Orelie

*3*

*3*

It has been exactly one week since Ella hit me. Exactly one week since Dr. Brist came to check on me. A week of raining and a closed window. One week since I've seen the sun. A horrible week filled with nothing but misery.

Since that day, I have accumulated thirteen different bruises, have had both my cheeks hit and split open, shallow knife wounds, and threats on my life. Ella has hardly fed me anything, and I am gravely sick. One day during that week, Ella found me pulling on the chains. She quickly unlocked me from them, carried me to the front door, and locked me outside when it was raining the heaviest.

I caught the worst cold I've ever had in my entire life. My doctor comes to check on me every day to see how I'm doing, but he never asked me about my bruises or scabs. Does he not see them? Does he not care?

What's worse, I'm no longer seeing things about Ella when I look at her. I see this evil woman with stringy, messy hair coming at me with a long knife, saying she hates me and will see me dead.

I've stopped speaking. The less I speak, the better.

I suddenly sat straight up in bed and began coughing. My lungs burned and my body ached. I muffled the sound with a pillow. I gagged with each cough, not getting enough air. Once the coughing fit stopped, I took in deep, much needed breaths of air. I'm not getting better; I'm getting worse. Ella isn't giving me the medicine to help get rid of the cold.

Determination filled me. Even though I'm real sick, I have to leave today. I can't keep this up much longer. If I stay, Ella will kill me.

But one question repeated in my mind: When should I do it? If I do it when she comes back in for lunch, if she comes in, it'll be light still and I'll be easily seen. I'll have to do it at night and hope she feeds me dinner.

My stomach suddenly growled and I held it tightly. Please don't make any other sound... I don't want her to come in and hurt me. I held the pillow against me in hopes to muffle the sound. I can do this. I can get through this.

I began to think about what I had to do. How am I going to get the key? Will I be able to unlock the chains in time before she gets me? So many questions raced through my head and many possibilities made my head spin.

Can I really do this?

I didn't look when the door opened. "Kyrene," I flinched. "Lunch time." She pulled a chair up and tapped my shoulder.

"Eat," I don't know what came over me at that second. One moment I was scared for my life, the next thing I know, I'm turning, grabbing the knife off the tray and sticking it right in her shoulder. Ella screamed in pain and stood from the chair.

Before she could get out of reach, I lunged and pulled the key from her pocket. My fingers fumbled with the locks but I finally got them undone. I crawled out of my bed and went for the door.

"You bitch!" I gasped as I was rolled over. Ella hovered over me, her eyes blood red, the knife poised to strike.

I held my arms up in defense. "Someone help me!"

"No one can hear you!" A crazed smile covered her face. "People will praise my name when I kill you!" I screamed as the knife came down.

Something crashed in the room. I was disoriented as the room spun around me and I felt myself rise in the air. Soon after that, wetness started falling on me.

The cold shocked me back into reality. "Run," A deep, familiar voice said. "Go to the trees. I'll be right behind you."

"Wait!" I turned and coughed, hoping to see the person. No one was there. "I can't walk..." I said through coughs.

Animalistic growls came from inside the house, each one followed by what sounded like explosions. I shook with cold and fear, not knowing what was going on. Who was that person? Why did his voice sound familiar?

I carefully rolled back over so I was on my hands and knees. I began to crawl slowly, not knowing exactly where I was going through the torrential rain. I wiped my eyes and panted heavily. Where did this sudden downpour of rain come from?

"I told you to run!" I squeaked as strong arms scooped me up at the waist and the whole world began to move fast around me.

"I can't walk!" My voice shook.

"You can't what?!" He growled and moved faster. "No matter. That's not important right now. What's important is that we get you out of here and back to where you belong."

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I maneuvered myself so I could see where we were going. We're deep in the forest and the rain isn't falling as hard.

"Wait, where's Ella?!" I looked around for her.

"I'll explain later." He pulled me back down and hid my face into his chest. "Just hold on tight."

"Wha-" I didn't get to finish what I was saying. A sudden weight came down on me and filled my being. I took a deep breath and squeezed my eyes shut tight. My fingers clung to his clothes and I cowered farther into him. What's going on?!

"You may open your eyes." Slowly, I opened them and pulled my head away from his chest. "Welcome home, little one." A sudden gust of wind blew from behind, throwing flowers into the bright blue sky. My eyes widened in awe as I took in the surreal surroundings. All the trees were in bloom and the sun was warm and inviting.

"Wh-where are we?" I asked softly.

"We're home, back where we belong." He said just as gently. "We are in Fucrya, the Magical Realm."

"Fucrya..." I said slowly, the name rolling off my tongue like the name of an old friend. "But, where exactly is this place? And who are you?"

"Those answers will come in due time," He stated firmly. "For now, I have to get you back to my place and patched up. Your wounds have opened again."

I looked away from the beautiful scenery and touched my face, finding blood on my hands. I guess my altercation with Ella must have opened them up again.

For the first time, I looked to see who had saved me. He had fair skin and contrasting dark hair. His silver eyes almost seemed white in the sunlight. I lowered my head so I was looking towards the ground, finding it a long way down.

When I looked back to this man's face, I found him staring at me. I blinked in surprise, not expecting him to be staring at me. I gazed into his eyes, waiting for my vision to blur.

"Do you need something?" He suddenly asked.

"O-oh, uh, yeah, sorry..." I hid my face in embarrassment. "Who are you?"

He sighed through his nose and faced forward once more. "My name is Crae."