Friends, Slaves, and Nightmares

21: Back for Four

"I want some fresh air." David spoke slowly. The whiplash was still bad for him and kept him unfocused, so his speech was slowed as he concentrated on speaking and forming sounds into words.

Mina nodded and took David's hand, "I'll leas you outside David." She talked softly and led David into the cool night air.

A smile spread across David's feature, filling his clouded eyes with happiness and the corners of his mouth pointing upwards. He enjoyed being outside and held onto Mina's arm so he wouldn't run into anything. "Tell me what it looks like Mina. Please?"

Mina watched David a moment and thrn looks around. "Alright.. The grass is a vibrant green and the earth is a muddy brown from dew. The night sky is filled with all sorts o different twinkling stars. It's more stars then I've ever seen. There's other houses and most of the lights are off by now. I can see the forest wrapping around the small town and the glittering lake peaking through the tall trees farther back in the woods."

David smiled slightly, slowly processing Mina's words and formulating his own, "It sounds lovely.."

"I think it really is." She smiled and watched the glittering lake peak through the trees. She could make out the reflection of the night sky on the lake's surface from this far away.

Slowly David's smile faultered and he sighed. "I wish I could see it... But I'm glad I out of the castle and here with you Mina.. You've been a great friend." He looked towards Mina and grinned a bit.

Mina smiled and nodded. "I'm glad you convinced me to stay here."

Slowly a shadow moved along the ground. It was darker than the rest of the nightly shadows, but it only stood out if you were looking for it. Otherwise, it was undetectable. Mina and David were not aware of the shadow slipping towards them, extending its hands towards their feet.

Suddenly Axel slipped outside and ran up to David. The shadow halted suddenly and decided to watch. "David! We have some left over pancakes inside if you're hungry." The small boy informed David.

David blinked, slowly answering, "I should go eat some then.."

Mina began to lead David back inside the house. That's when the shadow striked. But it wasn't just a shadow, it was Pitch inside the shadows. Pitch wrapped both of his hands around Mina and David's feet, yanking their feet out from under them. Axel's eyes went wide and he froze. Pitch smiled as he watches the boy, he was trained well, he knew not to run. Running only made the inevitable worse.

Mina yelped and tried to kick away from Pitch, who had emegered from the shadow and grabbed Mina in one arm, and David in the other. Mina squirmed and kicked, starting to shout. He couldn't have them attracting attention now, so he lowered his voice and spoke into both of their ears, "I can make this much worse for both of you slaves... Now be quiet..." He grinned, sending black sand to wrap around Mina's dragon arm and render it useless, "I can make this so much more painful for you two."

Mina was frozen now and shaking, filled with fear. She shook her head and tried to pull away still, but stayed quiet. Just to make sure she wouldn't cause any trouble, Pitch slipped a gag into her mouth.

David was unfocused from the whiplash, but he knew his place. He slowly lowered his head and folded his arms in front of him, silent except for muttering one word, "Master..."

Damion popped put of the ground behind Axel. All he had to do was place a hand on the boy's shoulder. Axel quickly bowed his head and folded his arms, whispering a single word also, "Master..."

To Pitch's dissatisfaction, Katey must have seen the scuffle outside. She charged towards Pitch suddenly. He moved to the side and allowed her to plow past him, grabbing her arm and then slamming her into the ground. He placed his knee firmly on her back to pin her to he ground. A gag was slipped into her mouth to silence her as he began go spread black sand over her arm and across her.

This wasn't to render her useless, it was to cause extreme pain. Pitch knew his limits and knew he could kill people easily with the sand, but chose not to.

Katey's eyes went wide as she shouted into the gag from the pain. The black sand burned and dug into her skin, spreading out like fire. Pitch grinned and then quickly banged her head into the ground, hard, erring her unconscious body fall to the ground.

"Here's another one for you Damion. I get two to get two." Pitch said and kicked Katey over to Damion.

He groaned and watched Katey, kicking her in the side. "Do I have to take her? She causes so much trouble... I think it would be impossible to train her." Damion pouted.

Mina glanced at Pitch and started to try and shuffle away. She was scares out of her mind and wanted to run, but imagines of whips and nearly drowning made her want to behave as much as she wanted to run. Pitch shook his head and grabbed onto David's and Mina's arms, holding them both in place. "Think of it as a challenge. And worse case scenario, you kill her or keep her chained so she can't harm our training or interrupt us."

Damion sighed and nodded, grabbing Katey and lifting her up. "Fine. Let's go then." He pulled Axel close and turned himself and his two prisoners intangible before slipping through the ground and going towards their destination. Pitch smiled and pulled Mina snd David close, turning the three of them into sand.

It's happening again, Mina though fearfully, He's going to hurt me again. I might die this time. David is going to be hurt too. I'll be helpless. I don't want this to happen again! I don't want to be a slave!