Arriving in the first prison chamber, we began walking from cell to cell. The cells’ doors had windows, but they were fixed quite high up and River was too short to see through them. So I scanned all the windows first, and if I saw either a young man who fit the description of her friend, Hassan, or a girl who could have been her sister, I lifted River up to the window so that she could peek through.
We traveled from chamber to chamber, careful not to miss a single cell. When I had last been down here, I had been in more of a hurry, and although I’d run fast, I’d barely scratched the surface of the number of prisoners down here. After scanning six entire chambers with River, I was beginning to wonder whether half an hour would indeed be enough time. Especially because I felt the need to keep stopping and breathing in River’s scent in order to keep myself sane.
Finally, at the end of a row in the seventh chamber we passed by, River breathed, “That’s him. Hassan.” She was pointing to a young man curled up in a cot.
She banged on the window pane. Apparently he was fast asleep.
She banged more loudly. “Hassan! Wake up!”
The man stirred finally. His expression was that of utter shock as he gazed up at us through the window. He shot to his feet and hurried toward the door.
“River?” he gasped, his Middle Eastern accent thick. He pressed his hands against the glass. “Can you get me out of here? Please!”
River looked up at me. “Is there no way we could take him upstairs? We could hide him in your apartment.”
I shook my head. “I wouldn’t risk it. We still don’t know how we’re going to escape, and his life could be in more danger than if he just stayed here.”
Hassan’s body was trembling. “This place is a nightmare,” he said.
“We’re going to come back for you,” River said. “I promise.”
“When?” he asked desperately.
River looked up at me, then back at the young man. “I don’t know. But… as soon as possible.” She leaned closer against the glass. “Do you know where my sister is?”
He shook his head sadly. “I have no idea. I’m so sorry.”
River swallowed hard. “Okay. We’re going to have to keep looking for her. Just… try to keep yourself well. I promise I’ll come back as soon as I’m able to.”
He looked devastated as we left him and continued walking along the corridor.
“Lalia?” she whispered. “Where could she be?” Then she began to shout out her sister’s name. “Lalia! Lalia! Where are you?” Her voice echoed around the prison.
I gripped her shoulder. “Don’t shout,” I said, my voice low.
We sped up, moving faster past each of the cells. We didn’t have much time left. We were on our thirteenth chamber of humans and we still hadn’t found her.
“My God. Where is she?” River looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown.
I gripped her hand hard. She needed to keep a cool head or there was no chance of her being reunited with her sister.
And then I spotted a little girl with long brown hair, two doors along. She was lying on a cot along with another girl who looked in her late teens.
I gestured toward the door and, holding River by the waist, lifted her up so she could see through the window.
“Lalia!” she gasped. She slammed her fists against the window.
The little girl stirred on the mattress, then looked toward the window. Her round young face looked dumbstruck, as though she was in a dream. Then she leapt up and rushed toward us. She was far too short to reach River’s level. But her small hands banged against the door and she cried out her sister’s name. “River! Help! I want to go home!”
The older girl in the cell with her woke up and moved toward Lalia. She wrapped her arms around Lalia’s midriff and picked her up so that she could be level with her sister.
River looked at me desperately. “Is there really no way we can take her with us now?”
“No. Lucretia is waiting for us upstairs. There’s no way we could smuggle anyone out unnoticed.”
River looked desolate, but she didn’t argue with me.
It was uncomfortable watching the two converse through the glass. River kept comforting Lalia telling her that we’d find a way to get her out.
I didn’t know what River was thinking in making such a promise to her.
River and I might be able to figure out a way to escape this place, but smuggling Hassan and Lalia out with us posed another set of obstacles entirely.
Chapter 15: River
No words could describe how painful it was seeing my sister on the other side of the glass. I didn’t know who that other girl was, but I was grateful that at least Lalia hadn’t been imprisoned alone. Lalia didn’t appear to be sick or wounded, but her face betrayed trauma that I feared had scarred her for life.