flight

The carriage took bends and turns. Occasionally, the carriage would shake and jolt. The movement and the rocking of the place had rocked her to sleep, if not knocked her from dizziness. Eventually, the carriage was filled by faint, orange lamplight and the travel came a lot smoother and faster. Suddenly, the vehicle came to a halt. Ren’s reassuring hand squeezed Sal’s shoulder as he stepped out of the carriage.

A foreign voice engaged Ren in conversation.

“What a strange sight for anyone to be outside at this hour.” the other man said. His voice rang coarse and heavy.

Sal knew better than to eavesdrop at conversation not directed to her and she almost blamed herself for having ears. She instead tried to direct her focus on the surroundings, on how the orange light flooded the carriage. How the light glowed from a single orb just outside the carriage window. Yet, it was a pity she has ears.

“It was an urgent business, Sgr. Constable. A sister outside of Calare on the brink” Ren said.

Sal knew not of a sibling.

“Is anyone accompanying you?”

Sal gripped tight to her knees and by reflex, knelt to the carriage floor, her head almost touching the carriage floor as she curled herself into a ball.

“Only my suitcase and a few implements.”

The other man asked for the contents of his suitcase to be shown. Sal bristled at the other man’s tone. If monsters masqueraded as men, this is how they must sound like.

“All clear. “ the other man declared.

“Thank you, Sir.”

“ I know. I know. Just get your sorry asses out of the place, don’t come back tomorrow.”

The discomfort did not leave Sal even as they were too many paces away from the place. Sal willed herself to glance at the rectangular window at the back of the carriage. The concrete arc where the other man stood guard had slowly begun to blur. And yet, no matter how far they got, she could still see the lamplight in the place. Getting smaller, yes, but not disappearing any time soon. Just like how the lamplights she could not extinguish whenever the Signor comes to her room.

“I’m scared.”Sal whispered.

The man wrapped an arm around Sal and she buried herself in his shirt. Quite a pity, the man seemed to hate overcoats, for she’d surely hide herself in them.

“Trust me. The Signor will not be able to come after you.” he assured her.

Sal paused. Her chest swirling with a weight she cannot place, but for what it is worth, it was not certainly joy or excitement.

“Ren?” Sal called.

“Hmm?”

“Would you be upset if I-”she paused. The question she started placing, phrasing well into her mind. “I just don’t know. I am scared.”

“You have me.” Ren placed a firm hand over her head.

The place outside has melted into a blob of dark shapes, no longer a Casa or a house distinguishable from sight. They were so far, far away. “I’m scared.” She gripped her skirts. “Perhaps, can we go back?”

The other man fell silent. Maybe, it did upset him. “You were saying?”

“I mean, perhaps can we wait out the night? Or at least wait a few hours before dawn before we truly set out?”

Silence seized the space. Ren’s touch almost went cold.

“When we met, you said you wanted to go and see the world outside.”Ren edged a hand towards Sal. “All this effort. All the progress you’ve made, it will all be lost. An opportunity that will be lost.”

Sal squeezed her fingers tight. “I don’t know. I don’t know.” she put a hand to her head, to her ears as she covered her face with her hands. Her face feeling so exposed at the loss of the veil that should’ve covered her. And she stayed like that for some time, her attempts to reply swept away by the motion of the carriage as it whisked them farther and farther away.

“I love you above anything else.” Ren whispered.

Sal craned her neck to look at the man as she imagined his face looking at her. Sal failed to eke out a reply. Instead, she strained to give him a long smile, before finding herself daunted by the weight of her own uncertainty.

Sal found herself wrapped in his embrace, her cheeks pressed against his chest. She can hear him, hear his breathing. For awhile, only the sound of the horses’ hooves and the wheels stirring punctuated the sound of his breathing. Then, came a long sigh.

“ At this point, I want to be honest with you.”

The man broke away from the embrace. The shadows of the trees and the shrubbery around them barred the little light from passing through. A soft jingle and a small clank chirped among the sounds of the carriage. Suddenly, he embraced her again. Warm air fanned Sal’s face.

His lips conquered hers. A wild thump echoed across Sal’s body. His hands searched the small of her back. The kiss went deeper, searching, probing, questioning. Panic. Sal opened herself, letting him in. The cold night vanished.

The young man had taken to remove Sal’s panuelo. Then, it was the camisa, then the saya. All the little implements and coverings were taken off. A strange heat crawled onto Sal from her face down to the tips of her fingers. As she sat exposed, it felt like being a child taken to the bath.

Ren laid her still on the seat. A few minutes passed with them like that. He was quiet as he seemed to stare at Sal. Yet, his features were obscured by the darkness.

“Ren?”

He kissed her again. Heat enveloped Sal’s body as he kissed her ever so softly, tracing the remnants of wet liquid that dripped from the side of her mouth. For a second, the world forgot time.

“Romeo und Julie was a lie.”

Sharp pain shot on Sal’s stomach. Needles clanked inside her, growing, threatening to burst. She gasped. Air. Strangled out of her at every second. Pain. Air ripped out of the flesh. Again and again. Everything spun. The flesh in her back crackled. Trembling. Blackness crept onto her sight. Ren was there. A shadow. And Ren. Nothingness. And then he was there again.

“It hurts,” she whimpered.

He was there close. Finger over his lips Ren smiled.

“Hush.”