Hi, everyone. I know it has been a ridicously long time, and I'm sorry.
Disclaimer: I do not own Goosebumps.
"It's no use. There's no way out," Evan pointed out.
"Well, I have to try something," Jessica yelled, her voice echoing through the cell.
The cell was… well, a cell. It had gray walls made of stone, and the floor was disgusting, but that was the least of their problems. The cell was so dark, they could barely see a hand in front of their face, and the only light that entered the tiny cell was through a small window near the celling, but it was far too small for a toddler to shimmy out of, much less the two of them. Besides, they were on the top floor of the tower. Even if they somehow managed to make it out of the window, they'd fall to their deaths.
But then again, they were going to die anyway.
"What are you doing?" Jessica asked, taking a break from ramming a heavy rock against the door. She breathed heavily and wiped sweat from her brow before dropping the rock and appearing at Evan's side.
Evan shrugged and pointed to the words he had engraved in the wall with the sharp side of a rock.
Long Live Freedom.
"Long Live Freedom, indeed," Jessica stated. "Just not ours."
"Jessica, are we really going to die here?" Evan questioned, sounding younger than Jessica had ever heard him.
Jessica stared at her brother before leaning forward and wrapping her arms around his shaking form. She could feel a few tears drop onto her shirt, but she didn't care, and trembles racked his frame as Jessica held him in her arms.
She was the big sister. It was her job to watch out for her siblings… sibling, she mentally corrected herself, and look where they ended up.
"I really don't know, Evan. I just don't know," Jessica responded, quietly and feebly, but her voice was oddly loud in the silence of their cell, their prison, perhaps the last place they would ever see before they died.
Who am I kidding? Jessica thought, bitterly. The execution chamber will be the last place we ever see. I think I'd prefer to die in this cell.
Jessica isn't sure how she managed it, but at some point, she fell into a deep, but definitely not peaceful, sleep.
A girl around the age of fourteen stood on a raised stage in front of a castle. Her blonde hair tumbled over her shoulders, long and silky, if a little tangled; she wore armor over her chest with a dark battle skirt. Swords criss crossed in two sheaths on her back. Her blue eyes were fierce and filled with determination.
"I am Princess Lucinda, and I have come to fight for my kingdom," she yelled in a voice that was surprisingly strong for someone her age. "I will free my people and avenge my brother and sister, but I cannot do it alone."
People had begun to gather from the village, staring up at the princess in awe. The princess had been missing for seven years and had returned, not as the bubbly, innocent seven year old they remembered, but as a mature, brave young woman that had returned to save her people from the tyrant that she called her uncle.
"The village I remember was filled with brave souls that loved their kingdom and loved the royal family. I hope that is still true. Who will stand with me? Who will be my brothers and sisters in battle to avenge the ones we have lost, to retrieve the freedom that was stolen from us?"
A collective cheer rose from the people, and Lucinda held a fist in the air.
"Long Live Freedom!" she screamed in the form of a battle cry.
With that, the villagers, Princess Lucinda in the lead, stormed the castle.
Jessica awoke with a gasp, and her sudden movement roused her brother, who had been slumbering (much more peacefully than she was, it seemed) at her side.
"Jessica, what is it?" Evan wondered.
Jessica recalled her strange dream and that girl, who was so brave even though she couldn't be much older than Jessica. She was ready to fight for the freedom of her people… if she could do that, Jessica could fight for the freedom of herself and her brother.
So with a newfound determination, Jessica stated, "We are not going to die here."
Evan watched in confusion as Jessica stood and grabbed the rock she had been using to try and break the door, trying to use it as their way out only an hour before.
"Guard!" she called, making her voice as high pitched and afraid as she could. "Please! We won't fight; we won't escape! Just please let us see our sister!"
Heavy footsteps approached the cell before the click of the lock coming undone could be heard, and the door creaked open.
"About time," the gruff man muttered, but before he could take more than a step into the cell, Jessica brought the rock crashing down on the back of his head, effectively knocking him out cold.
"Come on!" Jessica called to her shocked brother, who had never seen his older sister as a warrior or even as brave, only to watch her take down a man three times her side with a single blow. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never believe it. "Evan!"
Evan snapped himself out of it and bolted to his feet, stepping over the unconscious man and standing beside his sister at the open door of their cell, now their escape route, their way out.
With one last glance at one another, they sprinted out of the cell.
Long Live Freedom, indeed, Jessica thought with a proud smile, repeating her words from earlier, but this time, freedom is ours.
