Chained - A Jae-ha Fanfiction

Chapter 6

Rensa fell asleep quickly that night but was awakened by someone roughly grabbing her arms. She gasped as she jumped awake, though she was still disoriented with sleep and couldn't see who it was in the dark. Another pair of hands grabbed her leg and she was lifted into the air. She squeaked and prepared herself to scream, but that was when she noticed a cloth covering the lower half of her face. The night air was cold as the two people pulled her outside and threw her into a hard wooden cart. She felt fully awake and her body ached from how she had landed. She found her arms bound tightly behind her.

"Let's get this over with. We can't risk waking anyone." A man said just loud enough for those around him to hear. A horse whinnied softly.

Rensa gasped again. They didn't pull the horses from the stables until they were ready for the journey to sell the harvest. The stables were located a little ways into the forest. Some of the villagers were assigned to take care of the horses all year. Any other time if a cart was needed, the men pulled it. To prepare the horses and a cart, this attack was premeditated. Panic rose into her chest. They were going to get rid of her. Up until then they had merely ignored or antagonized her, but stealing her away in the middle of the night meant they were becoming serious. She struggled to sit up but was shoved back down.

"Stay down and keep quiet." A man hissed. "Or your fate will be much worse."

The cart began to move and another dark cloth was tied around her eyes. She could not tell in which direction they were going, or even for how long they traveled. Though it felt like a long time. Her hands were raw from the tight rope around her wrists and her body was sore from being mistreated and laying on a hard surface for hours.

When they finally stopped, they lifted her out of the cart and dropped her to the ground. The breath was knocked from her lungs and she coughed and choked trying to regain it.

"It would serve you well to stay out here until you die, cripple." One of the men ordered. She knew the voice but did not want to put it to a face of a villager she had known for as long as she could remember.

"Allowing you to live among us has been a waste of resources and time." Another said, and his words stung just as hurtful as the first time she had heard them after the accident.

She wanted to ask them why, or what it was that she had done wrong, but she knew it would be no use. Her words would be muffled, and their answers would be exactly what they had spoken.

"It's time to head back." A man said and then she could hear the cart rolling away. The sound disappeared quickly into the woods.

Rensa allowed herself to lie on the ground for a long while as her tears soaked through her blindfold. She sobbed until her chest hurt and her eyes felt puffy and raw. She wallowed in their words and actions against her, not caring to rebuild her fallen walls of defense she had had to protect herself, her air of uncaring negativity and judgements of the world around her. In just one day Jae-ha had knocked down her walls without her knowing and freed her in a sense that neither of them had realized. She did not know what to do next. She had allowed herself to live in the background for over a year, even after her family left her, hoping that would dissuade the village from hurting her. Then Yona and her friends came to town and her routine was thrown away as they worked to heal her. With that healing now came a sense of helplessness and fear. She could not defend herself now.

She cried until her throat felt dry, a sign she had no more tears left. Then she sat up and started working to free some of her bindings. She rubbed her jaw against her shoulder to remove the cloth across her mouth. After a few tries it slid off her face and she was able to breathe easier. Then getting an idea, she laid back down and found the knot that belonged to the blindfold with the back of her head against the ground. Moving her head back and forth caused it to slip from her head, freeing her eyes.