A Battle of Pride and Desire

Chapter Four

The ground was moving beneath Brigette when she regained consciousness. She kept her eyes closed as her body rocked from side to side. This was just a bad dream, she was just asleep. But she wasn't asleep because the acute pain in her abdomen was sharp and excruciating. No, she was awake and a man had definitely swiped at her outside her very own home. Her head pounded with a headache and she wasn't sure if it was caused by stress, the pain in her abdomen, or the amount of alcohol she consumed. She couldn't hear any movement around her, apart from the sound of wheels on gravel. She was in a carriage and she was alive. She tried to open her eyes, but they were glued shut. She pried them open and they opened slowly, one by one, groggily. She could feel the sleep that had built up there in the time she was unconscious. What she saw, however, was not what she was expecting. She was in a carriage but there was no one in it with her, only horses out front, with no one driving the carriage. She held her breath as she shuffled over to the window in the door. There was a carriage beside her and in it was a man staring into space as if he had never been more bored in his entire life. Was this the man who had cut her? She glanced down at her abdomen and pulled up her nightdress, checking to her right in case the man was watching her. There, in screaming colour, was a deep gash. It was going to become infected quickly. Why keep her alive if they weren't going to tend to her wounds? Who was this man? What did he want? She checked her hands to see if they were clean and touched the gash lightly. She hissed in pain and retracted her hand quickly. She looked around the small carriage for something to help, but it was empty apart from her. She let her nightgown fall down to her knees and had a brain wave. She ripped up the middle of her nightgown to her thighs and began to rip horizontally; cutting the dress short. She held up what she had ripped off and it was about 40" long and 10" wide. She looked at her mess of a nightgown which now barely covered legs. She lifted it up and wrapped the scrap of nightgown around her abdomen tightly, allowing it to soak up the blood. She kissed her teeth in pain as she tied a small knot at her side, securing it in place. It would have to make do as a bandage until she got home. If she would ever get home. She glanced out the window again and the man was still staring ahead of him. She allowed herself a long look at him, what would he do if he caught her anyway? Kill her by glare? He was in another carriage, a safe distance away. He was handsome, undoubtedly so, to a point that made him seem inhuman. But he was. He had two legs, two arms, a torso, and one head; just like Brigette. But his face was almost too beautiful, too perfect, Brigette couldn't help but be mesmerised. She sighed and glanced at her bare feet, she hasn't bothered to put on shoes in her frenzy. How long had she been unconscious for? It was bright outside now, so perhaps a night. She looked out the window again, trying to make sense of the scenery. She didn't recognise it at all, but it was sunny which was uncharacteristic for Erinea, but not impossible. Wherever she was, she needed to leave. Now. While she was alone.

Brigette nibbled at her fingers, thinking of what she could do. She had two options really; (1) jump out of the moving carriage and run away and (2) wait until they got to wherever they were going and escape then. She began to taste blood on her tongue from how hard she was biting the skin around her nails. She swore and wiped her hands on her now-very-short nightgown. If she jumped out right now, the worst that could happen is that she dies. This was likely to happen anyway, the man had said as much. She may as well jump out and take her chances. Still, she deliberated for a moment longer until she knew if she waited any longer she may miss her moment. The ground beneath the carriage was gravelly, it would hurt, and she would likely die from the fall if not by the hands of the man who had taken her. She pulled down on the handle, but the door did not budge, it was locked. She began rattling the handle, begging the Gods to allow it to open. It stayed shut. She sat down on the floor of the carriage and her stomach sang with pain. She ignored it though and put her two legs on either side of the handle. If she couldn't open the door, she would try to pull the handle off. She pulled with all her might, pushing her legs against the side of the carriage and pulling the handle towards her. Her body became slick with sweat and she had to wipe her hands on her nightgown multiple times to readjust her grip on the handle. But then, it gave. Her stomach was screaming at her to stop, but she was so close now. She pulled with all her might and the handle came off, sending her flying backwards into the other wall of the carriage. She bit down her scream as everything began to hurt, but the adrenaline kept her moving. She crawled to the door and peered through the window. The man was still staring ahead of him, not bothered with the commotion that was occurring in the carriage beside him. Brigette didn't question her luck and began hitting the glass of the window with the handle. She hit once and hid from the window, looking out of the corner of her eye for a reaction, but he didn't notice. She banged it again, harder this time and a crack formed on the glass. She waited another minute and gave it one last hit with her last bit of strength and it broke, crumbling away. She didn't bother to check if the man was watching her now as she leapt out the window. Her legs screamed as they scratched against the jagged glass at the bottom of the window that hadn't fallen away. Brigette tumbled onto the hard ground and her whole body sang in pain. She barely had time to register that as she stumbled to pick herself up. She needed to run, now. She began to limp down the endless road as she tried to find somewhere to hide for the time being. There was nothing though, just open land. The green grass of Erinea surrounded her and nothing, no sign of life, could be seen. She was screwed, she knew it. She had nowhere to hide and there was no way she could run the distance they travelled in a night by foot in her condition. She began to sob as she continued limping down the road, not bothering to glance behind her. All she could do was pray that the man wouldn't notice she was gone until it was too late. But she heard footsteps behind her and knew it was him; the jig was up. She felt a leg hit her back and her knees buckled beneath her. Her body and face met the ground with force and she spluttered, coughing out the dust of the road she had inhaled. The glass already in her legs were pushed in further by the force of her fall. She didn't have the strength to get up, she just lifted her head to look in front of her and her eyes met a pair of black boots.