The Belly of the Beast

Ch. 28, An Unwinnable Trial

His voice was deep, almost taunting, and I froze against him. He was right. Was he angry about that? But he didn't say more, and I had no way to read him, so I focused back on removing a tiny portion of my arm, working the lock at different angles.

The metal coffin shuddered, and we both went still.

Then the box crashed sideways, throwing the two of us sideways with it. I didn't have time to brace myself, instead holding onto the loose parts of my arm like they were my life. But I didn't slam into the side. Instead, Dagger wrapped one arm around my waist, bracing us both and holding me tight against him. Unlike me, he was tall enough to lift a hand and brace himself against the length of the box.

The box shuddered again, seemed to settle, and then began to vibrate, like we were moving.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Did you drop the piece?"

"No."

"Then I'm fine."

We were pressed so close I could feel his every breath, our hands still cuffed together.

His chest lifted and he spoke again, "Can you work like this, or do you want me to move you?"

"Don't move, I've almost got it." I reached for his hand and he opened his fingers, taking the last piece I needed. A few seconds later I heard the click.

"Got it!" I grinned and pulled the handcuff off and then rolled off his arm.

We both readjusted, as best we could in the tiny space. I carefully reconstructed my arm, replacing all the small pieces. In the complete darkness, moving to who knows where, I was glad I wasn't alone. The box began to tilt again. This time I was ready as it slowly righted itself. A sense of urgency filled me, and I started to run my hands over every inch of the interior. It was difficult in such a small space.

"What are you doing?" he said, again sounding surprised.

"Trying to find a way out. Help me. Feel for anything different than the rest of the siding. You're taller, so start at the top, and I'll take the bottom."

It turned out to be trickier than I thought to search the bottom in such a small place. I could barely kneel without bumping into Dagger, and my face burned thinking about what I might accidentally bump into while kneeling. Still, there seemed to be some sort of latch system built into the bottom of the box, though in the darkness I couldn't figure out how to open it.

The box shuddered again, and I froze. A roaring noise grew, cut through with the distant voice of an announcer.

"You hear that?" Dagger asked.

The fear in his voice said what I already knew. The Pucker Letter Trial was about to begin.

I paused in my search to press my ear against the side. Then, light flooded the box as some sort of dark outer shell receded from the top, revealing walls of glass—as I'd suspected. Maybe it's the same material we walked on— something stronger than glass but still clear.

"Put our hands back together." It was too late to put the handcuffs back on, but I stepped up to Dagger, folding our hands between our chests as the outer shell receded and then fell away. I held my other hand up against the blinding light.

"Bloody beast..." I whispered.

We were in a vast round room. Circling the entire room were bleachers filled with thousands of spectators. Below us lay a dark, flat floor, but around us, hanging from the ceiling from thick chains, were the now clear boxes of all the other competitors. All of us were suspended in a high circle at the very center of the arena. In the box nearest us I saw hands pressed up against the glass, though I noted with satisfaction we were the only ones to remove the cuffs.

The chains that held all the boxes aloft were secured to some sort of lever system that connected to a massive pillar in the very center of the room. It was that pillar I examined now, because it would be the key to raising and lowering the boxes.

Figure out how a machine works, and then you can manipulate it, Z. Yaneli's voice came back to me now, and I tried to look at everything the same way she would have: without emotion. Just logic.

The muffled voice of a commentator boomed across the Arena, listing the crimes of those in the boxes. I didn't bother to listen. Instead I tried to understand what the Pucker Letter Trial was, how water came into it, and why we were suspended in the air. Did we need to escape this box while suspended in mid-air? Maybe Skull was wrong and water wasn't involved and they were going to lower up to the floor below—

Far below, the floor rippled.

Coldness crept down my back. Not a floor. Water.

A stretch of dark water spread beneath us. Water that looked like it had no bottom.

"Look."

I jerked at Dagger's voice. He pointed beyond the glass. There, mounted on the wall behind the bleachers were massive screens, like the ones we watched the Letter Trials on in the Belly, but a hundred times bigger. Dagger pointed to one screen in particular, the only one that didn't show the competitors inside the boxes. It held a symbol like a swished, sideways eight.

"What is that?" I whispered.

"The number of allowed survivors." His voice was cold and quiet as the dark, swirling water below.

"So 8? That's a good thing, right? Eight of us can survive?" I tried to remember how many of us there were. Eight boxes with two each, so sixteen total? Half of us were allowed to survive and ascend to the next trial. From where I was sitting that seemed like pretty good odds.

"Not eight," his dark eyes flashed, fists clenched. "It's the symbol for infinity. It means we all could survive... but they don't expect any to. It's an unwinnable trial."

A sudden low beep sounded, and with no other warning, we plummeted to the water below. 

(DUN DUN DUN!!! Can't wait to share more next week! Any predictions? ;)

Tonight is my book launch party for book two in The Last She series, THE LAST CITY! If you live in Boise, come swing by Rediscovered Books tonight for a signed copy! And if not, well, you can still purchase the book online!

As always, thanks so much for reading! Best, H.J.)