The Dawn

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Aurora woke up with drops of water dripping on her face. She opened her eyes, trying to adjust them to the dim light in... wherever she was. Aurora tried to recollect her thoughts on whatever happened before they ended up here, but she couldn't as the back of her head was still throbbing in pain. Aurora attempted to sit up straight but her spine was frozen against the hard, cold floor. She made an effort to move her body, but her muscles wailed in protest. Her entire body felt sore. In the end, she gave up the idea of trying to get her useless body to move and decided to find the answer to her burning question another way.

Aurora craned her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of her twin sister. She noticed the limp figure of her sister, lying a few inches away from her. Phoenix's hands were in chains, refraining her from any movement. She had a gash on her forehead, with blood spilling from it. Her hands had quite a lot of bruises and scratches. Aurora was trying to reach Phoenix, when she realized that she too was chained and decorated with several bruises.

Aurora observed her surroundings, trying to figure out where they were. They were clearly in some sort of dungeon. The walls around them were made of dark grey brick, old with time. There were many chains and handcuffs nailed to the wall; probably to chain prisoners. There was an old decayed wooden door at the far end of the room, which was forced close with many iron chains. The roof was also made of grey brick stacked in an odd shape, making it look as if it would collapse any second. Between the gaps, drops of water mixed with moist soil dripped down towards the stone-cold floor. They were probably underground as the room smelt damp with a mixture of algae.

Aurora's brain finally loaded, helping her recall the memories before she woke up in a cell. After a mental run-through of the previous events, she concluded that she was probably hallucinating. It's not like they can magically disappear from a forest and reappear in a dungeon, right? That wouldn't probably happen unless they were...kidnapped. No, she was just being stupid, who would bother to kidnap them? 

Oh, I don't know Aurora, maybe that dark black forest Voldemort that wants to kill you.

Shut up brain! Plus why would a random person want to kidnap us?

Maybe he decided to recruit you both to a monkey circus, at least you can serve a purpose there and live with your species.

Aurora was cut short from her mental debate with her brain when she noticed her twin sister moving.

"Phoeny? You okay?" Aurora whispered.

Phoenix opened her eyes, trying to make out the image of her wounded sister lying in front of her. She struggled to reach out to her sisters but stopped as soon as she felt a searing pain in her arms.

"Don't try to move! You'll hurt yourself. Plus, before you ask, I'm fine," Aurora reassured her.

"W-w-where are we?" Phoenix questioned her sister. "Plus, how are you alright!? You're bleeding. There are cuts all over you. The-"

"R-relax Phoeny. In case you haven't noticed, you're looking the same," Aurora said, cutting off her sister's rant. "And w-where w-we are... I d-don't know.."

Phoenix looked around, digesting the surroundings, and then she looked at Aurora.

"Are you alright?"

"Yea, I-I'm fine. You?"

"I-I know you aren't alright, you know?"

"I know you know. W-where do you think we are? I-I want to go home."

"Well, if I knew where we were, would I be asking you?"

"Uhh... N-no... But that's the main question here."