APEWORLD

AFRAID

LUCY'S P.O.V.  

Oh, what on earth have I gotten myself into! My hand was burning up like a torch. The heat was almost unbearable. Tears were streaming down my eyes and I could barely stop myself from sobbing. Just when I thought that these alien creatures were friendly, they end up hurting me like this. I had no other choice but to run away. My first instinct was to head for the jungle but remembering how that turned out for me the last time I ventured into that terrible place I ran into the building they called the Rest-Home. I found the room that they first placed me in and as soon as I entered I started dragging the huge chairs and the big table to the door. Barricading myself in wasn't an easy task due to the horrible burning pain in my left hand but I just wanted to hide from these dangerous and unpredictable giants. I knew that my actions were based on my instincts but I didn't care. I just had to get away from them. Eventually, I ended up crying on the floor in the corner of the room, half-hidden behind the giant closet.

"Lucy?" I heard Monaggan's deep voice behind the door. 

"Go away!" I shouted trying hard to sound brave. "Leave me alone!" 

Their doors had strange knobs on them that you had to turn and push in to open the door. I could see the golden knob on the door turning from the corner where I was sitting and for a split second I thought that the giant monster wouldn't be able to come in. The door halted when they reached my barricade but then he just opened them as if there was nothing at all blocking the way. Monaggan looked at the chairs and the table that were lying around and he pushed them aside to see where I was. When his eyes finally met mine I felt petrified. His dark eyes were looking at me with an angry expression on his face and I wished to God that I could run away from him and hide somewhere where he couldn't find me. 

"Stay back!" I screamed when he began to approach me. He stopped for a second and then he just ignored my warning. 

I placed my hands over my head uselessly trying to protect myself from this beast when he grabbed me pulling me upwards into his embrace. He then took my burned hand and started to lower his mouth on my palm again as I squirmed and wiggled trying to pull free. 

"Please, no!" I screamed shutting my eyes, positively sure that he was going to burn me again but then I felt something wet and cold caressing the burn mark. When I finally dared to open my eyes I saw that he was licking the burn and that his saliva actually made the pain completely go away. Our eyes met and I felt like a strange intense current flowing between us. My breathing fastened and my heart was threatening to jump out of my chest. A stirring heat was making my body feel strange and it felt like time itself had paused for a few moments. Then he spoke in a deep rough voice that made my breathing harder to control: "Don't ever run away from me again." 

Monaggan was still holding me close to him and his strong arms were like a steel cage. It was impossible to get away unless he decided to let me go. There was heat in my mouth but I was determined to appear bold even when it was more than obvious that I was anything but courageous. 

"Where I'm from when someone attacks you, you either run or fight back. Seeing as fighting you proved a futile effort I figured that running away was the sensible thing to do" I was shaking like a leaf in his arms as I was talking to him but he just looked at me and sighed heavily as if my words wounded him somehow. 

Monaggan released me and moved backward to one of the giant chairs that fell over when he opened the doors. He turned the chair over and sat down without taking his eyes off me. 

"Sit down, Lucy," he said to me in a firm, decisive tone of voice. The only place that I could have sat down was the bed. I nervously swallowed and said: "I prefer to stand if you don't mind" I was trying my best to sound defiant and god knows I was good at it! Stubbornness and defiance were probably my strongest characteristics.

"I do mind," he said to me in a flat voice. "Sit."

I bit my lip as I always do when I'm anxious. "Now see here, if I want to stand I'll stand and there's nothing you can do about it!"