From the Inn side out. (Closed to Cassandra)

[Jack Lancer]

Jack had been wandering Fallien aimlessly for quite some time before he saw a town. He was new to the area, and the desert heat was hitting him hard. He had originally come here to scout out the area, but the desert heat was putting such a burden on him that he ended up losing his way. Finally, he had found at least some kind of town to ask directions in.

The town's name was Jennings, It was a small out of the way town, Nothing too extraordinary. It had three houses, an inn, an Item shop, and that was it.

Jack walked into the Item shop and saw the shopkeeper sleeping at the counter. Jack rang the bell to wake the shopkeeper up.

"Huh? It's rare to see anyone around these parts. Most people I've ever seen in this town at once was nine, and I've worked here for over six years. What can I do you for?"

"G'day Mate. I'd like a map of the Fallien area please." Jack responded wearily. The heat was definitely getting to him.

"Fifty gold please. With so few customers, I'm afraid the price of everything has had to skyrocket in order to keep the business alive." The shopkeeper explained. Jack hadn't thought of that.

"Crikey! that price is steep. Mind pointing me in the direction of the closest town to this one instead?" Jack queried, realizing any town would sell maps at a lower price than this one.

"Sure. It's 2 miles north of here" The man said.

Jack decided to rest at the inn for a day before he headed out.
After paying a surprisingly low 10 Gold for a room, (apparently the inn was magicly cooled, while the houses weren't,) Jack fell asleep in room 3, unaware of the dangers that were to come.

[Cassandra]

Not far from the small town, a group of villainous looking men made their way across the desert sands. Most rode horses, though a few were on foot, leading horses packed with stolen goods. They talked and laughed amongst themselves, boasting about how well their day of thievery had gone.

Behind one horse, a young woman struggled to keep her footing. She had arrived in Fallien about a week ago and had only gotten her Exit Pass three days ago. She’d never been to Fallien and since her ship was not supposed to leave for its next port for two weeks, she figured she may as well see what she could see. That had turned out to be a mistake.

While eating a small meal in a village a few miles east of where she now struggled, five of this bandit group had walked in and began demanding, often at the edge of a blade, the valuables of whomever they came across. Being the good neighbor type of person she felt herself to be, Cassy would not stand for these mens’ behavior and tried to fight them off. She had found out, very quickly, how much practice she still needed with her double-bladed weapon. Both it and her staff were stowed on another horse and she was struggling to keep her footing with her hands tied in front of her on a lead attached to the horse’s saddle. She was still unsure why they had not simply killed her.

Up ahead, the buildings started to come into view and Cassy could not help but wonder if what had occurred at the last village was about to happen again. She tried to listen to the conversations around her, but they did not tell her much. Before long, she gratefully found that her feet were trudging along on packed dirt, instead of the soft sands of the desert. Even better, they were stopping in front of a tavern. Right then, stopping at all felt wonderful. She wasn’t sure she could stay upright. Her legs felt like they would turn completely to jelly before too long.

One of the bandits, a large, dark-haired man approached her with a knife. Cassy, wilted under his stare, then breathed a sigh of relief as she saw he was only cutting the lead rope. She had no choice as he hauled her roughly into the tavern. She took a moment to look around, the concluded grimly that wherever they were, the bandits intended to stay for awhile. Darkie led her over to a corner and pushed her into a chair.

“Stay put, or else.”

That was all he said, but that was all he needed to say. Cassy knew she was almost completely useless without a weapon in her hands. She had no intention of trying to escape a room full of bandits that would not be likely to stop her flight with a simple knife throw. Cassy watched as he approached the keeper and questioned him. Apparently, the bandits stayed here often. Cassy still didn’t know what was going to happen to her and she began to regret ever boarding a ship that would take her away from Salvar.

If I hadn’t have come here, I wouldn’t be in this situation. There’s no reason for Luther to be here. I should never have bothered to leave Irrakam.

Darkie nodded at whatever the keeper told him, then walked nonchalantly back over to where she sat. He took a seat across from her and almost immediately, several others gathered around, their backs to her and Darkie, faces scowling at any lower-ranked bandit that might try to get too close.

“So, I hear you tried to stand up against five of my men. Is that true?”

Cassy didn’t answer, too afraid to say anything.

Darkie nodded and one of the men cuffed her across the back of her head.

“I asked you a question, girl, I expect an answer. Now, did you really try to stand up against my men?”

Cassy nodded tearfully.

“Why on Althanas did you try to stand up against them? Don’t you know who we are? No, I suppose not. If you knew who we were, you wouldn’t have tried to be so valiant. Let me make this clear to you, this bandit band rules this area of the desert and I rule this band. You are alive only because my men were amused at your audacity and thought that I might be similarly amused. I hold your life in my hands.”

Cassy nodded her understanding mutely, then spoke in a very small, fearful voice, “W-what are you going to do to me?”

Darkie laughed at that. His lackeys chuckled as well as if on cue, then stopped abruptly as their boss also stopped laughing. “I haven’t decided yet, Pretty. Maybe I’ll keep you here for a little while, maybe I’ll give you over to my men for their own amusement.” A few his men seemed to brighten at that statement, but kept it to themselves as he continued, “I’ll decide by dinnertime tonight. Until then, you better stay where you’re put, Pretty. I don’t take kindly to runaways.”

Nodding to his men, he stood and walked away. A couple of them picked her up by the elbows and walked her up the stairs. The first room on the right was the smallest the inn had to offer. Had the innkeeper been able to run a proper business, it would have been the cheapest room available. There was barely enough room for the bed and a washstand. A small window looked out forlornly over the desert. Pulling out his knife, the bandit on her left cut her bonds while the other opened the door. After shoving her inside, they each took up a position outside the door, awaiting further instruction from their boss.

Inside, Cassy massaged her aching wrists and collapsed on the bed, trying to convince herself that everything would turn out right in the end. After all, what harm could one foreigner, who didn’t know her way around Fallien, do to these men?

[Jack Lancer]

Jack couldn't sleep, there was too much noise downstairs. He could hear at least 10 people laughing, which was obviously a problem. Including himself, that would mean there were 11 people in the town, and the most that had ever been there before was 9 according to the merchant he had met earlier. The laughter didn't sound like your run of the mill laughter either. It was more of an evil laugh, if anything.

Curious as to what was going on, Jack peeked out his door just in time to see a woman thrown into the first room by some bandits. It was clear that the innkeeper wasn't doing anything about it, but he couldn't hazard a guess as to why. Jack waited in his room until it got dark. every once in a while, peeking out his door to see if the two bandits that remained were still there, which they always were. When he couldn't stand it any longer he decided to make his move, casually walking out the door and towards the door the bandits were guarding.

"G'day mates" he said as he walked by. This was more to let the woman know he was there than anything else, though.

"Shouldn't you be heading back to your room? We'll bring you dinner shortly." One of the bandits replied.

"Crikey, you're right, g'night mate." Jack said, turning to head back to his room, then turning right back around and stabbing the bandit in the leg with his lance. Neither bandit took too kindly to this, as one can imagine.

"You little shit!" The stabbed bandit said, as the other bandit punched Jack in the gut, grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the door until it shattered into splinters. Afterwards, he tossed jack into the same room as the woman.
The lance Jack had been holding slid toward the woman as jack lay on the floor, bleeding from his head. Jack was barely able to hold onto his consciousness and was too injured to move as the ruffians made their way into the room to secure the weapon.

"We'll be taking that if you don't mind."

[Cassandra]

Cassy perked up at the sounds of fighting outside her door. She wasn’t sure exactly what was going on and was very surprised to see the door shatter. She hesitated only for a moment before starting for the weapon on the floor, but did not move fast enough.

“Uh uh, girly. You don’t get that,” the bandit said as he picked up the lance and hefted it, checking its balance. “This is a nice lance. It’ll make a good addition to my weapons collection. Thanks, buddy.”

The bandits exited the room, but did not go down the stairs. Since the door was now pointless, they weren’t about to leave it to go ask the boss what room he wanted the prisoners moved to. They didn’t need to anywyay. No sooner had they retrieved the weapon and stepped back outside the door, than Darkie himself came up the stairs.

“What’s going on up here?”

“Well, Boss, that guy in there thought he was gonna play the hero or something and attacked us. We took care of him though. This here is his weapon. Ummm do you want to us to move them to another room?”

“Of course you dolt! Do you really expect them to stay in a room with no door? Put her in the room across the hall, it’s about the same size as this one. As for the hero here, find a closet for him.”

Cassy knelt beside the man that had been fighting with the bandits and tried to help him sit up.

“Hey, are you all right? Those guys are pretty rough.”

Two new bandits that had come up with their boss came forward. They pushed Cassy out of the way and picked up Jack between them and carried him out of the room. They found a closet about half way down the hall and tossed him unceremoniously inside. Shutting the door behind them, one stayed to guard the door while the other went in search of something heavy to block the door. He soon returned, frustrated, with only a chair that they jammed underneath the handle.

“There, that oughta hold him as long as there’s a guard.”

Inside the room, Cassy was also hauled to her feet.

“Did you think you were going to be rescued, Pretty? I think I’ve finally figured out what I’m going to do with you, but I’ll let it be a surprise for tonight.”

Smiling mirthlessly, the leader left the room. The guards that had been guarding her door before led her to her new room. Cassy did not resist. She did not want to make them madder than they already were. Once in her new room, she went over to the window to wait for the evening.

Later that evening...

Cassy woke with a start as her door was opened suddenly. She did not remember falling asleep, but there hadn’t been anything else to do. In the door way, one of her guards stood and beckoned for her to come. He held a bundle of cloth in one hand.

“The Boss wants you downstairs. He says you're to wear this."

He tossed her the bundle of cloth which turned out to be a dress. Cassy held it up then crinkled her nose in distaste. The neck was scooped entirely too low and she was sure the slits on each side of the skirt portion would come up far higher than any decent dress. She scowled and tossed the dress on the bed.

"I'm not wearing that."

The guard smiled then and gave a chuckle as he started toward her, "I was hoping you'd say that. Boss said that if you wouldn't put it on willingly, then I was to make you."

"Fine, then. Close the door. I don't need help to change clothes."

Still scowling, Cassy quickly changed into the dress. The top portion was white and scooped low enough to display an uncomfortably large portion of her pale breasts. The sleeves were short and a little puffy. Aside from being extremely snug and the fact that it displayed much more than the modest Cassy wanted to display, the top wasn't too uncomfortable. The skirt portion had once been a alluring green that would have matched her eyes, but now it was very faded. Slits had been put on each side that came almost to her hips. Moving around the room made her certain that she may as well not be wearing a dress at all for all the good it did.

Sighing defeatedly, Cassy opened the door. Silently and fearfully, she followed the guard back down the stairs, very aware and uncomfortable of how much of her body was now on display. The guard led her over to the table where Darkie sat waiting patiently.

“Good evening, Pretty," he greeted her. "Your job is to do whatever I tell you. You can start with pouring the wine for me and my friends.”

Cassy looked around the table. Aside from the Boss, there were five other men sitting there, each with an empty wine glass in front of them. Cassy nodded wordlessly and picked up the bottle of wine standing at the leader’s elbow. She tried desperately to ignore the lecherous looks that came over the mens' faces as they saw her approach.

I wonder how that other guy is doing? There’s got to be a way to get out of here. Maybe I’ll be able to sneak out tonight and get to him.

[Jack Lancer]

Of all the cramped places he could've been kept, why did they have to choose a closet? He couldn't even fall asleep in there, it was so cramped. It was too dark to see anything at first, but after about 5 or so minutes, his eyes began to adjust to the dark.

There appeared to be two brooms on his left hand side and one broom and a mop on his right. The mop, and his right foot were in a bucket. There was a box of nails just below his left foot, a mouse skittering about the floor, and a shelf with some twine, and a dustpan on his left hand side.

Straight in front of him was the door. It appeared to be quite sturdy, but Jack knew he had to escape. He tried kicking against the door for around ten minutes, but to no avail. Jack started desperately searching for something to help him break down the door, but the only thing he hadn't spotted before was a worn out blue dress shirt. Jack tieb it tightly around his head. Sure, it looked silly, but at least it bandaged up his head wound for the most part. Unfortunately, this did not bring him any closer to finding a way out of the closet. Finally giving up after one more search of the place, Jack decided his best bet for now would be to wait.

[Cassandra]

Cassy stood apprehensively near “Darkie’s” elbow. Over the course of the evening she had discovered that his name was Richard Wesker. He was more popularly known as Bloody Red Baron, but his men just called him “Boss” or “Baron.” He was wanted for a large variety of crimes from petty theft to murder. The town of Jennings was more or less a place of his own making. The three houses were for his men. No one else lived in them. He had arranged for the inn’s largest rooms to be connected and made into a large apartment for himself and the few female guests that came through on occasion to see him and his boys.

She also learned that they made their living by selling their stolen goods on the black market. A few of the lesser known men made regular trips into Irrakam to sell the goods, then buy food and weapons. Money that was left over was brought back to Jennings to be stored in a safe until it was needed to buy more food, weapons, or prostitutes. For tonight though, the whole band was enjoying a night of drinking in celebration of the day’s successes.

By now, most of the men had stumbled out the door and to their homes where they could either continue drinking or just pass out somewhere between the door and the bed. This included the Baron and his five drinking buddies at his table. Standing to his feet, he stood still for a moment, waiting for the room to stop spinning so badly, then bid his men good night and started up the stairs. Just as he got to the bottom of the stairs, he stopped, turned, and crooked his finger at Cassy.

“Come with me, Pretty.”

Swallowing heavily, Cassy thought about making a run for it right then. After spending the night drinking, she was fairly certain she knew what was on the Baron’s mind. However, one glance at the few men that had been on guard duty and were therefore quite sober, squashed any thought of trying to make a break. Taking a deep breath, she quickly followed her captor up the stairs and to his room.

The main room was large. It had several couches and armchairs. Large windows were open to let in the cool night air. Richard walked by them all, heading straight for where his king-size bed dominated the room next to the living space. He took hold of Cassy’s wrist, and pulled her along with him, determined that she not get away. After taking a seat on the edge of the bed, he pulled her close to him.

“Now, Pretty, you will entertain me privately,” he crooned to her as he slid one hand over her hip, down her leg and then inside the slit in the side of the dress.

Immediately, warning bells went off in Cassy’s head as she shuddered in revulsion. She pushed at him and ducked down out of his arms.

“No! I will not do that.”

Anger lit Richard Wesker’s eyes as he glared at both women standing in front of him. “You will do as I say, Pretty, or you won’t be so pretty anymore. Now get over here.”

Cassy shook her head. Thinking quickly, she changed her tone.

“It is late and you’ve had a long day. Let me give you a good back massage first.”

Wesker thought about that for a moment then agreed. He pulled his shirt off, revealing the well-toned body beneath it. Cassy waited until he was lying down with his head resting on crossed arms, then slowly approached him.

“Now, just relax, Baron.”

She climbed up on top of the bed and leaned over him. Gently at first, she began kneading the muscles in his neck. Gradually, she increased the pressure of her hands, almost holding her breath. Sooner than she expected, the Baron’s breathing grew slow and deep, and then snores began to assail Cassy’s ears. Breathing a sigh of relief, she slowly climbed off the bed and left the room.

A guard outside the door escorted her back to her own room and made sure the door closed firmly behind her. Relieved to be in the relative safety of her room, Cassy looked around for her regular clothes, eager to be out of revealing outfit she’d been forced to wear. She thought she’d left them on the bed, but they weren’t there. They weren’t on the chair or in the dresser either.

“They took my clothes!”

The realization of what had occurred caused her to sit down heavily on the edge of her bed. It wasn’t enough that she had to wear it and be a serving girl for the night, and then barely escape being raped. Now, she would have to wear the stupid outfit all day the next day as well.

We’ve got to get out of here. The sooner the better.

[Jack Lancer]

Jack Lancer looked around once again at the inside of the closet for someplace to rest his head. but as he tried to get some sleep, he found out that the bandits had other plans. A sharp blade hit the door with almost too much speed and made it nigh on impossible to move forward.

"Don't kill him, the boss wants him alive." He heard one of the bandits yell to the owner of the knife.

"I don't understand why, the boss seems to be plenty happy with the lady. Maybe tomorrow we can nail her too, but this man, I don't think that the baron would care one way or the other about that shit."

"Maybe so, but we still have direct orders not to kill him or let him out, and If you have a problem with it, then talk to the baron."

The door opened soon after bandit who had tossed his knife into the door retrieved it. What Jack saw approaching him was the same musclebound bandit that had slammed him through the door earlier. A gut punch and chop to the back of the neck was all it took for the bandit to knock him unconcious.

[Cassandra]

The sound of a fist pounding against the door jolted Cassy into wakefulness. Sitting up in the small bed, shr rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The sun wasn’t even up yet, but she could hear the voice of a bandit on the other side of the door.

“Get up! Get up or I’ll come in there and make you get up!”

Cassy hurried out of bed and checked that her clothing was on and covering as much as it could. The last thing she wanted was for that bandit to see her any further undressed than she already felt. Just as the doorknob started to turn, Cassy yanked the door open herself.

“What do you want?”

He scowled at her tone, but then backed up a step. “You better watch how you’re talking, wench. Go to the kitchen. Breakfast for the guards should be just about ready. You’re to deliver breakfast to all the guards, then come back for the Baron’s breakfast. Is that clear?”

Cassy glared at him openly for a moment, then nodded once. At the least, this would give her an opportunity to see the full layout of the building and hopefully formulate an escape plan. As she walked down the stairs, she glanced at her escort.

“What’s to stop me from running away at the first chance?”

The bandit shrugged, “You won’t get very far, but we’ll kill your friend first before coming after you. Trust me, you won’t like what the Baron will do to you if you run away. He’s not called the Bloody Red Baron for nothing.”

By this time they had arrived at the kitchen. Cassy was given two plates, one for each of the guards at the front entrance. The delicious aromas of crisp bacon, eggs over easy, and pancakes with maple syrup made her mouth water. Her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she had not fed it in several hours. Her escort followed close behind as she made her delivery as quickly as she could. The guards at the door said nothing as they took their plates from her and she returned to the kitchen.

This time, the breakfast plates had some different foods on them. Apparently, breakfast was made to order for the guards instead of being a quick, generic thing the cook could do for everyone. One plate had a large t-bone steak on it. This was accompanied by two eggs over easy, hashbrowns, and toast. The other plate had chicken fried steak, pancakes, scrambled eggs, and toast. Seeing the steak knife sparked an idea for escape in Cassy’s mind, but she was careful not to let it show on her face.

By the time Cassy had finished delivering food and made a second round with the guards’ drinks, she was getting very hungry. However, she was still not given a chance to eat. Now, she was to deliver the Baron’s breakfast of sausage links, eggs over hard, hashbrowns, pancakes and toast, directly to his room. Cassy dreaded the idea of going back in there. The whole way from the kitchen, up the stairs, and down the long hallway, she hoped and prayed that the man would still be sleeping off his hangover.

Quietly, she opened the door to the Baron’s massive suite and padded softly across the floor to the table. She set the steaming plate of food down on the table and quickly arranged the silverware and drink. She heard no sounds of anyone being awake. Straining her ears, she at last heard the telltale sound of snoring. Sighing in relief she quickly left the room.

“He’s still asleep. I am not going to wake him, either. Can I please have some breakfast now?”

Her guard thought for a moment, knowing that the boss did not like his food to be cold. However, he also hated to be woken up too early. The guard decided it was better to deal with a cold breakfast, than try to wake his boss.

“Fine, but no breakfast, yet. You have to go back and collect all the dishes first. After that is done, then we’ll see about something to eat. Start with the guards at the front door.”

Cassy sighed, but did as she was told as quickly as she could. As she collected the plates from the upstairs guards, she tried to spin quickly, but fell heavily. The plates and silverware clattered to the floor, scattering everywhere. Before they could haul her to her feet, she noted with satisfaction that one of the steak knives had slid under the closet door.

Perfect! Hopefully, they didn’t see that.[/j]

Whimpering a little and pretending to favor one foot, she started apologizing for her clumsiness. She knelt on the floor and began gathering the pieces of leftover food and the broken shards of the plates and glasses. She soon had it all gathered and limped back down to the kitchen. Once her hands were empty, her guard smacked her hard across the face, causing her to fall to the floor a second time.

“You clumsy little *****! What did you think you were doing?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I just tripped! Honest! I’m sorry!”

“We’ll see how sorry you are later when the Boss finds out that you broke his dishes.”

He bent over and grabbed her wrist to yank her to her feet. He didn’t say anything more to her as he hauled her across the floor and back up to her room. Yanking the door open, he shoved her inside.

“Don’t say a word until someone comes for you.”

Cassy waited until he slammed the door shut, then sat down on her bed.

[i]Well, at least one of us is armed now.

[Jack Lancer]

Hope you don't mind, but I bunnied you a bit.

When Jack awoke again something new was in the closet, a knife. Although he didn't know for a fact where it came from, he had a suspicion that the woman had something to do with this. Quickly, Jack got to work on carving a message into the handle of a broom. He knew that he would need the help of the woman to escape, and he needed to find a new place to hide. This new place ended up coming to him when he thought about the little woman. There was one place he was pretty sure she wouldn't let them go. Jack looked at his finished work, It wasn't the best writing, but the message, "Meet me in Ladies room" was still Legible.

Jack next worked on making a weapon for himself. He cut a bit of twine off a piece of the twine, and tied the knife tightly to a different broom, creating his own makeshift spear. Thinking back to when he got his head smashed in through the door, Jack put on the bucket as if it were a helmet and pocketed the rest of the twine. There was nothing left to do but figure out how to get the broom to the woman, so she'd get the message, and his simple answer to that was he would just have to hope.

Quickly, Jack put the first part of his plan into action, by repeatedly kicking on the door.

"Quiet down in there!" A guard yelled from the outside. Jack continued to kick on the door.

"I said Quiet!" Jack didn't listen.

"If you don't quiet down, I will be forced to shut you up." the bandit said angrily. Jack smiled and gripped his makeshift spear as he continued kicking. As soon as the door opened and the bandit came in to attempt to shut Jack up, Jack thrust his makeshift spear forward, sending it straight into the man's neck. Quickly pulling it out, he looked around. There were three other guards at the moment, and as he prepared to attack, he saw three guards walking with the woman. Deciding that the risk was worth the reward, Jack called out to her.

"Over here! Catch!" He yelled out, quickly grabbing the broom he carved the message into and tossing it her way.

[Cassandra]

No worries about the bunnying and a bazillion apologies for the long wait >.<

The three guards that were escorting her, were supposed to be taking her to the kitchen to again deliver a meal. Cassy wasn’t too happy about the idea of having to go into the Baron’s rooms again, but without a weapon, she felt completely useless. As they left her room, she could hear the guard yelling at their prisoner to be quiet. She chuckled quietly to herself as it became apparent that the prisoner was not being quiet.

The guards around her stopped to watch for a minute to see if they would be needed to help control the prisoner. That minute was all that was required for Cassy to catch the broomstick. Her hands closed around it and immediately swung around to hit the guard on her left in the stomach. The broomstick was lighter than she was accustomed to, but it would work well.

Spinning on her heel, she brought the makeshift staff up to block the fist of another guard. She took a step back and twirled the staff in her hands, causing the thin wood to smack into his head. He stood there, dazed for a minute, but Cassy didn’t take the time to notice; she was too busy tending to the third guard. Ducking underneath his arms, she tripped him up with her broomstick and then fled down the stairs.

As she ran, she shifted her grip on the broomstick. She could feel carving in it and wondered what it said. She rounded a corner in the tavern area leading to the stables. Turning it in her hands, she quickly read the message. She didn’t know what the stranger wanted from her, but in these circumstances, she was willing to trust a fellow prisoner, at least for the time being.

Her breath was starting to come in ragged gasps now, and she could hear several guards coming behind her. Hopefully, she’d be able to run long enough to give the other man a chance to get to the hiding place. She wouldn’t be able to run for much longer. In a few short minutes, she stopped and turned to face them.

The guards stopped and looked at her. A few of them were breathing as hard as she. Only one came forward, a large brute of man with hulking shoulders. He gave her a look that said clearly what he thought of her puny attempt at escape.

“Give me that broom,” he ordered levelly. He wouldn’t hurt the Boss’s pet if he could avoid it.

“Come and get it,” Cassy answered, spitting at the man’s feet. As he came forward, she swung it as hard as she could at his large shoulders. The broomstick, not very thick or strong, broke in two pieces, leaving Cassy with a useless shard. She stared at it, pretending to be dismayed that it had not worked. In fact, she’d been hoping that the broom would break. She didn’t want the men to see the message that had been carved in the broom.

The big man glanced at his shoulder, then chuckled. He reached forward and snatched the remaining broomstick out of her hands. She looked up at him, fear in her eyes. The idea that they might rough her up for trying to get away suddenly occurred to her. Her fears were unfounded though. The man grabbed her roughly, and led her back to the kitchen.

“No more o’ that, Pretty. The Baron doesn’t like it when his prisoners try to escape. Now, get that lunch ready and deliver to the boys. After that, you’ll be collecting the Baron’s breakfast dishes and finding out what he wants for lunch. Then you’ll come back and get it for him. I wouldn’t take my time if I were you.”

Cassy nodded meekly and went about her tasks quickly. She was soon on her way down the stairs, breakfast dishes in hand, and a lunch order in her mind. After delivering these things to the kitchen, she excused herself for a moment and slipped into the ladies’ room.

“Hello?” she whispered, afraid to speak too loudly so the guards wouldn’t hear her. “Are you here?”

[Jack Lancer]

Jack looked at the three other guards and frowned. Earlier, when he had his lance, he lost when facing only two of these guys, now he had to face three of them, and after killing one of thier own, he was pretty sure they were playing for keeps.

Gripping his makeshift weapon tightly, he made a feign swing at one of the bandits to see how the other two would react. When he sawone of them attempt to punch him in the stomach, Jack quickly swung the backend of the broom at his foe's head. this act alone bloodied the bandit up, but it also made all three bandits laugh as the head of the broom (The part with the bristles) went flying.

"What you gonna do now, boy? That stick seems to be breaking apart." One of the guards mocked.

As quickly as it started, all the laughter stopped. Sure, Jack wasn't expecting the weapon to break, but it left a lethally sharp point where the head broke off, which Jack made a point of thrusting through one bandit's heart as he was still laughing. With the other two quite annoyed with him at this point, Jack decided to make a run for it. Quickly, he ran through the halls until he made it to the ladies room. His retreat was random enough it took the two bandits a few seconds to process what was going on, but by then, Jack was gone. He had gotten enough of a head start that they were unable to track him. After somehow making it into the ladies room without any more trouble, he tilted his weapon against the wall and waited.

Jack knew that as long as the woman was around, the bandits wouldn't dare search the ladies room, so he was safe for now. After a short wait, the woman came in.

"Yeah, I'm here." Jack whispered back to her.

[Cassandra]

Cassy sighed in relief and walked over to her new friend. He wasted no time with idle chit chat.

“Glad you got my message. Any ideas on how to get rid of these blokes?”

Cassy shook her head ruefully, remembering the beating she’d received when she first tried to stand up to these men back at the last village they ransacked.

“Not really, there a lot of them. Whatever we do, we have to keep it pretty quiet.”

”Yeah, I know,” he agreed. “This would be a lot easier if we could take out their leader somehow, but I can’t find any way to approach him without getting a ton of guards on me.”

“Well, I’m supposed to take his lunch to him and he doesn’t bother to have anyone follow me in. I seriously doubt he has food on his mind, though.”

Jack handed her a roll of twine, ”You got anyplace you could hide this?”

“I don’t know,” she answered dubiously. “My dress fits to snugly to be able to hide it there and I think they’d notice if I tried to slip it in with the food.”

”Damn. Well, I’ll think of something, just try to stall him if at all possible.” He paused for a minute and looked around, then continued, ”I think they’ll get suspicious if I keep you any longer.”

Cassy nodded. “I might be able to do that. See if you can find our weapons and bring my dual blade. The staff I had won’t do as much harm and I’ve a feeling that we’ll need every advantage we can get. And you’re right, I better get going”

Cassy opened the door and walked purposely down the hall. She cooly ignored the look of frustration on her escort’s face. Now that she had a plan for escape, some of her old confidence was coming back to her. By now, the Bloody Baron’s lunch was ready. She collected the tray and went back up the stairs without any resistance whatsoever. She only hoped she’d be able to keep her lecherous captor distracted long enough for Jack to get there.


((OOC: Convo worked out and approved via AIM between Jack and myself ^^ I put Jack's speech in blue to help tell the difference between him and Cassy talking))

[Jack Lancer]

Jack watched as the woman left, something bugged him as she did so. For someone who had likely gone in with the excuse of using the bathroom, she was leaving without flushing or washing her hands. If either one tipped anyone off that that was not the true reason she had gone in there, he'd be in trouble. Sure, he could hide himself in a stall and even his weapon for the mostpart, but it was impossible to hide the pool of blood left by his weapon. He could clean it up,since it wasn't that big,but that would likely take too much time. All he could really do was hope .

Thankfully nobody came in, but after realizing that he was safe, a different question presented itself. Where were the weapons? He was supposed to get their weapons back for the woman, but he had no clue where to start searching. They obviously would be in a place that was well guarded, though, someplace big. This was going to be easier to figure out than Jack thought. There were only two rooms that were really well guarded. The front entrance, and the baron's room. Sure, the only guard of the baron's room was the baron himself, but that was the more impossible of the two locations to get to without being spotted. So, without much further thought, Jack decided to head down to the entrance and start his search there, hoping to god that the young miss he just met had a plan to keep the other bandits off his back.

[Cassandra]

Cassy quickly mounted the stairs, tray in hand. As she went, her mind whirled trying to figure out how she could possibly help Jack get their weapons undetected. An idea came to her, but she would have to convince her captor that it was a good and appropriate thing to do for his men.

She slipped into the Baron’s suite and set the tray on the table. He was sitting on the couch. Swallowing nervously, she approached him and knelt on the carpet in front of him.

“My Lord Baron, I’ve brought you lunch.”

“Very good, Pretty. You may wait at the table to serve me.”

“My Lord, I had thought that perhaps since I am no threat to anyone, that you don’t truly need all your men to be on guard duty. I arranged with the kitchen to have a good meal prepared for them. May I go around and tell them all to meet in the rooms just down the hall and bring them their dinner? I promise I will be done with that chore before you are done with your meal and will return right away.”

He bent and tilted her head up with a finger under her chin, “How am I to know that this is not an escape attempt?”

“Baron, I do not even know where we are. If I were to try to run away, the desert would probably kill me with heat and thirst before I had gotten very far. Your men have been faithfully following you and deserve a nice treat. Please, allow me to gather them together so they can enjoy a meal with plenty of talk and comraderie.”

The Baron was silent for a minute or two while he thought about her request. Finally, he let her stand. “Fine, do as you please, but you had better be back here within fifteen minutes.”

Cassy thanked him and hurried out of the room before he could change his mind. She nearly ran throughout the inn, searching for every bandit in the building. In ten minutes, she was following the last one up the stairs. She directed him to a large room down the hall from the Baron and went inside.

“Sirs, as I told each of you, the Bloody Baron has consented to allow me to serve you your dinner all at the same time so that you may enjoy your meal in good company. Please wait here. I will return shortly with your meals in about twenty minutes.”

Giving them a quick curtsy, she hurried out of the room, closing the door behind her. Cassy hurried to the closet she had seen them put Jack. Beside it she found the chair they’d been using to hold the door shut. Picking up the chair she hurried back and shoved it under the door handle, locking the waiting bandits in the room.

It won’t hold for long once they realize I’m not coming back, but it’ll have to do for now.

Turning, she hurried back to the Baron’s room and slipped inside. He was just finishing his meal and smiled as she entered.

“Perfect timing, Pretty. You’re just in time for dessert.”

He rose from his seat and quickly closed the space between them. Once again, he grabbed hold of her wrist and drug her to the back room. This time, he was sober and to Cassy, his grip seemed much stronger than it had the previous night. She doubted she’d be able to trick him as she had done last night. A hard knot of fear developed in her stomach at the thought of what the Baron had in mind.

Hurry, Jack!

[Jack Lancer]

Jack waited a bit before exiting the bathroom himself. He knew he needed to give the woman a bit of time to somehow make it safe for him to travel down to the entrance long enough for him to get thier weapons, assuming she had thought to do so, and assuming they were there. After 15 minutes, Jack exited the bathroom to find the halls surprisingly empty, but as he continued onwards towards the entrance, he saw the reason why. A chair had been placed in front of a door that, if he guessed correctly, held a room that the woman had somehow managed to herd all the bandits into. He tiptoed past that room and continued towards the entrance.

When he arrived there, he was thoroughly confused. There were plenty of tables but other than that, there wasn't much other than a small safe for holding money and a counter. The safe was too tiny to hold the weapons, and the counter only held a huge key ring underneath it. As Jack reached down to grab the key ring, pretty sure it would come in handy, he noticed one other thing that gave in to suspicion. A simple green mat had been placed behind the counter where the innkeeper would normally stand. Moving it aside, he found a trap door with two locks on it.

This was going to take a little work. He was sure the weapons were just underneath him, but first he needed to figure out which keys to use. With no other way to figure it out, Jack started to try one key after another.

"Damn these Bandits. This could take awhile" he said to himself as he continued to unsuccessfully try keys in the locks.

[Cassandra]

((Warning: the following two Cassandra posts contain mature content of a sexual nature.))

Try though she might, Cassy could not free her wrist from Baron Richard's grasp. He closed the door to the bedroom behind them and locked it. Cassy's eyes went wider in fear. That door was the only way out of the room. She had to find a way to get it unlocked, or there would be no escape for her this afternoon. She stumbled across the room, still trying to pull free from the inexorable grip of the Baron.

"Let me go! Please!"

The Baron chuckled and continued toward the bed. When he woke this morning, he realized that she'd tricked him the previous night. He had no intention of falling for any tricks this time.

"Not just yet, Pretty. I have things for you to do."

Roughly, he pushed her forward onto the bed. A lecherous grin parted his lips at the view of Cassy's long legs through the slits in her dress. Climbing onto the bed after her, his grin grew wider in anticipation. It didn't even vanish when Cassy rolled across the bed and dashed to the door.

Cassy hurriedly tried to get the door unlocked. She didn't know how much longer Jack would be, but she knew she had to stall the Baron for as long as possible. The Baron took his time getting off the bed. He figured he didn't need to rush; after all, there was nowhere for his toy to go. As he came closer, Cassy whirled to face him, her back against the door and her fingers still trying to get the door unlocked.

"There's no point in running, Pretty," he said softly, standing directly in front of her. "I always gets what I wants."

Cassy almost shouted in relief when she felt the lock turn. She glared at her captor and ducked out of his reach. Now, all she had to do was get him to the other side of the room. Then, she could run and open the door. In the living room, she'd have more space to run until Jack got there with their weapons.

"Not this time, you don't, Wesker. I won't be your toy."

She ran to the other side of the room and watched as the Baron approached her.

Please hurry, Jack! I don't know how long I can keep this up.

Again and again, Cassy let the Baron get close, then dodged away. She gloated quietly to herself, as he seemed to grow more and more impatient. Perhaps avoiding him would be easier than she had first thought. She was at the back wall again, where she could see the door. The lecherous grin the Baron had been wearing earlier was gone, replaced with a ferocious, angry glare.

"Enough games, Pretty. You've had your fun, now it's my turn."

Just as Cassy started to duck away again, the Baron's arm flashed out, catching her by the waist and hauling her back to him. Cassy screamed, but the Baron just laughed.

"Lucky for you, I like it when I have to give a bit of a chase, but I'm done chasing. I want my prize."

He spun her around so that her back was against the wall. He grinned at the fear that slowly replaced the proud defiance she'd been showing over the last few minutes. Slowly, he lifted her arms over her head and pinned them there with one hand over her crossed wrists. He ignored her feet and stepped closer, pressing his body close to hers. Gently, he caressed her face with one finger, and then slid that finger under her chin, lifting her face.

"Play time's over, Pretty," he breathed.

"No...please," she begged, struggling vainly to get free. She shuddered in revulsion at the feel of his body so close to hers. She wasn't totally naive, she knew what the bulge in his pants was and what he intended it to mean for her.

The Baron ignored her pleas and struggles. He grinned at her one more time and then kissed her roughly. He reveled in the whimper that escaped her and her renewed struggles. It only made him want her more. Very pleased that he had finally caught her, he crammed his tongue through her protesting lips while his free hand slid up her body to her breasts.

At his unwanted kiss, Cassy closed her eyes, trying to blot out the vision of the man in front her. Tears squeezed out from her tightly closed lids as she finally gave up. She would not be able to break Wesker's grip on her own.

[Jack Lancer]

Jack was beginning to get frustrated as key after key failed to fit in either locks. Just when he was ready to give up hope, though, one of the keys clicked. Jack took off the lock, then tried ten more keys before he ran into a major problem. He had now tried every last key on the keyring. This was real frustrating seeing how there were no other keys in sight, and Jack had only a limited time to get the other lock undone and the weapons up to the damsal in distress. He quickly began searching the room for another keyring, or at least another key, but to no avail.

"Now if I were a key, where would I hide" Jack said to himself before his eyes locked onto the safe.


Sure, the safe was too small to hold weapons, but keys was a different story. Jack tried all the keys he had on the safe and on the seventeenth attempt, he managed to find the right key. As he opened the safe the first thing he noticed were the woman's clothes, not the frilly dress, but the actual clothes that belonged to the woman. As he grabbed the clothes, he heard some keys clatter to the ground. It seemed obvios that the keyring was just underneath the clothes. Looking down, he saw the keyring he had been looking for. On it were only 3 keys, and Jack was quick to keep to put them to use.

As he tried the first key in the remaining lock, Jack heard it click. He was extremely relieved to have found the right key, and as he opened the trap door, he was even more relieved to discover that he was right about it's contents. Inside the trapdoor was his lance, dual bladed sword, staff, a knife and a few other weapons. Jack didn't know that the knife knowing he couldn't carry all of this, Jack grabbed only the staff, his lance, and the dual bladed sword. The woman had mentioned that the staff and the dual blade were hers, but not the knife, so jack had no way of knowing.

After he grabbed all this, he relocked the trap door and took the keys with him, so that the bandits couldn't arm themselves with the weapons down there, then ran up the stairs to rescue the woman. He could only hope he got there on time.

[Cassandra]

Unhurriedly, Wesker drew his belt knife and brought it up toward Cassy. He broke off the kiss and spoke in a low tone.

"You are wearing too much clothing, Pretty," he told her, "but since I can trust you not to try running again, I'll just take care of it myself..."

Careful not to cut Cassy's skin, he slid the knife under the short sleeves of the dress and slowly cut the fabric. The knife was very sharp, so the fabric put up almost no resistance. The shoulder fell away, revealing her bra-clad breast.

"Mmmm, lace."

He sheathed the knife and then resumed his violation of Cassy's person. He nibbled at her neck, leaving a trail of kisses. As his lips neared her breast, his hand slid slowly down her body to her hips. By this time, Cassy did not bother to beg and plead anymore. She whimpered as she felt his lips close on her breast and his hand slide between her legs.

The Baron did not remain at his touching game for long. Still keeping a tight hold on her wrists, he slid his free hand behind her and picked her up bodily. He laid her on the bed and climbed on after her. He didn't let go of her wrists until he was firmly seated over her hips.

"That's better, now I can use both hands.

Cassy whimpered and begged brokenly, “Stop, please!” Tears flowed freely down her face, wetting the soft pillow on which she lay.

The Baron only chuckled and pulled his shirt off and leaned over Cassy, pulling his knife free once again. The fact that she was begging and crying only made it more enjoyable for him. He placed the knife under the remaining shoulder of her top, but before he could cut the fabric, the door slammed open. He half turned to see what the interruption was about, but he didn't need to. Cassy tearfully answered his question before it was even asked.

"Jack! You're here! Oh, thank the gods, you're finally here! Stop him, Jack. Please, make him stop!"

The Baron growled and casually backhanded her, "Shut your mouth, wench! I'll deal with you after I've taken care of the interruption. Don't move a muscle or you'll wish you'd never been born."

Baron Wesker got to his feet to face Jack.

"You should have minded your own business, boy," he growled. He changed the grip on his knife, holding it loosely in one hand. "You should have just kept right on going instead of stopping here. Now, I'm going to have to kill you."

While he spoke, Cassy jumped off the bed and hurried to stand behind Jack. She tied the loose ends of her shirt together to resume some of her former cover. She still wanted her regular clothes, but the knot would have to work for now. Now that help had arrived, Cassy glared openly at her tormentor; with Jack here they'd be able to take care of the so-called "Baron" and get out of town.

[Jack Lancer]

Jack Looked at the big hulking figure in front of him, and then at the woman behind him, while it was true that he had rushed in to save the lady, he hadn't planned to far ahead. Still, it was too late to back down now. Jack quickly handed the woman her weapons then turned to the Baron. He could tell a few things about the Baron just by looking at him.

The Baron was quite a bit stronger than him and had likely seen many more battles than him, but there was something else. Something that gave Jack a fighting chance. Due to Jack's weapon of choice, the baron actually had a shorter range, though, not by much.

As the Baron slowly approached him, Jack suddenly realized one hazard he had overlooked earlier. If he were to dodge one of the Baron's attacks, the woman behind him would likely be hit. He wasn't sure if the Baron realized this or not, but he wasn't about to take the chance.

Jack cautiously moved forward towards the baron, who immediately attempted to slash at his neck, but Jack was quick to duck underneath it, but as he ducked, the Baron altered his attack, kicking him against the wall. Jack normally would have stayed down after a hit like this, but there was a lady present that needed rescuing, and there was nobody else to rescue her, so Jack got to his feet again.

The baron was the one to charge in this time, and Jack was barely able to dodge the running slash. The Baron continued the aggressive attack on Jack with a kick to the gut. The Jack Keeled over as he once again got tossed against the wall. Every bone in his body was telling him to play dead at this point, but as the Baron approached the woman he was trying to protect, he found the strength to stand, yet again.

"C'mon mate, I ain't dead yet." Jack mocked as he coughed up blood.

While it was true that he wasn't dead, he obviously wasn't in very good shape either, and the Baron knew it. At this point, the woman was more likely to be a threat. Still, there was something about the way that Jack said this, that seemed insulting to the baron, as his attention turned towards the injured man again.

"Do you really want death that badly?" the baron asked, picking Jack up by the neck, and pinning him against the wall and forcing him to drop his weapon.

Jack struggled to breathe in the stranglehold a bit before he saw his one opening and kicked the baron as hard as he could in the groin. The baron immediately dropped Jack when the kick connected, and Jack crawled beneath the baron's legs, picking his lance up from the ground, and as the Baron turned around, Jack got to his feet and managed to pin one of the Baron's hand's to the wall by thrusting his Lance through the man's hand.

As soon as he got Stabbed like this, the Baron dropped his knife and attempted to pull the lance out of his hand, but Jack somehow managed to catch the dropped weapon before it hit the ground, and as luck would have it, an opportunity to use it soon presented itself. As the Baron pulled against the lance, it suddenly snapped in two snapping his unstabbed hand up against the wall, and Jack greeted it by stabbing the Baron's knife through it, pinning it against the wall as well.

Needless to say, the baron was quite unhappy about this, and he showed it with yet another kick to Jack's chest. Jack fell to his knees, unable to get up very easily this time, and watched in horror as the Baron pulled the hand with the knife in it from the wall, and pulled the knife out of his hand with his teeth before finally pulling the broken lance out of his other hand.

Jack cowered in fear, now that he was left weaponless against and nearly broken apart by the man looming over him, and it didn't help anything when the baron growled "I swear, I'm going to kill you!"

[Cassandra]

Cassy watched as the fight between the two men unfolded. There was not enough room for her to help Jack, so she did her best to stay out of the way. She would get her turn soon enough and there wouldn't be anything to save the disgusting Baron when she got it. As the fight went on though, she started to worry about Jack. The Baron was stronger than Jack and now Jack was taking a beating. After checking the knot on her shoulder to be sure the top of her dress would stay tied, she stepped between Jack and the Baron.

"You will do no such thing. It's my turn."

Baron Wesker turned his attention from Jack to Cassy. He grinned wickedly at her.

"Aww, now ain't this cute? Trying to save your boyfriend?"

"Not exactly," Cassy answered. She stepped forward bringing the top blade of her weapon down diagonally, to strike across the Baron's chest. Followed quickly, with a horizontal slash at his belly.

Wesker's grin disappeared when he realized how serious Cassy was and saw the anger in her eyes. He jumped back nimbly, avoiding both of her attacks. Both his hands screamed in agony, but he didn't have time to let that bother him right now. He held onto to knife with one hand, and picked up the broken lance with the other.

Cassy came at him again, the blades twirling and whistling through the air as she made pass after pass at the man before her. Sooner than she expected, she had him cornered.

"How does it feel to be cornered, Wesker? Don't worry, you won't be for long."

"How did you-"

"I wasn't using my blades, and I was caught off-guard. Had your men given me a chance at a fair fight, they would have come back here empty handed."

Her face impassive, she knocked the blades out of Wesker's hands and then swept his feet out from under him. She laid the tip of one blade against his throat, panting heavily.

"I should kill you, right now, for all the crimes you've committed. Not just the ones against me, but all the ones you've committed or orchestrated against who knows how many other people. But I'd rather see you suffer the way you've made other people suffer."

She pulled the blade away from his throat, and the defeated man thought that he was going to be released. Cassy quickly changed the direction of her blade and slammed it as hard as she could through the Baron's groin. The sharp blade cut smoothly through both fabric and flesh with no problem and sank partially into the wood floor. Blood gushed out around the blade as the Baron screamed in agony. Cassy, still panting from the fight against the Baron, pulled her blade free and looked at him disdainfully.

"If you live, you'll never be able to rape another woman again."

She walked away from the Baron, and found the clothes that Jack had brought up with him. Picking them up, she looked at Jack grimly.

"Kill him if you want, but I want to put on some proper clothes before we leave."

[Jack Lancer]

Jack looked down at the body of the the baron in disgust. Despite his anger, he didn't really feel like killing the man for a few reasons. The first of these was that the man may as well already be dead. The more important second reason was that it wasn't his style. He didn't usually attack anyone unless they were attacking him. It wasn't his style.

"Let's go, Lassy. I think he's learned his lesson." Jack said finally. But it seemed that as soon as he said this, a new problem arose. There was a sudden banging and then a crash as the rest of the bandits broke out of the room that they had been trapped in by the clever woman at his side. Jack backed up as he realized the odds were not in thier favor. around fifteen bandits stood in a small hallway between them and the exit. They either had to find another exit, or fight thier way through all the bandits.

"Say, Lass. You got any ideas?"

[Cassandra]

Cassy took her clothes in the other room, leaving Jack and the Baron to themselves, and quickly changed. She almost sighed in relief at the feeling of having proper coverage again.

“First of all, please call me by my name, Cassy. Second, yes, I do have an idea. There’s no way we’ll get back through the halls, so we’ll just go out the window. Help me get the sheets off the bed and we’ll make a rope. When we get to the ground, we head for the stable, get a horse for each of us and get out of here.”

Moving as she spoke, Cassy pulled the sheets up off the bed, ignoring the groaning and bleeding Baron on the floor. In all likelihood, he would bleed to death before he could get any medical attention or he would get a serious infection. Cassy didn’t particularly care what happened to him at this point. She took her sheet to the window and looked around for something heavy to tie it to, speaking her thoughts aloud.

“Let’s see... the chair is too light, as is the tea table.”

She looked around the room until her eyes at last fell on a large, solid oak desk. Fortunately, it wasn’t too far away from the window.

“That looks heavy enough! And I think it’s close enough so we don’t have to move it.”

She went quickly to the table and tied off one end of the sheet to the desk’s leg, then threw the remaining bundle out of the window to see how far it would go. She leaned out, and nodded once to herself.

“We’ll need a second sheet, but this ought to work,” she told Jack over her shoulder as she pulled the sheet back in so they could tie it to the second sheet.

“Do you know which way to go to get out of this place? When they brought me, I wasn’t able to tell which direction we were going or anything else like that.”

Cassy could hear the bandits in the hall and was hoping that the fear of their boss would keep them from coming in to the room long enough for her and Jack to get out the window. She highly doubted that any of them were supposed to go into the Baron's suite uninvited.

"Let's hurry though, I don't know how long they'll stay out of the Baron's suite."

[Jack Lancer]

"Aye, Cassy, I do know the way out of this town. but first we need to escape this building." Jack said, quite worriedly. While it was true that they were about to escape, do to the fight, he wasn't exactly in the best shape. He doubted that he could be much help should they end up having to fight off anyone.

Keeping his mouth shut so as not to alert any bandits to his presence in the room he went straight to work in helping Cassy find and tie on a second sheet. He knew that Cassy was supposed to be there with the baron, so if she spoke, it might be fine, but, he wasn't supposed to be there. He was supposed to be locked in a closet, or dead, or anywhere but in the baron's room. If he spoke, and the bandits heard, they would likely come rushing in.

As soon as he tied the knot, he noticed the baron's blood was oozing out the door. This also would likely attract the bandits, and because of this, there was no longer any need to stay quiet.

"Is everything all set? We need to hurry and get out of here, now."

[Cassandra]

Cassy took one last look at the Baron as he moaned and writhed slowly in agony, bleeding profusely. Confident that he would not survive the injury she tossed her weapons down to the ground ahead of her and nodded to Jack.

“It’s ready, let’s go.”

She hurriedly climbed down the make-shift rope of sheets, then looked up and beckoned for Ed to hurry. Sure that he would follow quickly enough, she headed straight for the stable. There she found two horses and saddled them quickly, her ears straining for sounds of pursuit.

Upstairs the bandits pounded on the door, yelling for Cassy to open the door. They’d seen the blood oozing out from under the door and had become worried. A few of them, realizing that not all of them would be able to get into the room, went downstairs to cut off any chances of an escape.

CRACK!!

The door began to splinter under the repeated attack of the bandits. Encouraged by this, they doubled their efforts as they called out taunts and threats about the consequences of an attempted escape.