Yawning, Brittany rolled over, feeling the healing whip marks stretch as she moved. It had been three days since the last brutal whipping and neither her or Sam had been taken out of the cellar. However, the wounds were only beginning to heal. Every night, Sam massaged them for her, being careful not to make them bleed. Brittany's hair was stiff with dried blood and she knew she'd probably have to cut it off if she ever got out. Sam was still asleep when she woke. Deciding to let him sleep because she knew he was staying up late at night, watching over her, she sat up gently and stepped over him. She wandered over to the little patch of light coming from the vent, her ribs screaming in protest. There were at least two badly bruised if not broken ribs. Using the light she had, Brittany began her now daily evaluation of herself. The bruises that had looked so bad yesterday were now yellowing and healing. As she ran her hands across the scars on her wrists from where she had been tied up so many times. She sighed and looked up at the vent watching a bird of some sort fly past in the distance. She noticed something odd in the corner of the vent and tried to get a closer look. When she couldn't get any closer, she quickly went over to Sam and shook him.
"Sam! Wake up! I need your help."
"What?" he muttered sleepily as he rolled over. He opened his eyes and saw her face, suddenly remembering where he was. He shot up and took hold of her arms.
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you again?" He asked
"No. I think I found something. I just can't get close enough to it." she dragged him over to where she'd been standing and pointed at the spot by the vent.
"What is it?" he asked, confused.
"I don't know. That's why I want to have a look." She told him, getting impatient.
"Okay. Here, stand on my hands and I'll lift you up so you can have a look." He locked his fingers together and she stood on them with one foot, balancing herself by holding onto his shoulder.
"Can you see?" he asked her.
"Yep. It's a key of some sort." she said and grabbed it. He put her back on the ground and they looked at each other.
"What do you think it opens?" he asked her as she turned it over in her hands.
"I don't know for certain. But there's something I really want it to open." she told him going over to the door. He quickly followed her and watched as the key slipped easily into the lock. He gripped her shoulder in excitement as she slowly turned the key in the lock. The door fell open a little, revealing the hallway behind. Brittany quickly shut and locked the door again.
"What'd you do that for? We could have escaped!" He asked her.
"Not now. It's day time. They would have been out and we would be caught." she told him.
"Oh. Okay then." The two of them went and sat in silence on the blankets for a while until the flap at the bottom of the door moved and their food was pushed through. They quickly ate it all and then went back to the blankets.
"So, we try it out tonight?" Sam asked. Brittany nodded. Both sighed in relief. Tonight they might finally get out of their prison.
