Injured Feet & Rickety Hearts {Book 1 Completed}

//Chapter 1//

I brushed my hands over the rough pattern of the metal of a cage, where was I? the room was hugged in a cold embrace which seeped through my skin like water through tissue. I pushed at the barrier of my mind as my eyes twitched under their lids, but I couldn't seem to find anything. I was in a weak haze as my body began to thrum with a stinging pain, like I had been struck with a thousand lashes before being thrown to the ground.

It felt like I wasn't breathing, my lungs weren't moving. But with an almighty heave I choked on the air, like I had been choked and my body wasn't ready to feel air rush into my lungs. I gasped and coughed as I choked on the dusty air.

Noise squealed out but it was all disrupted by a violent ringing in my ears, it tickled the base of my ear drum as my eyes shot open, but I wasn't greeted by much. I was greeted by darkness, the smell of rust and plants filled my nose.

I swung my head around as I scrambled to my hands and knees, the thrumming of pain in my body doubling as I moved sharply. It's like I had been thrashing for days and now I finally stopped, my muscles were fatigued and my strength quivering. What had happened to me?

I found myself in a confused ache of fear as I tossed myself back, finding the corner of the space. The room was slightly lit by a flashing red light which exposed the fact this room was small, about four by four and filled with small crates and cages.

It was like a barn in here, the sound of some sort of screaming animal made my heart race. But that was almost flushed out by the other noises, the unsettling rattling of the cage, the sound of some sort of engine firing up, like a car that wouldn't drop a gear. There was a chattering sound, like chains being dragged over a sharp edge but extremely fast. It was then that I realised. I was moving. This whole room was moving!

It's like my heart gave a violent jump as I looked at the walls outside the cage as it rushed past. I tried desperately to remember where I was, how I got here. But there was nothing of the sort. My mind was like looking through muddy water, a tattered and broken puzzle piece.

I could remember cutting my knee when falling from a bike, but not the one who patched it. I couldn't remember specific countries but I remember the basic lay out of the world. I remembered how an oven works and that the world spins. I could remember how to ride a bike and that sugars sweet. I could remember basic things, but not people or faces, not voices or figures.

The small bits of memory that were there seemed to hit me quickly, like a fleeting picture that I clung on too to fill my empty mind. Like the fact I was scared of the dark, the fact I hate jeans... the fact I could never walk flat footed. I remember never being able to but not why or how or for how long. I remembered that. but not how old I was, what food I liked, who my parents were. I didn't remember the important stuff.

I panted heavily as I clutched to what looked like a large piece of hard cloth, tough like leather, like it had been stuck in salt water then dried in the hot sun. It laid spread over three rotting wooden crates. Inside the crates were small glass jars, either filled with seeds or had a weak and dopey sapling growing from the dirt inside. This looked like a supply drop, but to who? Where? Why was I here?

I gulped as I looked around the small room, looking for anything that would help me decide where I was and what was happening. but there was nothing, just supplies, crates and some animal which was really starting to get on my nerves.

I wanted to yell and tell the animal to shut up but my throat was dry. It felt like I couldn't talk, like it had almost forgotten to talk too. What else had I forgotten? everything I needed to know apparently.

I hugged my knees to my chest as I pressed myself further back into the corner of the cage, trying to hide in the shadows, even if the room was filled with darkness. I could feel tears stinging in my eyes but I choked them back, crying won't help me now.