[Susan Delgado]

Anna and Calimiel had also heard the noises and, unable to think of any explanation other than invasion, had been standing at the barred window screaming for attention for the last ten minutes when Calimiel stopped suddenly and looked around.

"She's gone! Where'd she go?" She exclaimed.

Anna looked around. Celumëomaryu was indeed gone from the area of the cell. "I don't know, probably to investigate whatever's going on downstairs. Let's get out of here before she comes back."

"How?"

Anna looked around. A good question. She'd already tried the secret door and found it blocked. She approached the door to the cell and examined the lock. Could she pick it? She glanced around, but saw no wire or anything else that would help. She tried poking at it with her finger, but that did nothing; it remained firmly locked. She paused to giggle a little at her own folly, then continued her search. After several more minutes, she gave up. There was nothing; the cell was bare.

Calimiel had stood in the middle of the cell watching Anna, and when she saw her friend collapse against the wall with a sigh, she frowned. "Are you giving up? You can't do that."

Anna snorted. "Why not? There's no way out of here."

Calimiel shook her head. "No, no. If you give up now and she comes back, she may never leave again. We'll die here. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be a ghost again. I can see now, and nothing will make me not see again, ever."

Anna smiled at Calimiel's adamancy. "What do you suggest then?"

Calimiel considered, thoughtlessly fingering a strand of hair, which hung past her shoulder. When she realised what she was doing, she frowned and glanced over at Anna. "What's holding up your hair? It's not down, like mine is."

Anna put a hand to her head. Sure enough, her hair was piled on the back of her head. With all the distractions, she hadn't noticed it before now. She felt around and in a moment extracted two long thin metal pins. Her hair swept down to its full length, which when she stood would be just past her waist, but she didn't notice.

She had it! She leapt to her feet and clapped Calimiel on the shoulder before hurrying over to the door. She inserted the pin and after several minutes of struggling, heard a faint click. Success!

Now what? They couldn't just rush down the stairs without knowing where they might meet Celumëomaryu. Anna glanced over at Calimiel, who was still waiting patiently, and had a thought.

"Calimiel, how did you know Celumëomaryu had left the dungeon?"

The girl shrugged. "I just did. It's something I learned when I was blind. I always knew where all the other Ghosts were."

"And you can still do this?"

Calimiel looked evasive for a moment. "Not really, you know, not nearly as well as I could when I was a Ghost."

It was a lie, Anna could see that clearly. She waited.

Calimiel wandered back to the window. She could be as stubborn as Anna sometimes.

They were wasting time! Celumëomaryu could be back any moment! ”Come on, Calimiel, it’s the only way we’ll be able to avoid Celumëomaryu! If you don’t do this, we’ll be recaptured!”

“No! I can only do it if my eyes are closed, and I told you, I will not be blind again!” She came back to the door and stared Anna in the eyes.

Anna sighed. “Having your eyes closed does not make you blind.”

“I can’t see, so I’m blind.”

Unsure what to say in response to this patently ridiculous statement, Anna decided to leave. “Fine. Stay here, then. I’m leaving.” She reached for the door and swung it open. It squealed shrilly, but nothing else seemed to happen. No one approached, demanding they return to the cell, so Anna stepped through and paused, savoring her first moment of freedom since gaining this body. She took a step, and felt Calimiel’s hand on her arm.

“Don’t leave without me.”

Will you help us by telling me where Celumëomaryu is?”

Calimiel stepped back, angry. Anna never stopped! She could feel a scream rising in her throat, the same one Anna could see rising on her face and a moment before it emerged, Anna leapt forward and clapped a hand across her mouth.

“It’s the only way. If you don’t do this, we’ll be captured again, and knowing Celumëomaryu, we’ll probably be punished. Please.”

After a moment, Calimiel nodded and Anna removed her hand. “Thank you. Here, take my hand. Then you won’t need your eyes.”

Calimiel shook her head. “I don’t need them to know where I’m going. You go ahead, I’ll follow and tell you where to go.” She closed her eyes and waited for Anna to step back through the door.

Anna hesitated for a moment, then started down the corridor toward the door leading to the stairs, glancing back every few steps to where Calimiel glided behind her. As they approached the stairs, Calimiel became more agitated and finally laid a hand on Anna’s shoulder.

“She’s standing at the bottom of the stairs. It isn’t safe to go down there.”

Anna paused. Where could they go now? There was no other way out of the dungeon that she knew of. “Wait!” she hissed when she noticed that Calimiel had started back through the door. Was she going back to the cell? No, she wasn’t, Anna saw as she followed. Calimiel was going toward the opposite corner. Why was she going there? “Where are you going?” She demanded when she caught up.

“There’s a door...I saw the floor-plan of the Castle once and there was a secret door marked over here, back when this was the treasury. Ah, here we are.” She led Anna past two cell door and around a corner, then stopped in front of a cell that Anna thought looked smaller than the others. Anna stepped forward and tested the door. It was unlocked and swung open on stiff hinges. The wall Calimiel indicated was bare, but that meant nothing, if the door was hidden. Quickly enough, she found the switch, then, wary of a trap like the one before, she and Calimiel retreated back through the door. Anna glanced around, then picked up a piece of fallen mortar and tossed it through the bars at the stone which hid the switch. It thunked and a portion of the wall moved slightly, but nothing else seemed to happen. They approached cautiously, then slid the door open far enough to slip through. A steep, narrow staircase rose before them.

After ascertaining where the switch to open the door was on this side, the slid the door closed so as not to advertise their presence to anyone who might wander through the dungeon. They ascended the stairs and emerged in a flat space on the otherwise peaked roof. After exploring a little, it became apparent that there were paths around the various roofs of the Castle. Someone had taken great care when building this place. After several minutes, the discovered a hidden balcony which overlooked the courtyard and front entrance to the Castle. They watched the living folk mill around with the Ghosts in awe. What were they doing here? They glanced around, but didn’t see Celumëomaryu anywhere.