It made her shocked. She fell down on the floor, covering her mouth. The lips he just kissed. What just happened? Why did her hands betray her? Why did she have to buy some time to kiss him rather than to talk and explore who she is? Zella placed her hands on each side of her head, trying to eradicate the scene from her memory.
His soft lips, the way he held her waist steadily, and his breath lingering in her mouth every time. Should she be humiliated she's the one who closed the gap?
Zella hissed, whispering under her breath, "It's not good. It's really not good."
She stood up, pacing around the room, finding something to hold, but every part of her body became jelly. It's too numb, too weak to even stretch out, and she couldn't even scrunch up her nose. Zella sighed. She tugged her hair, and fell down on the bed. She sprawled her legs, closed her eyes, and punched the mattress repeatedly.
Zella sat up, removing the lace out of her shoulder, and brushed her palms in her scalp. "What do I do? Should I stay here or not? Should I…"
It's cold, but the moment she goes back to that room, she can feel her lips moving into his. Zella squealed out, fell back to the pillows, and screamed. She threw the pillows on the floor, and buried her face into her hands.
...
Leo's hands still frozen midair. He stared at the place from where Zella left at, pushing him the moment she kissed his lips, and pretended like nothing happened. Leo blinked several times, lay down his hand, and soothed the comforter. He turned to the door, wondering what happened to Zella. His wife…
No, no, no, no.
"She's not your wife, okay?" Leo breathed. She's not… your wife. He sighed, stood up from the mattress, but got caught up on the way to open the door, because Zella's touch on his shoulders and lips lingered. It was the first time he's ever been kissed by a girl. Leo doesn't want to hook up with women, especially Jeremy Tyran's sister.
"She's your first kiss. A death convict woman who's hiding inside your mansion because she can be killed once she stepped out of your house." Leo groaned, and leaned his forehead to the door. He bumped it for a few times, holding the doorknob tightly. Leo hissed, wondering if he should do it or not.
Should he confront her or give her some time to think?
The kiss might be a hasty move, and she's not in control upon doing that.
"Right. Should I do that?"
…
[A month ago. 18 days after the arrest.]
Jaina and Zella nearly screamed when her cell mate's Tempus Moneda exuded a green light. Zella wondered, "What happened? Is it the code that we needed?"
"Yes, Zella!" Jaina gritted her teeth, resisting herself to shriek out in the middle of the silence. The prisoners might still be asleep, but the two of them have been working a way out of the penitentiary state. Jaina should press the button to fully deactivate it.
"I don't know this is possible at all, Jaina." Zella couldn't help but to wonder how everyone relied on their daily life just by looking at the Tempus Moneda. They didn't even realize it was a shackle of death, pulling you into an endless void, and once you only have a hand left at the edge of the cliff, the one who invented it will step onto your fingers until they're crushed.
"It is possible. The Idris just doesn't want us to find out about it, because a lot of Telamur citizens will break free and start a revolution, like what Gelcius did back then," Jaina pointed out. Zella looked up at her cell mate. Now she understood why she has written that book. It's never meant to spark an uprising, but to spread the truth.
Nothing beats the truth. No lies can taint the honesty a person can give. No good is worse than the evil.
"This might not be the first time someone broke out of the penitentiary state just by deactivating the code. Tempus Moneda is their way to locate the prisoners. But if they successfully deactivate it with a series of numbers, then, running away is the best option," Jaina concluded. She pressed the button hard, and the numbers rolled back in her wrist. The light gave off a faint glow, and it blinked, several times before it die down.
Jaina and Zella got astonished.
"So that's it? It's deactivated?" Zella checked the time for the open gates. 5 minutes before it happened. Jaina sighed, lending her wrist to let Zella to take a look at. Zella soothed her wrist first before entering the code. This is the hundredth time, and they couldn't afford to get caught. Or even be dead before they reached the borders.
As Zella turned to her wrist, she saw the green light, the same as Jaina had. Then it clicked, the numbers rolled down, and before it shut off, the gates started to open.
"It's time, Zella," Jaina hushed.
Zella hitched the blanket, and Jaina helped her with the clip. Before the prisoners piled up at the center, Zella and Jaina moved to the upper bunkers, removing the ventilation door right away.
"This is what an adrenaline rush is called," Zella whispered. Sweat trickled down her forehead, removed it, letting it screech inside the duct, and hoisted herself up. She helped Jaina to move, and hold the glasses for her. As they're both upstairs, they checked the blanket, and it's intact. Jaina wore the glasses, secured the book in her pants, and closed the ventilation.
They made sure no one can open it to buy them some time.
Zella nodded. "Let's go."
Jaina was behind as they started to crawl. Zella made sure she plotted little points just in case they got lost inside the duct. Their Tempus Moneda deactivation bought them some time, but it wouldn't be long before they found out a rebellious writer and a death convict plotted an escape from the prison.
As they see the storage room is vacant, Zella opened the ventilation, careful not to make any noise. Jaina was the first one to step out of the storage room, landing on her feet and a hand to balance herself. She peeked right on the door, and the hallway was deserted. Jaina looked up at Zella, and nodded.
She did the jump, too, as quiet as she could be. Jaina removed her jacket, tied it around her waist, and placed her hands on her hips. Both of them were wearing sleeveless shirts, but the sweat kept on pestering their armpits and the nape of their neck.
"Let's cover up the door, make sure it's locked." They moved fast, hurrying like the wind, bolting as the lightning. Zella made sure the secret tunnel behind the cabinets was intact, and as soon as Jaina covered the glass window of the door, they felt safe.
Zella asked, "Are you frightened?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I? I just wrote this scene in a book, but it is happening to me in real life." Jaina couldn't process the days Zella have come inside the cell with an attempt to break out after she got the verdict of her punishment. No one wonder what kind of escape they should have gone through, but a lot of people must have tried, only then, the passion inside their heart… it wasn't enough to get them out of the prison.
"I had enough of this sh*t, Jaina. I won't be able to accept that death convict they accused me. It's better to die clearing my name than to claim the crime I didn't commit." Zella checked the rope, and Jaina was brilliant upon knotting it right at the oxygen tank right on the corner of the storage room. She crossed her arms over her chest, shrugging. Zella snickered, moving the cabinet, and stare at the darkness inside the tunnel.
"We have to go in now, Jaina," Zella indicated. Jaina puffed her cheeks. Before she can even jump inside the tunnel, Jaina stopped her. Zella looked at her with confused eyes.
"Promise me something, can you?" Zella didn't know why Jaina should say that. Was she trying to be certain that if I either of them become dead, the other one will continue its league? Zella have chosen not to do that at all. Before Jaina could even say it, Zella went ahead.
She uttered, "Please, Jaina, don't do this when we're short of time."
"We don't know what will happen on the other side of the tunnel. So promise me, can you?"
"How can I do that when we're in a rush?" Zella tapped her feet impatiently. She has known that Jaina was too dramatic from the start, given that she's a writer, and a lot of her imaginations should get out of her brain no matter what or else she'll go crazy. Jaina sighed, and said it.
"Spread the book if ever revolution happened in Idris, alright?"
"Why would I---"
"Zella, will you please listen to me?!" Zella swallowed. A minute will do. Only a minute and they're out of the prison.
"Spread the word. Spread the spark, let the fire burn. Nothing will happen if they keep on extinguishing the fire and letting them blown into the wind in form of ashes. Please, Zella, do what it takes to change the country," Jaina pleaded. Zella sighed, taken aback by her words. Both of them stared into each other's eyes. Zella nodded slowly.
"I'll do that. I'll do that, Jaina." Zella was unsure. She wanted to stay away from the rebels, but every time she met another person, they're the same, just like her family. Each and every one has the same thoughts of change.
"Even if it meant you're going to be a rebel, do it."