit that being properly clean sounds good." Ella hesitated. "But what if you get caught?"

Noah shrugged. "We talked it over. We're prepared to take the rap. Hopefully, it won't come to that."

"Alright, if you're sure." She smiled faintly. "It's the best offer I'm likely to get right now."

She pushed herself into a standing position. Rolling her neck, she groaned. "I haven't moved properly for hours… days even. There isn't exactly a lot of space in here."

Noah glanced around the cave. She was right. And Jacob hadn't given her much in the way of provisions. He noted the tray in the corner, the plate untouched.

"You didn't eat your dinner."

Stalking past him into the tunnel, Ella shrugged. "Wasn't hungry."

Concerned, Noah hurried after her. "You need to keep your strength up."

Ignoring him, she kept going. Though her head was high and her step sure, he thought she looked pale. She might have lost weight too, though he couldn't say he'd ever spent much time examining her figure.

He tried a different tack. "Ruth's been pretty worried about you. That's part of," he gestured between them, then at the tunnels, "this. She needed to know that you were alright."

The sisters hadn't seen each other since Ella had been put down there. It was as much a punishment for Ruth as it was for Ella, which seemed horribly unfair to Noah, and was one of the reasons he'd agreed to help.

The older girl strode ahead. "I'm fine."

Noah kept pace with her. "You sure about that?"

"I'm sure," she said, dully.

They walked on in silence. The bathing area was quite a distance from the cave where Ella was being kept. So far, things were going well. They had passed no one. Most citizens would be in bed, or else out in the forest on a night shift. It was one of the reasons they'd chosen the middle of the night for the illicit outing: the likelihood of them meeting anyone was slim.

"How's Helen?" Ella's voice was low, as though she was worried to hear the answer.

"She's alright." He tried to reassure her. "As far as I know, anyway. I'm sorry – they haven't assigned me to the Danforth girls lately. As you can imagine, Jacob's being very cagey about who he trusts."

She jerked her head to meet his gaze. "So they're stuck with Harden… and Sil… and Carl looking after them?"

"I think so." He shrugged. "To be honest, I don't know for sure."

Ella heaved a huge sigh and looked at the ground. "I hope she's alright."

"You miss her?"

"Don't you miss Faith?" she countered.

Embarrassed, Noah dropped his gaze. "I guess."

In truth, and no matter how hard he tried not to care, he'd been devastated to lose Faith. He'd told himself over and over that she'd gone back to save her friend, but it still felt like she'd abandoned him. When he thought about her leaving, it was like a dagger to the heart. But behind all the anger, he found himself missing her desperately.

"You're mad at her too though, right?" Ella paused for a second, and when he didn't respond, she pressed on. "I wouldn't blame you." He glanced at her, and her tone grew defensive. "I'mmad. I mean… I helped them. I tried to make their lives easier, but they–" She turned away. "And now look at me."

Against his will, Noah found himself leaping to Faith's defence. "She didn't mean to involve you. I'm sure, if she knew that–"

Ella laughed, without humour. "Should've thought about that before she knocked me and Carl out and raced back to Bellator."

"Faith's not like that, though. There's no way she or Diane would've wanted you to get the blame." Noah sighed. "She went because of Sophia."

"And you're okay with her leaving, are you?"

"Don't get me wrong. I'm angry." He shrugged. "But I understand why she went. I mean, if it was Ruth who'd been taken by an enemy, I'd do anything to–"

"Alright." Ella waved away his argument. "You made your point." Abruptly, she changed the subject. "How's everything else?" She swept her arm at the tunnels around them. "What's going on… out here?"

"Things are…" He wondered how much he should tell her. "Difficult."

Since Faith and Diane's escape and Ella's subsequent incarceration, Jacob had been stomping around the settlement like a wounded bear. Extensive searches the night the girls had disappeared had turned up nothing. When they were still empty-handed after several days of scouring the woods, the leader had had to admit the girls were gone.

Where Jacob had once had eight Danforth captives, he now had four. One of the original prisoners was dead, and three had returned to the city. Faith, his prized attribute, was the biggest loss. His big plan to even the score with the Bellator chancellor had taken a substantial hit.

Jacob's fury made him more volatile than ever. Since he had masterminded— without consulting anyone—the explosion which had killed so many Bellator guards, many of the Eremus citizens distrusted him. The council was extremely concerned about what he might do next. There had been a particularly tense meeting where Jacob had suggested various outrageous schemes, all aiming to have a devastating impact on Bellator.

So far, he hadn't been able to muster any support. But Noah suspected he'd go behind everyone's backs if it suited him. He'd done it before.

There was an additional hostage now, of course. A single Bellator guard, the only one who had surrendered after the confrontation in the tunnels, was currently residing in the Danforth girls' original cell. And Professor Kemp, Faith's teacher from Danforth, remained in the other prison cave with the girls.

A member of the Bellator Resistance, she was another asset who might provide them with helpful insight into the workings of the city. But Jacob knew her loyalties lay with Noah's ma, who she'd grown up with, and with the academy students. He couldn't manipulate her, nor could he rely on her silence.

After the infamous meeting where, according to Noah's ma, Jacob had seemed almost manic, there had been an even bigger shift in the Eremus citizens' feelings.

There had been a steady stream of visitors to Noah's cave over the past week, each expressing doubt at Jacob's actions and asking for Flynn or Anna's advice. People were even less sure about Jacob's treatment of Ella, who was a popular member of the community. Their leader had announced that she was being separated from the community for a set period of time as a sanction for assisting the academy students in their escape.

Whilst people had accepted the reason for her punishment, there had been murmurs about the length of time the sanction might last. So far, Jacob had given no indication of when Ella might be released. And Noah was certain most people didn't know quite how poor the conditions she was being kept in were. If that became public knowledge, he knew there would be an outcry.

Jacob wasn't a stupid man. He knew of the growing doubt, and hadn't reacted well to it. Instead of retaining his ever-calm exterior, placating people with smooth reassurances, he had taken to snapping at anyone who asked questions and insisting that he had everything in hand. Didn't he always have Eremus' best interests at heart? People just had to trust him, he preached.

But many were no longer certain that they could. And Jacob knew it. At the moment, the lack of faith people had in their leader seemed to be the only thing holding Jacob back from taking drastic action. But Flynn didn't think it would stop him for long.

Noah met Ella's gaze, knowing he'd been silent too long. "Let's just say no one seems to know what Jacob's planning to do next. People seem a little less willing to trust him recently."

"For good reason." Ella snorted. "He's no better than Danforth."

Though the suggestion was shocking, Noah found himself nodding. Lately, Jacob's efforts to make things better for the Eremus citizens seemed to do the opposite.

"He's been in a foul mood. There are rumours that he's planning another attack on the city, despite the support he's lost."

"Rumours?"

"Yeah. He's keeping pretty quiet. I think he's frightened how everyone would react right now, things being the way they are." Noah stared down at the ground. "Ma and Flynn are pretty concerned."

"Sounds like they have cause to be."

As they came to the final bend in the tunnel before the bathing cave, they heard footsteps coming from the other direction. Beside Noah, Ella froze. Panicked, he glanced both ways, looking for a place to hide.

But there was nowhere to go.

Stepping in front of Ella, Noah did his best to shield her as the citizen approached. Whoever it was, their stride was confident, purposeful. Noah found himself hoping it wasn't anyone who would report back to Jacob. He took a deep breath as they rounded the corner and came to an abrupt stop, almost colliding with them.

"Paulo!"

"Noah?" His brother looked puzzled. "What are you–?" His gaze travelled to Ella. "Oh! I see."

"Hello, Paulo." She stepped out from behind Noah.

Noah watched as Paulo ran his gaze over the other girl. His face clouded with concern and he took a step towards her. "Are you… alright?"

She stiffened. "I'll be better when I've had a bath."

Paulo's gaze flicked back over his shoulder. "So…" his eyes lit up with understanding, "that's why…"

"Yes," Noah said hastily, "that's why." He waved his hand at the bathing cave ahead. "Ruth's waiting… would you mind not–"

Slowly, Paulo met his gaze. There was a long pause before he spoke again. "Keep it down. And don't be long, okay? I don't know what he'll do if…"

Noah nodded gratefully. With a brief nod at Ella, Paulo continued on down the tunnel. When he was gone, Ella sagged against the tunnel wall. Turning to her, Noah felt a wave of sympathy wash over him.

"He won't tell. Even my brother has less faith in Jacob these days."

"I know. But it could've been anyone." Ella's voice was so sad it broke his heart. "How long do I have to live like this? I mean… I'm having to sneak around like a criminal just to escape my cell for half an hour."

"I know and I'm sorry." Noah met her gaze. "Lots of people are asking about you. Questioning Jacob's actions. I hope things won't be like this for long."

"Me too." With a grimace, Ella moved past him. "Part of me contemplated following Faith and Diane back to Bellator. Bet they wouldn't keep me locked up like an animal."

Concerned, Noah hurried after her. "Really?"

Ahead of them, Ruth appeared at the entrance to the bathing cave. Her face lit up as she saw them, and Ella hurried forward. Noah hung back as they embraced, holding on to one another for a long time.

"So good to see you," Ruth whispered, as they parted.

"You too." Ella managed a small smile.

"Come in then. We don't have long. I have soap and towels for you." Ruth turned to Noah, her eyes shining with tears. Thank you, she mouthed.

Before Ella followed her sister inside, she stopped and turned back. Her eyes were serious.

"I don't want to run away to the city." She gestured to the caves around them. "I've lived in Eremus all my life. But I can't stand being caged like this. Not for much longer. I miss my freedom. My family." She blushed. "And I know I've only known her for a little while, but I miss Helen."

Her face hardened. "None of us knows what's going to happen. But if there's one thing I'm certain of, it's that Jacob isn't thinking rationally any more. He"ll do anything to get back at Danforth. And, as far as I'm concerned, if he's in charge, Eremus is doomed. I'd rather take my chances in Bellator."