Escape From Antoria

Escape from Antoria (Prologue) Part 1

So a bit of history for you brave adventurers... 

This was the first story I ever wrote on Wattpad. It was the first time I had ever written a story and shared it with other human beings... other than school assignments that is. It's the story that started my Wattpad writing journey and here I am 8 years later. 

That being said,  in those 8 years I still have not proof read or edited this story so please forgive grammar and spelling errors - I am sure there are many. And mostly, I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to click on my story. I hope you enjoy it! xx

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Prologue 

I startled awake as ice cold water soaked through my torn clothing. Sputtering and shivering, I looked around the room for the source of the icy water but saw nothing in the gloom. All I could hear was the thud  of heavy footsteps moving away from me. A loud bang echoed through the damp and musty room a moment later as a door slammed shut. The click of a lock engaging felt just as loud. 

Slowly my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I was in a windowless room, probably a basement if the wooden boards were anything to go by. Weak light filtered through gaps in the boards, giving just enough light that I could see the new hell I found myself in. 

Pushing against the damp floor, I tried to stand. I didn't get far. Chains jangled loudly as the links went taught. There was a single moment where I came to an abrupt stop before I  was tugged back down to the floor by the manacles around my wrists.  Staring dumbly at my hands from my prone position, I tugged on the chain, glaring at where it was attached to a hoop in the floor.  I let out a defeated sigh and leaned back against the wall.

How could I have gotten into this mess? I hadn't even turned eighteen or have a chance to truly live. Hell, I haven't even had a boyfriend. 

"God, I'm so pathetic!" I muttered into the darkness. 

All I had done was agree to do this one little thing for a considerable lump of cash. Of course it had been too good to be true.  It was stupid. I should have known there would no way someone would pay twenty thousand pounds for some stupid research.

The loud thudding footsteps returned. The lock clunked and the door at the far end of the room swung open. Bright light flooded the room. Turning my head towards the wall, I blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear the white dots dancing across my vision. I stared at the wall for a few moments whilst readjusting myself so that I my manacled hands were in a comfortable position. Eventually the light backed off and was directed at a position behind my head.

"Arianna, Look at me now!" A cold voice sneered from the direction of the light. Gathering all my courage in an attempt to not look frightened by my kidnappers; I slowly turned my head to glare at the person who had brought me here and let out a horrified gasp. It couldn't be, could it??

The beautifully carved face that had enchanted me days before no longer held the kindness and warmth. Instead the man's beautiful features now seemed to be twisted in a mask of cruelty and disdain. His blonde locks were still determined to fall in his face and his 6 ft 2 muscular frame which had caused me to go weak at the knees days before now seemed to give the man an overbearing and overly frightening presence.

"Blake?" I whispered so quietly only I heard it. I stared at his cold carved features with betrayal and hurt showing in my eyes but was snapped out of my reverie when his voice spoke in an equally cruel and cold tone.

"Arianna, come with me it's your turn now." He said flatly, no emotion crossing his chiselled features.

"My turn??" I replied in a confused tone. What was he going on about my turn? My turn for what??

"You're going to be a star." He said with an evil grin that sent shivers down my spine. "Have you by any chance ever seen the show Escape from Antoria? ... Well you're about to become the next leading lady."

I sat there confused. Escape From Antoria was a TV show in which the characters who were all magical in some way embarked on adventure to escape the clutches of the evil ruler. This ruler just so happened to despise those with magical abilities and had ordered all of them to be killed on sight. I had been forced to research this show for the hefty sum when I met Blake. I knew he was involved in the show but I didn't find anything untoward except ex-contestants disappearing. So what was with all of this kidnapping business? I decided that playing the dumb female character was my best bet so I forced my features into an expression of excitement and turned to Blake..

"Its soo cool I'm going to be on TV!!" I squealed then looked down at my wrists "but what's with all the drama. I mean come on! What's with the manacles? A little over the top don't you think!! Is this part of my character? ...So where's the script then. If I'm going to be on TV I need to know the lines." I finished bluntly as if pointing out the obvious.  

"There is no script; there are no special effects and this is very much real... God you really are dumb Ari! Escape From Antoria is a reality TV show." He sneered.

I just sat there with a confused expression, for once I didn't have to act dumb. "It can't be a reality show, they're all like magical and even I know there's no such thing as magic!" I retorted with a mixture of confusion and incredulity. God this guy is deluded I thought to myself.

"You can't seriously believe that special effects are that good. Anyways, you should know that magic exists because you can do magic too." He looked at me with disdain and disappointment, as if I  

should have already known the answers.

I was speechless. Me??..Magic?? ... "You really are crazy!" I finally replied. This dude was on something strong, if he didn't look so scary right now I might have laughed in his face.

"Doesn't matter because when you wake up again, you will be in Antoria and as I guess you already know from watching the show its survival of the fittest. If you get to the boats on the other side of the island you're memory of the whole island will be erased and you'll be allowed to leave but just to warn you Ari ..." Blake knelt next to me, his lips lightly brushing my ear before he whispered " ... No one ever reaches the boats."

I reeled from this knowing from my research and watching the show myself that no one had ever escaped. I involuntarily let a whimper escape my throat at the same time there was a sharp prick on the side of my neck. Could this really be happening? Almost instantly the contents of the needle began to take affect because my vision began to blur, thoughts were becoming sluggish and my limbs grew heavy. Finally everything went black.

© Katherine Pocock 2009