Darkness of the Night (Unfinished)

Chapter 1

What happened?

Why are they doing this to me?

Where am I?

All of these questions rushed through the girl's head as she took in her surroundings. She was bound in chains, her dark hair matted and dirty. The girl had a ragged cloth as clothes, it was ripped and torn for reasons she didn't know. Surrounding her was what looked like a military officers, or at least the skeletons of them. The smell of rotting flesh wafted in overwhelming waves from them. Directly in front of her kneeling figure was a throne of bones, on top of it a man shrouded in darkness.

"Why," A voice spoke from the depths of the black cloak. "Why have you tried to escape the fields?"

My voice shook as I answered. "Who are you? What fields? Where am I? Who am I?"

The figure sighed and turned to the skeletons. "You took away her memory, didn't you?" He sounded disappointed with them, like he had asked this question many times.

Clicking and clattering sounds filled the room as they tried to talk, then gave up and nodded.

"Then let's get it back, shall we?" He didn't wait for her answer. Darkness surrounded the cowering figure as the person reached out and touched his fingers to the girl's forehead. Numbness courses through her, clouding her senses. In the back of her mind she heard the deep voice talk to the soldiers. "Bring her back to the fields.." The voice was crowded out as a wave of tiredness flooded over her. At that, she collapsed, lost in newfound memories.

~·~·~·~

When she awoke, she was in the fields of punishment, which, she now realized, she has been in for six years, since she was eleven. She now remember everything. My name was Janelle, Janelle Brown. The person that had captured her was Hades, immortal god of the underworld.

She was chained to the ground with hellhounds surrounding her, biting and mauling her with no mercy. Pain shoots through her, interrupting her thoughts and overwhelming her senses, but her body heals itself just to be destroyed again. For this was Janelle's punishment; to suffer internal pain, unable to harm those who inflict it.

She tried to escape last time by changing form, which is hard here in the underworld, for there are spells cast upon the land to keep any kind of powers to be used, but she had done it. It was Hades guards that had stopped her. They surrounded the fields, making sure that no one could escape.

'I can do this,' She thinks, filled with determination. 'I can find my freedom.' Her eyes screw shut as she focuses, fighting against the sorcery put on this place. Beads of sweat build on her forehead, but she starts to transform. First a tail, then ears. Soon Janelle is a full grown melanistic leopard. Her bonds fall to her paws as she snarl at the hellhounds. They back away in surprise, but it won't last long. She spins around and rushes in the opposite direction.

The strong limbs of a leopard carry her at an alarming speed towards the one way out of the fields. It's a tall black arch with only a few undead guards around it. It isn't like Hades to slack on guards, but that doesn't matter now. She was stopped last time because more of them had surrounded her, but not this time. She leapt onto one of their heads, causing it to fall on top of another guard. She bounded out of the arch, the remaining guard chasing her at a slower pace. It eventually fell so far behind that it was just a dot in the distance. Janelle snarled in victory and raced towards the other side of the underworld, dodging confused and angry spirits as I ran. More guards joined the chase, but she didn't care. She was this close to freedom, she refused to let them stop her!