Small Stories and Poems

The Mistake

Men dragged her down the hall after having beaten her nearly to death. The king wanted to see her.

"Please...please," she whispered as they dragged her.

"Shut up!" one of them yelled at her, punching her in the stomach.

She let out a quiet sob, trying to stay awake. She had to stay awake. They turned down a side hall and pulled her into a dark room.

"Where-" she started to ask.

Letting out a frustrated growl, one of the men lashed out, punching her in the head.

She lost consciousness.

*****

Tobias slipped into a dark side room when he heard voices. He wasn't suppose to be in this part of the building. He kept his head to the door, listening closely to see if he would be discovered. But the voices he'd heard quickly faded away.

He let out a sigh in relief and turned around. His breath caught in his throat when he saw someone laying in the middle of the room. He was as good as caught then.

But whoever it was hadn't moved yet. Maybe they were asleep, that would explain why it was dark.

Tobias silently appraised the figure. He could barely make out their shape. He slowly started toward them.

As he got closer he could see that it was a female but he still wasn't close enough. He took another step. And another.

He had wanted to get a look at her face but he stopped dead in his tracks when, out of the corner of eye, he saw a purple hoodie laying in the corner of the room.

He immediately started toward the hoodie. He crouched down to pick it up. It was covered in blood.

He looked back at the sleeping woman. Why did she have Aisha's hoodie? And why was it covered in blood?

Tobias stood up, his glare fixed on the sleeping woman. He wanted to kill her, wanted her dead; but he reigned in his anger, he needed her alive so she could tell him where to find Whisper. Then he could kill her.

He crept across the floor and, when he was behind her, pulled her up against him by the hair. His other hand clamped over her mouth as she tried to call out.

"You really don't want to make me angry, so stay quiet. Tell me where Aisha is and maybe, just maybe, I won't kill you." Tobias growled in her ear.

The woman held completely still and Tobias felt a tear-drop fall onto his hand.

"I'm going to move my hand now. If you yell or call out for help I swear I'll cut out your tongue." He warned, moving his hand from her mouth to her throat.

She didn't make a sound. He waited for her to at least say that she wouldn't tell him.

After a few seconds of silence he shook her viciously.

"Answer me!" He growled.

The woman let out a sob but still said nothing. Tobias was getting angrier with every second she didn't answer. He squeezed her throat, trying to get a reaction, trying to get her to talk. She started clawing at her throat, clawing at his hands. But she didn't use her nails, didn't try to hurt him. He released her throat then, thinking that maybe she'd talk.

The woman tried to turn her head, tried to look at him, but he still had her hair in his fist.

"Do you want me to hurt you?" Tobias asked, honestly curious as to why she wouldn't talk.

The woman shook her head as well as she could with her hair in his hand.

"It...it.." The woman tried to say.