Page 101 of Unmasking the Diamond
Charlotte’s eyes darted across the room until she noticed a small gap near the floor at the back of the cell—a single brick had been pried loose. Crawling towards it, she crouched and peered through the narrow opening. On the other side, in the dim glow, she saw a woman’s face—pale, smudged with dirt, framed by dark, tangled hair.
“Where are we?” Charlotte asked.
“I wish I knew,” the woman said. “I’ve been here fifteen days. I’ve been keeping count by scratching marks on the wall.”
Charlotte’s throat tightened as she took in the woman’s appearance—the hollowed cheeks, the despair etched into every line of her expression.
“Have you tried to escape?” Charlotte pressed.
A mirthless laugh drifted through the gap. “Of course I have. But there’s no way out. The door is too strong. You’ll learn that soon enough.”
Charlotte swallowed hard. “Do you know who brought us here?”
“No. They come only once a day—just long enough to shove food through that slit at the bottom. They never speak.”
Her words filled Charlotte with cold dread. “How did you end up here?”
“I don’t know,” the woman revealed. “Someone struck me from behind. When I woke, I was already in this cell.”
“And you’ve been alone since then?”
“Not entirely. When I first arrived, there was someone in your cell. A young woman. She… she screamed for days until they took her away.” The woman hesitated. “She never came back.”
Charlotte’s blood ran cold. She sank back onto the stone floor, her legs trembling, fear threatening to break her composure.
After a moment, the voice softened. “I’m Lydia, by the way.”
Charlotte met her eyes through the gap, clinging to the faintest spark of connection. “I’m Charlotte.”
For the first time, the other woman almost smiled. “It is nice to meet you.”
“What do we do now?” Charlotte’s voice trembled despite her effort to sound calm.
On the other side of the wall, Lydia was silent for so long that Charlotte wondered if she had fallen asleep—or worse. Then came a weary sigh. “I don’t know. I suppose I am waiting for the inevitable.”
Charlotte frowned. “The inevitable?”
“Death,” Lydia said flatly, the word heavy and matter-of-fact, as though it were a foregone conclusion.
The sound of it hit Charlotte like a physical blow. “No,” she stated, her voice rising with sudden defiance. She pushed herself to her feet, heart hammering. “I refuse to give up. There must be a way out of here. Therehasto be.”
Her gaze darted to the barred window high above her reach. If she stood on something—if she could climb up—but there was nothing. No furniture, no tools, nothing at all but the cold floor beneath her and a small, wooden bucket in the corner that reeked of decay. The smell of it alone made her gag.
“I wish you luck,” Lydia murmured. Her tone was not cruel, merely tired—tired in the way of someone who had long since stopped believing in luck.
Charlotte pressed her hand against the wall, the rough stone scraping her skin as she began to pace the narrow length of the cell. Her thoughts raced, desperate for a plan. She scanned every crack, every crevice, looking for something—anything—that could serve as a weapon, a tool, a key. But there was nothing. Just cold, unyielding confinement.
“I can’t give up,” she whispered fiercely, more to herself than to Lydia. “I won’t.”
Lydia’s reply came softly, yet with the weight of bitter truth. “I was like you once. Full of determination. But this place has a way of wearing you down. No one is coming to save you.”
Charlotte’s head lifted sharply. “You don’t know my brother. He willcome for me. Alistair served in the Army and he will move heaven and earth to find me.”
“Be careful,” Lydia said after a pause. “Hope is a terrible thing to have in here. It keeps you alive just long enough to break you.”
Charlotte turned towards the faint light spilling from the grimy window. The day was already fading—she could tell by the dimming gray that crept along the wall. “Do you know how long I’ve been here?” she asked.
“A few hours, perhaps,” Lydia replied. “They brought you in not long ago. I heard the door open.”
