Servitude

Chapter Ten

I awoke to a metallic smell and found my body bind was now gone. I could feel everything again.

Slowly I rose looking around for the smell. Once I found it, I shot up to my feet, causing myself to go dizzy.

I saw that I was surrounded by my fellow team members. I could now see why the metallic smell was strong enough to wake me. The room was smothered in it.

It made me feel nauseous. But I was stuck in my place, not because I was being controlled again but because I was in complete shock.

I would have stood in that room all day just staring if it wasn't for the sound of footsteps and voices coming in my direction.

Pulling myself together slightly I went to the back door and ran.

I ran until I found a door. Hope had said it was a clear exit, and it turned out she was right. But the thought of Hope brought up images of the room, so I tried to shake it off, and I slammed open the door, sprinting out into the cold night air. I didn't look back; I just kept running.

As I sprinted from the castle, I looked down at my bloody hands. I tried wiping them on my jacket, but it wouldn't shift. The more I tried to remove it, the guiltier I felt and the tighter my stomach became.

It was now really dawning on me that I could have been the murderer of my team. This idea stuck in my throat, and I stopped running.

My whole body was now shaking, and I was starting to hyperventilate. My hands felt disconnected, and I just couldn't get enough air into my lungs.

So, I started to look for a place to sit and get my breath back. I was rapidly whipping my head from side to side until I finally found a carved-out trunk surrounding some shrubs. I keeled over and started to regulate my breathing.

I don't know how I did it, but I managed to calm myself down eventually, and I could finally breathe again. Even though it was a nice place to sit and compose myself, I wasn't well hidden, so I raised myself up and searched till I found something better.

Even though I had managed to get my breathing under control, I was nowhere near feeling calm. If I was in a better state, I would have found somewhere quicker, but I wasn't, so it took me around 15 minutes.

But when I did find somewhere, it was perfect as it was behind the stump of a tree with big trunks that would hide me from view, if I were hidden between them. I climbed in, careful not to make too much noise, and got comfortable, ensuring every inch of my body was hidden from view.

Even though I was explicitly told not to take my glasses off, I decided I didn't care. I wanted to see everything with my own two eyes without silly shades on. Once my glasses were off, I felt so much better. I could finally see in colour. I placed them down next to me and stared up at the night sky.

"Come on, we need to find that woman. I saw her go this way." I could hear the distant voices, but I knew I didn't want to be found, especially in this hole. I would have no escape route.

I started crouching so I could look over the trunk and try to see if I could find the bodies attached to the voices. In the distance, I could just make out some legs. I took a quick look at my surroundings and made my way out of the hole.

I broke into a sprint, making sure not to stop and look behind me. I ran until I couldn't anymore.

I was too slow due to being very unfit. Maybe that was their plan. If I did try to run from my team, they knew I wouldn't be able to make it far due to my minimal access to any kind of exercise.

I am also a rubbish tracker so determining where I was and where to go wasn't easy. So I did what any person would do and just kept speed walking in the opposite direction of the castle. After all, I know people are looking for me. So moving away from their base camp was the most sensible thing to do.

A part of me wanted to go back and just take whatever I had coming to me. But I didn't know who or what I was going back to. I didn't know where the people from the camp were, and I don't know what the people at the castle would make of me.

But eventually that thinking changed because after walking with no purpose for a while, I decided to just sit and wait for whoever was looking to find me. There's only so much wood you can take before you start to realise you have no idea where you are or where to go.

I am alone and have no idea how to keep myself alive.

I tried my real hardest not to fall asleep. I didn't want to hurt anyone, and if I fall asleep, that could happen. Luckily, I was wide awake all night and didn't sleep once. It was the early hours of the morning before I decided I needed to find something to drink as I had left my bag in the castle.

As I have no survival instincts what's so ever, I decided to head nearer to the castle. As they need water, there must be a source nearby.

Maybe I might even find some food too.

It wasn't too long of a walk before I found some brick houses. As I was useless at anything, the best option was probably stealing. I approached, and I saw someone in their kitchen preparing breakfast. She was cutting up some bread, and I even saw a fruit basket filled with apples, bananas, and a few other pieces of fruit I couldn't think the name of. It made my mouth water. I have never gone without food for so long. I wasn't used to not having three meals a day. I may have been locked up, but they did feed me.

I know I told myself I could steal, but the idea of doing it didn't sit right with me. As I was looking, the woman's kids started to gather in the kitchen, and I saw her kiss their heads one by one. It made my heart ache. Now I really couldn't steal.

As I crouched, watching the family live their lives, I heard a group of people talking. It was coming from the front of the house. I imagine it's like a cul-de-sac with many houses clumped together. I was just going to ignore it. I assumed it must have been some people making their morning commute when I heard what they were talking about.

"She must be near. Her tracks suggest so." I looked behind me, but I couldn't see any difference in the ground, but I'm not a trained tracker, so why would It look different to me.

"Are you sure there is only one missing? We aren't going to be jumped by another group of them, are we?" I knew it was another person talking, but they all sounded so similar I honestly had no idea.

"The Queen and King want her. No way are we letting one of them take another one of our children again. I don't care how many there are; I will kill every single one of them." I gulped. I don't think I want to be killed.

I was so shocked by the blunt killing remark that I had only just caught on to what they said: 'Take another one of our children again.' Did that mean that this had happened to them before? From what I saw, the people from Earth were going to do more than take that child.

"Well, she isn't here. Maybe she knows the woods better than we think. Let's carry on further and see if we can find something."

I didn't move until the voices were completely gone. I tried looking around at where I heard the voices, but I didn't see anyone. I don't mind being taken but hearing that my life was on the line gave me a different perspective. It hasn't made me not want to be taken. It just made me pause for a bit.

I suddenly felt very relaxed. My whole body felt light; I fell on my back soon after my knees gave way. The last thing I saw was a pair of green eyes.