Haven

Chapter 3

That night I am plauged with dreams. Well, not really dreams, more nightmareish images: the Minister's devilish smile flashes before my eyes, teeth dripping blood; a body hanging by the neck from a rope out in the forest; a house, my house specifically, burning to the ground, the ashes blowing away in the wind; the bodies of my friends and family piled high and I am covered in their blood.

The next thing I know, I am being shaken awake by a gaurd. My heart is racing like I've been running and my mind is spinning. As the gaurd shushes me with soothing tones I realise I must have been screaming in my sleep. The gaurd this morning is an older woman, maybe about 40, with red hair tied back in a tight bun. Her face is creased into a caring, concerned frown and I immediately believe that she is honestly worried about my well being. For a moment I am reminded of when I was younger and my mother would kneel over my bed when I was ill with that exact same expression. But this woman is not my mother - she works for the Minister.

"Are you alright?" The woman asks in a whisper like she is worried that someone will find out she isn't heartless like everyone else here apparently is.

"What do you think?" I snarl, giving her my most venemous glare. I almost feel bad when she flinches from my reaction but I can't bring myself to care that much at the moment. "What are you going to do with me?"

"I'm so sorry." She is pleading for me to understand and I can tell she is sincere so I wipe my face of the scowl and sit up slowly. As I stand up she walks to the door and beckons for me to follow. Hestitantly I do, but only because I trust that she won't - or at least doesn't want to - hurt me. But if she takes me to the Minister, which I am assuming she will, I will turn and run, fighting off whoever I have to. That man scares me beyond belief and what he said yesterday seemes to hint towards possibly torturous ways of getting me to tell him information that I don't know. There must be a way of making him understand that I don't know anything about their disappearance. But what if there isn't?

The woman stops beside big wooden double doors and addresses the guard I met yesterday. With a grunt he pushes open the doors and the female guard steps into the room. I tell myself to follow her but my body doesn't obey, instead it bows to my fear an I find myself taking a step backwards. But I don't stop there, I keep walking, gradually building up speed until I twist around and am flat out running down the corridor. I knows it's stupid and pointless to try to run because 1) the guard is probably much faster than me and 2) I have no idea how to escape this labyrinth but there is nothing else to do. I won't go back to that cruel man.

Footsteps are pounding behind, getting closer and closer, until a scream is torn from my mouth as strong arms encircle my waist and swing me up effortlessly into the air. Throwing me over his shoulder, he stalks back to the doors, all the while I am pounding against his back with all my strength and flailing my legs to try and tip him off balance. But he doesn't even seem to notice I am there.

Without warning, I am dropped unceremoniously onto the hard ground, sending a shock of pain up my spine but I daren't cry out in front of the Minister or his lackeys. And when I look up I see I am right, the Minister is once again sitting behind the heavy desk, hands folded on the wooden top, watching me with cold amusement.

"Why on earth were you running, my girl?" He asks in a sickly sweet voice. "We're just going to have a nice little friendly chat like yesterday. Except I do hope you have remembered some more useful information for me, for your own sake."

"But Minister, I already told you I just want to find my family!" I insist.

"Oh I'm sure you do, of course, of course, and I think I may be able to help with that." But I'm not exactly feeling a overwhelming sense of trust for him at the moment. He did just lock me in a cell after all.