It was a stupid mistake, and she knew that it might very well end up costing her the life she'd struggled to keep for all the years since her incarceration.  There were several elementary rules that one had to follow on Crematoria if you were unlucky enough to become a prisoner.  The first was to find the inmates with the most influence and power and get in good with them as quickly as possible.  Scratch that.  The first was to<em>be</em>the one with the most power and influence.  Elizabeth had been underground long enough to get a bit of a reputation for being the sort of woman one didn't fuck with.  While others used their feminine traits and sex to get what they needed to survive, she took the route of strength that was normally reserved for the men.  She had the will and body for it.  Everyone made do with what they had, and she did not look down on her fellow women that chose a far less brutal way to live.<br/><br/>The second was to stay as far away from the gaze of Flayer as possible.  It was something that should have been easy for her, considering she'd heard of him long before she was sentenced to The Slam.  Perhaps it had just been random chance.  Wrong place at the wrong time.  But what was done was done: he was after her, and now that her scent was ingrained into that hideous mask of his there would be no stopping him.<br/><br/>So she ran.  Each second registered separately from the next, defined only by slight changes in perception and stimulation.  A sweaty palm hitting forcefully against a rusty rung of a ladder.  The disgustingly moist wind against her face as she propelled herself ever upwards, like the dank breath of something monstrous.  The wild symphony of metal clanging against metal and rock.  The brief flashes of light from lanterns, and the sparks erupting where the Beast's massive whip cleaved through century old support beams like they were made of copper.  She didn't dare check behind her to see how far of a lead she had.  The only thing that mattered was constant movement.  Thinking about anything else but putting one limb in front of the other invited disaster.  A cyclone of destruction and demonic laughter nipped at her heels, threatening to swallow her up if she dared to pause.<br/><br/>Which made it all the most disastrous when she glanced up several flights to see another inmate hunkered down, completely oblivious to the danger below.  Well, not completely oblivious.  It was impossible that she had gone so long without hearing any commotion.  But if she knew what was coming there was no chance she'd still be standing still.  Only a second of recognition.  Rae, was it?<br/><br/>"MOVE IT!" Elizabeth screamed ahead, jolting to a sudden stop as the whip nearly took her head off.  As it was it cleaved straight through the ladder, forcing her to make a sudden leap to keep from falling to her death.  "BEAST!" she added hoarsely.  If the first warning hadn't done it, the second would be enough to get the Warden himself running for his life.<br/><br/><em>"Now now, we must all wait our turns!"</em>Flayer screeched, twirling the barbed wire expertly over his head and aiming another warning strike towards the bottom of Rae's platform.<em>"But I admire eagerness.  If you wish to offer yourself up, I can hardly decline such a gracious offer!"</em><br/>