The Hirt

Chapter Eleven

11

Heather’s eyes fluttered open, but it remained dark.  She blinked a few times, hoping to let light enter her vision.  It was still pitch-black.  Heather had never been anywhere so dark.  It was as if she had been submerged into a pit of soot.  She attempted to raise her hand to rub her eyes, but quickly realized she couldn’t.  Her hands were bound behind a pole that she was leaning against, and there was a restraint around her mouth.

Heather’s eyes widened, and panic started to set in once she realized what had happened.

Anirbas.

Heather tried pulling away from the pole that her arms were wrapped around, shaking the huge wooden obstacle.  Her screams were muffled by the cloth shoved in her mouth.  She slammed her entire body weight against the pole, achieving nothing.

All of a sudden, she wasn’t in the dark room anymore.  She saw Matt, his face lined with worry. He stood in front of her, arms crossed over his body with that golden hue surrounding him.

“Heather?! Heather!” She heard Jimba yell.  “Where are you?”  Heather assumed she was connected with Jimba.

“Oh, thank God, Jimba!  I have no idea where I am.  I need help.  Please, someone help me!” Heather pleaded in her mind.  She heard Jimba repeat it to Matt and the other Kidellians, who were in the background.  Matt suddenly darted off the screen, and Heather noticed some sort of roller coaster in the background.

“Wait, Matt!  Come back here!” Jimba shouted. 

“Where’s he going? Where are you guys?” Heather whispered in her head.

“Henry heard noises downstairs, so he went down to check it out.  He saw you stumble outside, then came back in and grabbed all of us.  We ran outside just in time to see you being dragged into a car.  We followed the car here, it’s some amusement park or something.  Once we got in, we lost you.  Matt thought he saw you go somewhere, but wasn’t sure.  We made him wait until we connected with you, but he just ran off to find you,” Jimba quickly filled Heather in.  “I can’t see anything in the connection.  Is it dark there?”

“Yeah.  I can’t see anything.   Matt needs to be careful!  Anirbas is really dangerous.” Heather warned.

“Anirbas? Who’s Anirbas?” Jimba panicked.

“Well, hello there,” Somebody hissed out of the darkness, violently jerking Heather out of the connection.  “Long time no see.”

Heather froze, not daring to move a muscle.  She strained to see who was speaking to her, but she didn’t need to see to know who her captor was.  She recognized the distinctly cat-like voice.  Heather let out a frantic scream, and struggled against the restraints.

Anirbas chuckled.  “Struggling isn’t going to help.”  Heather heard quiet footsteps, and pressed her head as close to the pole as possible, shrinking back from Anirbas.  She had no idea how close Anirbas was to her.  There was silence for a second.

“You know the saying that cats always land on their feet?” Anirbas’ hot breath tickled Heather’s cheek as she whispered in her ear, making Heather jump and let out a desperate whimper. 

Anirbas took her long sharp claws and playfully scratched at Heather’s cheek.  Suddenly, she swiped her nail along Heather’s face, and Heather felt blood slowly seep out of the wound on her face as she let out a muffled scream.

“Well, I can personally say that--” Heather heard her gasp, and heard something heavy fall to the ground before Anirbas could finish her sentence.