Chained

Chapter 11 - Smile

Winter's POV

Over the next week my only thoughts were on what Zayn had told me. If I shifted my form, I would be released from the cell.

Thats If he was telling the truth.

No matter how much I thought about it or weighed the potential outcomes, I couldn't never bring myself to do it. There was too much he could do in my human form.

Markus was a sick, sadistic man who took pleasure in my pain, but it was never sexual. Zayn seemed honourable, but who knew how far that honour went? Not to mention I could easily escape the cell. The bars were thin and made of silver. A wolf would be powerless in breaking it down, but for me I doubted it would take more than a a single hit. The only problem would be how I would get caught almost immediately. 

The noise of the bars breaking would reach the other side of the country and then what would I do? Run with an injured shoulder until they caught me and locked me up somewhere different, or just kill me there?

Looking out of the bared window, I could hear the wind gush through the surrounding trees, and if I arched my neck far enough I could even see the tips of their branches. It was more than what Markus gave me the entire time I was there.

The pain in my shoulder eased further with each passing day as it healed. Normally I would still be unable to walk, but because I wasn't training and was eating full meals my body was stronger. But the lack of training was making me restless. At lease with Markus I was able to stretch my legs once a day. In here, all I could do was limp around the cell until the pain became too much and I rested for the rest of the day.

I didn't even have anyone to keep me company. The guard that fed me said nothing and only scowled as he cleaned my cage which I stopped being embarrassed about when I was first captured by Markus.

My ears pricked up at the sound of the building door squealing open. I lifted my nose into the air and attempted to smell who it was. It wasn't the guard, he had already come to feed me and wouldn't be back until the sun had set. However the scent was recognisable I recognised the scent, someone young. It was the smell of fresh earth and something sweet I couldn't quite remember. 

The patter the bare feet against the concrete caused my eyes to widen. Out of the corner, Vivian popped out her head and giggled.

Oh God, this cannot be happening again.

I immediately stood from the centre of my cage and backed myself into the far corner; I was not about to do this again.

"Hey kitty," she said smiling with a pinch of guilt.

I almost winced at what she called me, what Markus once called me. Of course I knew she didn't mean it in the way he always did, but that didn't stop the chill that ran down my spine.

"I'm sorry about what happened on Sunday," she said steeping towards the bars. "I didn't mean to get you into trouble."

I should have stayed in the corner and hissed at her. Only I didn't. Of course I didn't. I saw how her eyes widened with sadness and her tiny hands tremble as they touched the silver bars despite how uncomfortable it would have been, and stepped towards her.

Slowly, I walked towards her, her almond shaped eyes widened and I couldn't but feel like I would regret this. However I seemed to forget it as I came close enough to see how the light that shone through the window turned her brown eyes into pure honey.

Through the bars, she delicately ran her hand through my course dead black fur and I foolishly allowed myself to enjoy it.

For the rest of the afternoon, until pink melted into the sky to watch the sun set and an owl could be heard in the distance, we sat together on either side of the cage. Occasionally, Vivian would tell me stories. Some were real, and others imaginary.

It pained me to see how much I had forgotten about beauty. The true, raw, undeniable beauty of children and their love that had no limits. I had forgotten it all. Markus had ripped it from me and replaced it with fear and hatred, and I would never forgive him for that.

As we sat together, I listened to every single one of her stories and the fantastical words that pieced them together. In many of them she talked about her brothers. I was curious about them as I had only seen the one who barely seemed a few years older than her, but it wasn't like I could ask her about him. Not in this form anyway.

As the vibrancy of the sunset was washed away by the night, Vivian gave me a parting pat before hurrying back towards her home where dinner and a warm bed would await her.

The cell seemed quiet without her voice or her touch, but I couldn't bring myself to mind. As I thought about it I realised that while she was here, I was almost about to forget I was even in a cell.

And although I was unable to smile in this form, there was an old yet familiar happiness that wash over me as I slept.