Ellie screamed, but it caught in her throat as she started to cough and gasp for breath, spots scattered across her vision.
Everything was happening at half speed. The dark figure that had her pressed against the wall and was squeezing the life out of her pulled back, and Benjamin ran to her. She was suddenly on the floor, fighting for every breath she took as she clutched her throat. She was too weak to stand, and remained on the stone floor. She was shocked when her eyes had adjusted to the dark enough to see the dimly lit scene. Benjamin was on top of a boy that was clearly older than him, pinning him down. The boy’s teeth were bared at Benjamin, revealing yellowed teeth that didn’t look quite human. Ellie wasn’t able to get a good look at his eyes, as his hair fell just past his nose, looking like it was cut haphazardly, a deep brown color. She finally saw them when the boy actually snapped his teeth at Benjamin like a wild animal, his head jerking up. His hair fell back down so his eyes were plainly visible. They were a golden-amber color, like a wolf’s. His eyes also revealed something else to her.
“Ben, get off of him!” Ellie shouted, now struggling to get up.
“He tried to kill you, Ell! Letting him go is the last thing I’d do!”
“Look at him!” She pointed at the boy’s face, now finally on her feet, albeit shakily. “He’s terrified, Ben!”
Before Benjamin could even respond to her, she was pushing him off the boy. The instant he was free, the stranger scrambled away blindly, ending up further back in the cave.
Benjamin grabbed Ellie’s arm before she could move. “Let’s go, before he comes to his senses!”
She glared at Benjamin intensely. “Let go of me.”
“I’m not going to let anyone hurt you! A brother protects his sister!”
“I don’t need to be protected, Ben! He isn’t going to hurt me!” Ellie slapped the hand holding her back and quickly went to the silhouette deeper in the cave. She sat down next to him, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness that was even more oppressive this far back. “My name’s Ellie.” She told him softly.
He didn’t respond to her, still laying on the ground.
“Hey, I’m sorry about my little brother.” She continued. “He’s just really protective of me, that’s all.” She waited for a moment for a response, but continued when one didn’t come. “We scared you, didn’t we? I’m sorry, we didn’t know this was your cave. We’ll go now.” She got up and headed back toward Benjamin, who was just staring at her.
“James.”
Ellie stopped when she was halfway back to her brother and looked back. “James? Is that your name?”
He gave a nod, pulling himself up so he was sitting back up against the wall. “I am sorry. I was scared.”
She thought to herself that the way he spoke was strange, especially the way that each word was strained, but she didn’t say anything about it. She walked over to him again and sat back down. “Do you live here, James?”
He had an uncomfortable look on his face, but nodded. “I sleep in my bed. People don’t visit.” He looked over at Ellie after pointing toward a corner of the cave, looking even more uncomfortable now. “Are you hurt?”
She gave him a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. Sorry for scaring you.” She looked toward the entrance. “That’s my brother, Ben.”
“Benjamin.” He corrected from the mouth of the cave, sounding cold.
She sighed. “Benjamin.” She told James.
He shook his head. “I… I am not not good with big words, Ellie.” He pronounced it “Eh-lee”.
