7. Yvonne

7

YVONNE

Panic courses through me as I realize that I don’t have much time before Oarus realizes I’m no longer there. I plan to be dead by then. I won’t let myself live more of this miserable life where freedom is not a right but a privilege. A privilege that I’ve never known.

I’m already out of breath, but I’m not going to let my heaving chest stop me. As I continue running, my feet pounding against the cave floor with each step, my legs scream at me to stop. I won’t. Instead, I ignore the pain, frantically looking around as often as I can without letting myself trip.

I’m searching for something, anything, that will grant me the embrace of death that I crave. I’m ready for this to be over, and I don’t care how it happens, so long as it does.

The cave floor is littered with scattered rocks that scrape up my feet as I run, and it takes a moment for me to realize that I may be able to use them. I pause only for a second to grab one of the rocks, the one that looks the sharpest.

I bring the rock to my neck as I continue running, frantically scraping it across my skin with as much strength as I can muster. It does nothing, and I cry out, throwing it against the cave wall.

“Fuck! I need… I need…” I trail off. Tears begin pouring out of my eyes, despair replacing my earlier feeling of panic.

If Oarus finds me, I’ll never get the chance again. He’ll make sure of it. My life as nothing but a slave will continue until he gets sick of me and passes me onto something worse, just like my previous master did.

I sob as I take turn after turn through the winding tunnels, unwilling to give up just yet. A loud, guttural sound coming from behind me only fuels me further on. It’s him, I’m sure of it.

My feet carry me even faster until I reach what looks like a dead end. I come to a skidding halt, squinting into the darkness, and realizing that it’s not a dead end after all, but a cave entrance, so dark I almost missed it.

I take a few small steps forward, glancing over my shoulder, reminding myself that time is of the essence. The further I get into the cave, the more I feel it.

A presence. An evil that I’ve never encountered before.

I have to take the chance. It’s my only option. I run further in, ignoring the alarm bells blaring in my head to turn around, to get far away from the sinister being that is surely hiding in here. I can only hope that this creature will grant me what I desire.

After a minute of running, I begin to think maybe I imagined the presence, that maybe nothing is in here after all. But then I feel it. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I freeze, coming to a complete stop.

My eyes widen as a long, disfigured form appears before me. A stench that reminds me all too much of iron nearly knocks me out. I begin trembling as it gets closer. The monster smiles menacingly, revealing not one, not two, but three rows of razor-sharp teeth, dripping with some kind of substance.

“No!” I scream as he lunges. My body moves away on instinct, but not fast enough. His cold, spindly fingers wrap around my arms, squeezing as he leans in, aiming for my neck.

I close my eyes, a calm feeling washing over me. This is it. This is what I wanted.

I flinch as his fangs pierce my neck. Within seconds, agony rips through me. My blood runs cold before a burning, itching sensation replaces it. An excruciating fire builds up in my veins until it’s unbearable.

My eyes open, and I stare into the darkness, accepting my fate. I’ve been ready for this a lot longer than I realized. Death had been following me, waiting for me to take the opportunity to join it. And now, I’m ready for this life to end. Ready to be reunited with my family.

In the darkness, a loud hiss sounds, and the creature pulls his fangs out of me, which is even more painful than when he sunk them in. He throws me to the ground, my head bouncing once on the cave floor before rolling to the side.

I watch the scene unfold. Oarus charges in, looking around wildly before his red eyes land on the monster who was just about to kill me. He lunges for it, but the creature evades him.

My body feels paralyzed, and the pain doesn’t seem to be fading, despite the monster’s fangs no longer being in me. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. I try to squirm, to clench my jaw, to ball my fists, anything to distract me from the pain, but I can’t move.

My brain feels fuzzy, and my vision appears to be going in and out, blurry one moment, clear the next. I try to blink, to clear my vision as it goes blurry again, but I can’t even move my eyelids.

I’m forced to lie here, unmoving, and watch in horror as Oarus finally gets the monster in his grasp. He lets out a long shriek, dodging an attempt from the monster to sink his teeth into Oarus.

Holding him with one hand, he lifts the other and slashes his sharp claws across the monster’s face. Despite blood pouring from its face, it does not give up.

Oarus picks him up, thrashing, and slams him into the wall. The entire cave shakes, I can feel it against my face on the floor. He slams him again and again, before throwing him across the room.

The creature hits the wall and slides to the ground. Before it can get up again, Oarus is there. With both claws, he slashes him, over and over, a high-pitched sound emitting from him as he does.

I watch in horror, never having witnessed something so violent. It makes me wonder if this is something normal for Oarus, or if this is just because the creature was about to kill his shiny new possession. Couldn’t he just go out and find a new pet?

It’s obvious that the monster has long been dead, but Oarus doesn’t stop. He’s moving so fast that he’s practically a blur, which doesn’t do well for my fading vision.

I can feel myself drifting away. From this body, from this world. Slowly but surely, I feel myself dying.

I must have been bleeding this entire time and not noticed.

The thought gives me one last burst of hope for the ending I had planned for myself.

Agonizing pain that seems to never waver attacks my body from the inside out. At this point, it’s all I can focus on, Oarus’ shrieks of anger fading away as my mind drifts further into the abyss.

Oarus suddenly stops, slowly turning to me, his eyes wide. He’s almost completely covered in blood; I can barely see his blueish-green skin beneath it. He stands and crosses the room, closing the distance in seconds, crouching in front of me and reaching a hand towards my face.

“What is wrong with you? Why don’t you move? Why don’t you run?”

I try to move my mouth, but I can’t. All I can do is let out a groan. His eyes scan my body, stopping on my neck. His expression shifts from confusion to anger, and he lets his hand fall from my face to my neck.

“Its venom is in you. You will die soon.”

Good.

“But I will not let you.”

If I could get up and run right now, I would. If I could scream, I would. The last of the hope that was in me disappears like a flame in the wind. It turns into smoke and floats away from me, never to be seen again.

Oarus stands up and walks back to what remains of the creature, which from what I can tell, isn’t much. He lowers a palm into the bloodied mess, before standing up and walking back to me.

“You must drink this. Its blood is the cure. Drink and you shall live.”

He lowers his palm towards my mouth, popping open my jaw with his free hand, and on the inside, I’m screaming. On the inside, I’m thrashing, hitting, doing anything I can to avoid that blood saving me. But on the outside, my body remains still.

The blood slowly trickles out of his hands and into my mouth as he holds my mouth open. Unable to swallow, I feel it slide down my throat. It takes a moment for the pain to lessen, but it does, only slightly. I blink, and it’s this action that makes me realize I’m no longer paralyzed.

It should feel like a privilege to be able to move again, but it doesn’t. Instead, it conjures an overwhelming feeling of defeat inside of me.

“No,” I whisper when Oarus moves to let more blood fall into my mouth. I try to close my mouth, but his hand is still there, holding it open. It’s impossible to fight him. Even if I were at my strongest, I still wouldn’t be close to winning that fight.

“Drink.” The word is a command on his lips, and I have no choice but to obey.

Despite the pain slowly slipping away, despite my mind clearing, the already dark cave seems to get even darker around us. Suddenly, I feel unbearably tired, and sleep sounds like the most delightful thing in the world.

I feel my eyes flutter closed, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. Everything fades to black as I succumb to the darkness, dreading the world I’ll be waking up to.