Animatricks

PROLOGUE

The echo of water droplets hitting the stone floor accompanied by the vicious snarls of the ravenous monsters surrounding the cell was deafening. Horror paralyzed the children as they lied trembling in the center of the black cage, clinging to each other for dear life. With each hesitant breath, warm, white puffs exhausted from their mouths. It had been so many days since they last saw the sunlight. The stone fortress was entirely shrouded in freezing darkness. The hungry demons outside the cell, however, did not mind the dark cold in the slightest.

An older child, a young boy about the age of nine, shielded the other kids with his bare body. A goat-girl with brown fur clung to a white-furred rabbit girl for protection. The rabbit girl held on tight to her little sister as she sobbed into her big sister's chest. A braver child, entirely composed of liquid water, stood close to the cell bars and stared the monsters dead in the eyes. She screamed at them, summoning all the strength in her lungs to do so. She did not speak words as she screamed. She was desperately trying to scare them off or, at the very least, show them that she was not afraid. The water girl was the eldest and thus felt the responsibility to protect the youngsters with her life. Once upon a time, there were twelve of them. Now, only six remained.

A little blue creature with frills on his back sat close to the monsters, crying and frozen with fear. The white-furred rabbit girl glanced up at the boy just in time to see the demons grip his ankles and pull him to the bars. His face slammed against the cold stone and the claws of the monsters tug deep into his scales and skin. His pupils filled his eyes as did the eyes of the creatures who held onto his fragile, virgin body. An endearing, warm, green glow emerged from his core and began to shatter into pieces at the touch of the monsters tearing apart his body limb from limb. Blood splattered onto the bars and splashed their fearsome faces. The children shaking just out of reach of the monsters were petrified. They could only stare and watch as the helpless boy was ripped open and devoured, body, mind, and anima. The young boy who took to shielding the other children had grown numb to the way fresh blood spewed from a live body. The surviving children's smelling senses had gone blind to the stench of rotting flesh and the unbearable odor the monsters emitted, and their ears became deaf to the blood curdling shrieks that came from the dead children when they died slowly and painfully.

The creatures had gotten a hold of the water girl now. The boy subtracted himself from shielding the remaining children to yank her away from the grasp of the beasts. She screamed and kicked for freedom. The boy embraced her from behind and used all of his might to pull her away. He opened his jaws and roared louder than he ever roared before. Only then did he succeed in rescuing the girl.

His body was giving out. He couldn't stay awake for much longer. The freezing temperature now bound his body from any amount of movement like rope. The goat-girl pulled him close and forced him into the center of the huddle. She would take over as the shield now.

The water girl felt the tips of her fingers and toes begin to freeze. Literally.

The rabbit girl whispered comforting words to her little sister. "It's gonna be okay... It's gonna be okay... We're gonna be okay."

The savage monsters cackled collectively. It soon became a haunting echo that sounded over and over all throughout the stone catacombs. The five-year-old rabbit girl wrapped up in her big sister's arms felt fear strike through her anima like lightning. Her trembling became sporadic. Her breath came in short, uncontrolled gasps. Tears poured from her cheeks to the stone floor beneath her.

The boy's eyelids became heavy. With every attempt to give in to his exhaustion and hypothermia, the goat-girl was there to shake him loose of death's grip.

The water girl's hands had become solid ice. It began to weigh on her. But she had a responsibility. She was going to protect her friends... The friends she didn't even know the names of. She knew for a fact that if they somehow survived this ordeal... No. When they escape... She was certain a newfound, undeniable bond would emerge from this dark memory. Good could come from the bad. The sun rises after the night is over. Next to every shadow is light. This wouldn't last forever... It couldn't. There was no way it would. These were the things she told herself as the monsters seemed to be getting louder and louder.