Interlude - Allister

Wet, stone floor. Cold, iron bars. Darkness.

*scuttle, scuttle*

"Hmmmm."

Scuttling cockroaches.

*crunch!*

Allister scraped his knuckle along the stone floor, to wipe off the cockroach's innards. Not only did this barely work, but it also cut his hand. Blood mixed into the water on the ground. He rose to his feet and took a step towards the iron bars. He grabbed hold of them with both hands. His face crunched up with determination, as he pushed the bars together. A vein bulged on his forehead. It looked dangerously close to bursting. Eventually, he felt the bars touch. It hadn't been necessary to push them completely together, but he did it because he wanted to. He was angry.

Allister squeezed through the bars of his holding cell. His fellow jail mates ogled, as he strolled towards the ladder leading out of the dungeon. He began to climb.

***

Up on the ground level was a spacious room, with a messy desk and some tables and chairs. Sitting on those chairs was the jail's night shift. They were telling stories, playing cards and generally enjoying having nothing to do. That was until they heard furious banging. They all looked straight towards the source of the noise: the metal trapdoor. It stood out like a sore thumb amidst the wooden floorboards. Like Yin and Yang, it was a tiny patch of danger in their cozy hangout spot. The guards exchanged startled glances. The bravest- or perhaps the most reckless- of them walked over to it."What's going on down there?" he called out. He was only met with more banging. He shot the other guards a look that said, "should I open it?"

None of them knew how to react, though one did shake his head. The banging came again, this time more insistently. The four other guards stood up and unsheathed their swords.

The one by the trapdoor unlocked it. No sooner had he gotten the thing open, that he was was yanked into the hole.

Seconds later, Allister leapt out. "I told you I don't belong here. What I did back there was an accident!" he spat.