He awoke in a dimly lit room, a chill hitting his spine at the cold brick walls surrounding him. As he attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes, he noticed he could do no such thing. He looked up to see his wrists bound together by chains above his head. His legs recieved the same treatment below him, attached to the wall via chains. He looked across the room, barely able to make out another figure across from him. It was the girl. Her head was down, her hands and feet bound in the same fashion. Her hair was curtained over her face and she breathed softly and evenly. She let out a small noise and lifted her head, growing more and more urgent in her movements as she realised her surroundings. She hadn't noticed him until he spoke up.
"Hey, it's no use. I tried."
She jumped at the sound of his voice, then let out a simple, defeated "oh."
A moment of silence passed before he spoke again. "What's your name?" These may not be the best circumstances for a first impression, but hey, he was curious.
She answered with the same quiet demeanor, like she was in some sort of shock. Or just wondering why he was asking such a stupid question when they were literally both tied to a wall. "S- Senka." She answered. "Yours?"
"William. My friends call me Will though." Were they friends?
"Hello will." He could tell she was uncomfortable. After all, he did scar her arm and then come back the next day, and he didn't even know her name. That's kinda creepy.
"By the way, I'm sorry about your arm. I didn't know I could do that."
She seemed to calm, understanding. "It's alright, there's plenty more where that came from."
They settled back into silence. After a few moments, with the creak of a heavy steel door, someone entered the room.
The darkness was broken by a streak of light entering through the now open doorway. A tall silhouette stood at the center of the light's stream. It took a moment for Will's eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness, his eyes closing slightly to assist him. He could tell Senka was doing the same thing. She didn't seem to like the light.
That seemed irrelevant as the figure stepped forward. William could now see it more clearly. The figure was a young woman, wearing a black coat lined with the fur of what Will would guess to be a bear. Her dark red hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and even with that, it almost reached the middle of her back. Her large black combat boots clicked as she circled the two of them, like a shark or a vulture circling it's prey, before she spoke up.
"Good morning." She sang. Her voice sounded smooth, mature, yet Will could tell she could not have been much older than himself. Her tone was slightly condescending, feigning sympathy for the duo.
Senka kept her head down, almost as if she hadn't heard the woman speak. William only let out a small, growl like noise. He meant to speak, but he couldn't bring himself to form words.
"Whats the matter? Cat got your tongue?" She laughed with that same condescending tone.
Senka finally seemed to hear her as she was now glaring daggers at the woman below her.
Will finally found it within himself to speak to her. "What do you want?" He choked out.
"What? Can't a captor just admire her captives for a moment? You both look so cute all tied up." William nearly scoffed at the confidence dripping from her tone. She was in charge here, and she knew it.
"In all seriousness, though, you both do seem confused." She let out a small giggle at their expressions. William grew more furious by the second.
She continued. "Well, as you could probably guess, we do not intend to let you go. You're too valuable to us now. Once we discovered one we thought we hit the jackpot, and then another one just walked right into our trap!" She laughs.
William grunts and struggles, his small noises now elevating to an almost scream. He turns his head to see Senka in the same eerily quiet position, casting a death stare toward the woman in the doorframe. He saw the black overtake her eyes once more as the room somehow got darker, save for the bits of light trickling in through the metal door. Eventually, those began caving in on the woman as well, slowly creeping toward her like a cat stalking its prey.
She caught wind quickly. "Now that's enough of that." The woman said, irritation and a touch of a laugh lacing her words as she flicked a switch.
Not long after, bright lights began to illuminate the room from top to bottom, causing Will to have to squeeze his eyes shut before they adjusted to the stark contrast of the space. The light seemed to be coming from every direction, the white haze leaving no room for a shadow to even think about appearing.
"Apologies for the uneasiness on the eyes, loves. It was the only solution we had time to find in order to fix that little... problem... of yours."
Senka now looked utterly helpless as she squinted against the light, the woman grinning from ear to ear in accomplishment. He could see her fully now, her black outfit now in full contrast to the room and her red hair standing out like blood on a white sheet. There was no denying she was a sinister form of beautiful. William now noticed that there were small patches of darker skin along her face, akin to vitiligo, along with scars near her eyes and neck. Those imperfections somehow made her more intimidating as she turned on her heels and shut the door, the light in the room blinding the two figures inside.
Before his vision went completely white, Will witnessed Senka looking up at him, her corneas now fully white and her hair a medium brown, these natural colors seeming horribly unhealthy for the fairy.
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After the night of minimal sleep for the two, the light never seemed to dim, they decided to give up on trying to rest. This felt like a strange form of torture, even for Will, who had inferred that Senka was having a much more unpleasant time.
During one of the conversations in their sleepless night, Senka had told William that light did indeed make her weaker, as bending shadows is where she gets most of her energy. She had said she has other powers as well but refused to elaborate. Will decided not to push it further when he thought he saw tears forming in her eyes.
The door opened once more, and they were greeted by the same woman, the only difference in her appearance being her hair was now in a braid draped over her right shoulder.
William's sleep deprived brain could barely comprehend half of what she was saying, but he could tell she talked a lot more this time. He was about to drift off when she slammed her foot to the floor. His head flew up and he realized she had been looking directly at him, her eyes seething with anger.
"You wanna play that game, hm? After what I've already done with the girl's powers, you want a taste?"
Her smile grew as she walked closer to him, her face now inches from him, her lips curving into an off-putting smile.
His head started hurting as she stared daggers at him, pain pulsing through his brain like a beating drum. The pain eventually became so intense that he was groaning loudly, trying to keep himself from screaming at the feeling like his brain was trying to burn its way out of his head.
"I may not be able to directly effect you like I can with the shadow fairy, but I can damn well make you hurt." She says as she turns on her heels and walks away, slamming the door behind her. The pain in Williams' head decreased, but only slightly, not helped by the intense amount of light piercing his eyes. How the hell did she do that?
YOU ARE READING
Winter's Burn
General Fiction"Her amber eyes turned almost black as the shadows overtook her thin frame. Tree branches became spindly hands wrapping their serpentine fingers around his body, vines twisting and knotting to pin him to the ground. He could have sworn he saw her le...
