Beyond The Walls

Chapter 40. In A Pinch

Filch (v)

To steal secretly or casually

Cherie's POV

Throbbing pain sears at the side of my head. With a shaky hand and closed eyes, I bring my fingers to where the pain is settling.

I grunt when my fingers touch the ultra tender spot. My eyes peep open, noticing a slight red color on my fingertips. My head pounds as my eyes stay open so I close them to help ease the pain.

Someone must've hit me. Papa told me about concussions. I have to force myself to stay awake.

I open my heavy eyes again, feeling the discomfort intensify with each second.

Just then, I notice a slight breeze.

I'm outside with my torso tied to a large tree. I try to move out from the ropes but they are tight and every time I move, my skull pounds. I don't even think my fingers could wiggle between my body and ropes. I can barely breathe.

"Pssst," a shallow hiss hits my ears.

My eyes wander with blurry vision, looking for the noise. They land on another woman a tree away from me, tied exactly the same. Her face is blurry but I can tell she's waving her hands around to catch my attention.

"Hey," she whispers, "can you hear me?"

"Ye-yeah," I respond confused with squinted eyes, trying to focus on her blurry form.

"Shh," she hushes, "don't be so loud. They'll hear us," her voice is drowning in the fear that is dripping from her words.

"I apologize," I tell her.

"Can you get out?" She asks me.

I shake my head, immediately regretting the movement as I feel the shooting pain rattle into my eyes.

"Did you get a look at who took us? They knocked me out before I could catch them."

My brain scans past my memories, trying to remember something, anything. But the last thing I remember is putting on Mavis' black paint...terribly might I add. I know more happened, obviously. I'm at some random tree, tied to it with another girl in the same predicament.

Mavis! I spot her a few trees down, head hanging with red stained on her pale skin. She's the only person on the outside that I've seen with red hair. The blurry red blob must be her!

As my eyes begin to straighten out, I notice another person from the village. An older man that has his hair in a large braid. He usually keeps to himself, I often see him cutting fire wood but always alone.

"Is everyone from the village here?" I question the woman next to me quietly.

She grits her teeth as she tries to shrug. Her shoulder looks a little wonky, as if it's possibly popped out of place. It's higher up than her other one, with a small bump in the front. I can't imagine how painful it is for her.

I try my best to turn my head as my brain pounds inside my skull. My eyes begin to blur as my head turns further. I can barely make out the shapes of others, men and women that are also tightly tied to trees. Some seem to be knocked out or at least that's what I hope their dangling heads are telling me.

God, help us. What do I do?

While concentrating on prayer and hearing God's answer, a sharp cough comes from Mavis. Blood trickles down her chin, dripping onto the dry dirt beneath her.