Arcane Saga: Prison

Chapter One: Friend or Foe?

There was darkness all around me, surrounding me, choking me. Taking everything I held dear, just swallowing it up. When I first woke up I didn’t remember anything. I had started to panic, slowly using up the small amount of air that was in the room. I started to feel nauseous and then dizziness stepped in. I lost consciousness. When I woke back up I was calmer more collected. I remembered to look, touch, listen and smell. Since I couldn’t see I skipped to touch. I couldn’t move my hands because they were chained upwards by cold metal. My knees were on the ground which felt like it was covered in something brittle, probably straw. I listened to what was around me but heard nothing but silence. Next I smelled. I sniffed the air around me. At first I only smelled damp moldy air but I caught a whiff of something else, leather and then wool, and leaves and worse of all humans and their guns. 

I had been sitting there for a while when I heard footsteps. My focus snapped to attention and I narrowed my eyes toward where the footsteps where, preparing for the blinding of sunlight if there was any. I heard keys rattle in the door and male voice. The door swung open and as expected blinding light raced into the room.  The man turned on the lights in the room making it harder for my eyes to adjust.  I couldn’t see so instead I listened. Behind the man’s heaver steps came lighter ones that didn’t seem to really touch the ground at all. I realized I would have never heard that person coming if it hadn’t been for the straw on the ground.

“-wildest one we have,” the man was saying. “Kind of crazy but still can be used.”

I wonder what they are talking about, I thought to myself.

“That looks like an uncomfortable position,” said a female voice.

I snapped my open in shock. What in the world was a female human doing here, usually they would send a male in here to torture me. The female was slowly coming toward me, watching me like a wild animal which I guess I was to them.

“Watch out,” said the male. “That one took a hand off a private of mine.”

          She only stopped walking. I looked at her closely. She was about average height 5’9 or so. She had long black hair which she wore in a neat fishtail.  Her eyes were dark and spotted with gold in a mesmerizing pattern. She had on a green blouse with jeans as a bottom.  We stared at each other.

          She reached a hand out toward me, slowly. I watched it.

“Hey, Kaysha don’t,” the man said urgently. “She’ll take your hand and maybe your arm to if you’re not careful.”

Kaysha didn’t slow down or even blink. She reached forward for my hair. I let her. She wove it between her long fingers playing with it. Her hand slid up to cup my chin her finger sliding over my cheek in a rhythmic motion. Without realizing I leaned into her hand. I closed my eyes and relaxed for the first time in months. I never knew how tired I was until then. Her hand disappeared. I opened my eyes. She was now reaching above me. She was so close to me now. I could smell the sweet perfume she had on. It was a light lilac scent. If I wanted to I could lean forward and my head could hit her chest. I felt the chains that were holding my hands slacken.

She’s setting me free, I realized. Why?

“Hey, what are you doing,” yelled the man. I jumped. I had concentrated so much on Kaysha I had forgotten that he was there.  I growled deep in my throat.

“Shh Shhh,” she whispered to me softly. “Calm down. I’m here.”

I took some deep breaths and slowed down my breathing.

.

“I’m taking her home.” Kaysha said back to him calmly as she undid the final cuffs. “Isn’t that what you hired me for?”

I felt the cold metal that had been around my wrist disappear. I rubbed each of them in turn, getting the blood flowing.  I looked back up at Kaysha. She stood there watching me. When she saw me looking she gave me a slight smile.

“But that’s a highly dangerous beast,” he sputtered. “A silver level even, you can’t just let it out. It will run amuck and destroy everything.”

“It will be alright,” Kaysha said. “Because I have this.” She pulled out a gold collar.

She can not think that I’m going to let her put that on me.

“If she wears this,” Kaysha was saying. “Then anytime she does anything or goes anywhere I say don’t, it will jolt her with 3000 bolts of electricity which will be sure to put even her through some shock.”

The male still did not look totally convinced but finally nodded his head in agreement. “Come this way then,” he sighed. “And bring that thing with you,” he glared at me then turned and began walking out.

Kaysha looked back at me. “Come on,” she said reaching a hand back to me. “Let’s go,”

I could have just turned a blind eye but for all of my nine lives I didn’t want to spend one more day in this cell especially since it had terrible service and bad plumbing. I grabbed her hand and she led me out of the room. When we stepped out of the room we reached a long hallway that was painted a metallic color. No window or pictures adorned the walls.

What a gloomy and depressing place, no wonder everyone always seems to be in a bad mood.

The hallways led us into a big open area where many humans were eating at long tables. When I stepped into the room behind Kaysha everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at us. One man whose body was covered in tattoos and scars approached us.

“Hey Kaysha, what you doing with that,” he spat, pointing at me.

          “I’m taking charge of her,” she replied. “Is that a problem?”

          “No, but what you going to do with it?” he replied. “Dress it up?”

          His gang of followers laughed at this making a racket in the room. Kaysha stepped forward. “I just might,” she whispered in his ear as she passed pulling me behind her. I turned my head to look back at the man when something slammed into my face sending me flying into the floor. I went straight into defense mode and switching into attack mode in seconds. I vaguely heard Kaysha yelling at me but the recognition was gone in a second. I launched myself at tattoo man, tackling him. We rolled across the floor in a flurry of fury. Men and woman that were in the room sprang out of the way as we rolled toward them. Gambling started in the room on who would win. Many votes were given to tattoo man but I didn’t care. As we rolled around an opening appeared in tattoo man’s defense. I took it. I lunged into him taking his throat in my mouth and biting down. He recoiled from me and began to hit my body but it was too late. I had taken him. I pressed my body close to his and let the blood flow between our bodies. By now he had stopped rolling and the room had grown quiet.

I kept my grip on him till he grew cold and still then I rose above his body. Blood dripped from my mouth as I looked around. The humans stared at me in shock. I didn’t know why so I stared curiously back at them. I didn’t hear the footsteps behind me but I smelled that beautiful perfume, the smell of lilacs. I turned toward Kaysha.

          She looked toward me with a pitied expression. “Sorry,” she mumbled. I looked at her in surprise. Sorry for what? I wished I had never asked that question. Bolts of electricity raced through my body eliciting pain to all of my body making me spasm. It burned. I fell to my knees bending my back in pain then it stopped all of a sudden. I panted heavily. What was that?

          After a moment the burning sensation left and only a slight tingle was felt on my body I sat up. What had just happened? I looked up at Kaysha and noticed that she didn’t have the collar in her hand anymore. My eyes opened in shock and my hand flew to my neck and there on it was the collar. When had she put it on me?

“I’m sorry,” she said again.

 Is she a friend or foe?