Cilian's eyes opened slowly. His vision was fuzzy and there was a dull throb in the back of his head. Where was he, he wondered. The last he could remember, he had been fighting back against Mayor Prentiss Junior. But why was he fighting him?

Then he remembered. Todd. He had been fighting to protect Todd. Todd and Ben and his little dog Manchee had needed to escape. Because Todd knew the secret. He had discovered something in the woods that had caused Mayor Prentiss to order his death.

Had they managed to escape? Was Ben still alive? Cilian could only hope that they had made it into the forest, where Mayor Prentiss would not dare to follow them. At least, not until he had gathered his army.

How long had Cilian been out for? There was a low grumbling in his stomach, which meant it had been a while since he had eaten. His mouth was also parched and without thinking, he raised his hands to rub his eyes, clearing his vision.

He looked around the small, dimly lit room. Cilian was lying on a small cot in the back corner of the room, which seemed nearly empty. There was a small table with a rusty steel chair pulled up next to it in the center of the room and in the corner was a small toilet and sink. Slowly, his eyes turned to the doorway, which was covered up by a set of long, iron bars that would be impossible to break through. Cilian was in the city jail.

Rising to his feet and ignoring the pounding in his head, he walked over to the table, which was currently host to a tray holding a piece of bread, three pieces of cheddar cheese and a cup of water. Greedily, he devoured it all in a mere minute, not caring about savouring or leaving any for later.

Now, feeling much more refreshed, Cilian felt his side for where his knife usually was strung up, but then remembered that clearly, the guards must have taken it away. He was still dressed in his tattered clothes that were covered in blood from the battle at his farmhouse and realized that there was a long row of stitches lining his left arm, presumably from where he had been attacked.

Cilian needed to escape, he needed to find Todd and Ben. He could only hope that they were still together, fleeing from the Mayor and his bloodthirsty son. And then he realized that the Mayor wouldn't bother emptying his city just to find Todd. He would send someone else, someone who would stop at nothing to find and murder Todd Hewitt.

Aaron, he whispered softly under his breath. The preacher, the beast of Prentisstown. Surely, Mayor Prentiss would have sent him to find the boy and Ben. Aaron was fast and strong and worst of all, relentless. Cilian needed to escape as soon as he could.

Almost as soon as he thought this, there was a clinking sound at the door. His head turned swiftly to see a familiar, yet unpleasing face. It was Mathias, the tall and slender, but still incredibly strong boy who had become a man a mere two years before. Mathias had a thin, handsome face that was mostly hidden by a pair of thick rectangular glasses and was dressed in a t-shirt and shorts. His short hair was combed and sticking up in the front, like a unicorn's horn and in his hand was a small, yet deadly pistol.

"Mathias," he growled under his breath. "What brings you here?"

Mathias laughed in that smooth, clever voice of his. "I wanted to see if you had woken up. It's been a whole two days since your little battle of bravery. But the Mayor wouldn't let you win. And now, your little friend Todd will be wiped out anytime soon."

"Why you?" whispered Cilian, slipping into the boy's Noise, trying to find out where Todd and Ben were. "Why would the Mayor send you? Why not Mr. Hate or someone else?"

As the boy spoke, Cilian read his Noise.

TODD THE BOY AARON SEARCHING BEN DISAPPEARED

"Do not try to read me," snarled Mathias, his glasses reflecting the dim light from the cell. "Mayor Prentiss doesn't take kindly to those who invade other's privacy, not anymore."

Cilian stood up from his chair, intrigued. "Mayor Prentiss has always been after our privacy, you fool. Todd discovered something in those woods and if Aaron kills him, then the secret will lie untouched forever. You must let me go and find him."

Mathias shook his head. "It is against the rules. If you want to try to stop me, I welcome you. But do not expect a victory, Cilian. There is an entire army outside who will stop you even if you do manage to escape. There is no hope for you or Todd Hewitt."

But something in his voice seemed off. Quickly reading his Noise, Cilian realized what was happening in the city.

"There is no army," said Cilian in a cool voice, ignoring the man's surprised expression. "You seem to have forgotten that lying is obsolete in our city. Mayor Prentiss is gone, isn't he? It's just you."

Mathias laughed. "So you figured it out. But no matter, you are still behind bars. The only way out is through these doors. And there's no way I'm going to open them."

"Who else is here?" said Cilian, trying to buy some time. The boy was too distracted to bother reading his Noise, which was perfect. Cilian began to make a map of the jail in his mind. It was underground, which meant that if something happened to Mathias, he would have a while to get back into the city.

"Not many," replied Mathias, his voice still that prying, clever sound. "Just you and Mr. Jameson, Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Hassler. All of you are trapped. Until the Mayor returns, you will stay in these cells."

Mathias began to talk about how Cilian would receive his meals three times a day through a small slot in the ceiling. As he spoke, Cilian stared at him, looking for a way he could get the door open. On Mathias's belt was a small ring of keys, one of which would open the door. Cilian needed to get Mathias to either give him the keys or he would have to get them himself.

Weaknesses, he thought. Mathias had to have at least one. The boy was strong, fast and clever. No wonder the Mayor had left him in charge. He had placed the pistol in his pocket, but Cilian wouldn't be able to wrestle it from him. No, he would have to make it so that he wouldn't be able to use the pistol. But how could he…?

Then it hit him. Glasses, he thought. Of course, the boy wore glasses! And quite thick ones, to be fair. Cilian could remember one time when Todd and a few of his friends had snatched them when he was eight years old. He had stumbled into everything around him, unable to see a thing. Get those, he told himself, and the boy would be forced to open the door. There was no way he'd be able to find his way down the hallway, much less through the entire city. He would have Mathias at his mercy.

Cilian slowly looked up, where Mathias was staring expectantly at him.

"Well?" said the boy, still too distracted to read his pounding Noise. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Cilian shook his head slowly, moving towards the door as if to ask a question. "Not quite, Mathias Jender. There is one question I do have about my new living arrangements."

"Oh?" replied the boy in his snarky voice. "And what could that be?"

"Where do you think I'd be able to store a pair of glasses?" he whispered.

Before Mathias had a chance to step back, Cilian had lunged his hand through the bars, wrestling the thick glasses off of the boys head. He then sprung back into his cell and pressed himself against the wall.

"You bastard!" screamed Mathias, his face much better looking without the glasses on his head. He squinted, trying to find Cilian, but it was impossible. Cilian was dressed in a black shirt and dark blue pants while the walls of the room were black as well. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

"I can find your Noise!" he yelled, but Cilian was way ahead of him. He screamed things in his Noise, making the entire room fill up and making it impossible to pinpoint himself.

Mathias whipped out his pistol and pressed the trigger, but it was on safety. His fingers fumbled with the safety for a moment, then he fired. But Cilian didn't even have to move. The bullet flew to the other side of the room, nowhere near where Cilian was standing.

"It's pointless Mathias. You can't see my bed, much less me!" said Cilian in a triumphant voice.

Mathias rose to his feet, feeling the walls and Cilian yelled, "Do you really think you're going to make it out of here? You'll be lost on this one floor for an hour! All of the houses look the same, the street signs are impossible for you to read! You won't make it back home to your spare glasses."

The boy snarled. "Screw you, Cilian. That was a dirty trick."

Cilian shrugged, but then remembered the boy couldn't see it. "It doesn't matter. You are in my hands. Without these glasses in my hands, you'll surely die alone and starving."

Mathias opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it again. It was true. Cilian was right, Mathias wouldn't make it out alive. He could barely make out the bars on the doorway, much less the staircase. His only hope was Cilian.

"I'll never let you go," he growled, squinting at what he thought was Cilian.

"Well, I don't expect my bed wants to be let out anyways," replied the man, chuckling under his breath. He wondered what the boys eyes were really like. Placing the glasses on his face, he laughed.

"Oh, my dear boy, your eyesight really is terrible! Yes, there's no way you're finding your way back home."

Cilian could hardly see anything. Mathias had disappeared the moment he placed the glasses on his face and he could just barely make out his bed. Taking the boy's precious glasses off, he walked over to where the sink and toilet was.

Mathias heard walking. "What-what are you doing?" he said, his voice shaking. Then his voice rose. "What are you doing!?"

Cilian chuckled. "Well, I'm offering a trade. Unless you want your glasses to meet Mr. Toilet, I'd suggest passing the keys to the door to me right now."

Mathias bared his teeth. "I'm not making any trades with you. Not with a filthy traitor to the Mayor like you."

"Oh really?" murmured Cilian. "I'd suggest you reconsider. As you may have forgotten, I am your only chance of survival."

Mathias' look of anger turned to a look of fear. Cilian continued to speak.

"Odd, isn't it? The Mayor takes an entire army with him out of the city and leaves behind only one person who can be brought to his knees by something as easy as taking a piece of plastic off of his face."

Mathias shuddered. If Cilian really did break his glasses, he'd be dead. And it would be a long, drawn out death as well.

"I'm giving you to the count of three to make up your mind, Mathias. Remember, all you have to do is let me go. I won't kill you, although I'll take your weapons and the other prisoners. You'll be alive, Mathias. Think about that."

Mathias thought quickly, sweating wildly.

"One. Two. Three!"

FLUSH. The sound of cracking and smashing from inside the jail cell echoed into the hallway.

"No!" screamed Mathias. "No, you can't Cilian!"

Cilian came up to the bars. "You made your decision, Mathias. I can still lead you home to get your other pair of glasses if you only let me go."

Mathias stared into Cilian's face. It was like looking at a mirror after you took a shower. But from what he could tell, Cilian was smiling.

Sighing softly, he fumbled with his belt, pulled off the key chain and pushed it through the door, where they clattered on the floor.

"You're free," he whispered, closing his eyes to block out the blurry world. "Now bring me home."

Cilian shook his head. "Pass your gun and any other weapons through the door as well."

Mathias obeyed the man, knowing that Cilian was his only way to survive.

Cilian slid the gun and the knife into his own belt and opened the door, the bars sliding into a small hole in the wall. He turned to the boy, who was on the floor, looking like he just ate something very sour from the squinting on his face.

"I'll be right back," he promised. "I'm getting the other prisoners."

In two minutes, Cilian, Mr. Jameson, Mr. O'Brien and Mr. Hassler were standing around the quivering boy on the floor.

"We should kill him right now for what he did to us," snarled Mr. Hassler, but Cilian shook his head.

"No. We bring him home, get him his glasses and then we leave. He won't be harming us anymore."

They grabbed the boys hands, pulling him to his feet and in that moment, Mathias swung his fist out, catching Cilian square in the jaw.

"Bastard," he whispered, squinting deeply to see the blood pouring from Cilian's face.

Cilian turned to the others, who all nodded. "On second thought, I think Mathias would benefit greatly from a little stay in the jail himself."

Mathias froze. "We had a deal, Cilian. You can't do that."

Cilian merely grabbed his arm and tossed him into his own cell. He slammed the bars shut, locking them and placed the keys just out of reach. Mathias stood up inside the cell, facing the toilet and yelled, "You won't get away with this!"

"Food will come three times a day, if you can even find the table," said Cilian in his cool voice. "Have fun explaining this one to Mayor Prentiss."

Then, as Mathias began to scream, the prisoners walked up the stairs, out into the city and glorified in the sunlight. Then Cilian took a deep breath.

"I'm coming Todd."