Don't Go

Faélin

Sleep doesn't last long. Connor shakes me awake and grabs my arm, standing abruptly and pulling me up. I look at him, obviously panicked.

“They're coming back, and we have to find a way to hide. We need to blow out the candle and- and-” he falls silent as he looks around for anything we could use to hide.

“Connor, they'll just find us. There's no point.” My voice doesn't even sound like it belongs to me anymore.

“Faélin, shush,” he says sharply and pulls me over to a corner. I bite back a reply, almost completely certain this is worthless. There's not much I can do, however. The door opens as we fall into the shadows. Connor pushes his hand over my mouth in an attempt to quiet my ragged breathing.

The creatures are more vile than I had first thought. Their heads are nothing more than smooth and pale. The only feature to connect their heads to a normal humans would be the shape. They're tall and lanky, much bigger than both me and Connor. Their limbs, however, were hardly more than wisps. It's as if they're floating, though there's a definite sound when they walk. Not a normal stepping noise, but a noise nonetheless. I can't think of the right word to describe it.

My ears start ringing. If it wasn't for his arms wrapped tightly around me, I would probably be on the ground right now. He's shaking though. I probably am too. One of the creatures turns its face in our direction. My ears are ringing louder, I can hardly hear anything. Connor sucks in a breath and hugs me against him tighter.

I really don't know what's happening anymore. My whole body hurts. I just barely see one of them move toward us. Connor is pulled away from me, and before I can do anything, I'm on the ground. My hands hurt. I glance up, fighting the black dots that were beginning to cloud my gaze. It's pushing Connor towards the door, then stops and holds him still. The other creature comes over to me and hauls me up.

The ringing is so loud. Everything's so dark. I feel it pushing me towards Connor. I stumble towards him and eventually find myself being held next to him. A rough fabric covers my eyes, and I can't help but to feel relief- which was soon replaced by panic as I heard my glasses hit the ground. Obviously, they didn't just fall off my face. The sound was too loud and forceful. Connor flinches next to me. I wish I could tell him it wasn't a big deal, but something is telling me speaking wouldn't fare well for me in this situation.

They start pushing us again, me first, then Connor. I have no idea where they're taking us, but wherever it is, they're in a hurry. I keep tripping over my feet. Every step sends blazing pain through my legs. They keep pushing me, likely trying to get me to go faster. I can't keep going. My legs give way under me and once again, I'm on the ground. It's cold. Everything after that is a blur. I can hear him struggling against the creature, then stopping.

“Faé, you gotta get up. They're going to hurt you if you don't!”

He doesn't understand. I just can't. One of the creatures pushes Connor past me. The other one grabs me and starts dragging me as it had done so many times before.

×××

We've been going for so long. My face hurts. Every so often, we would stop abruptly for short amounts of time. Then we'd continue. It's cold. I'm starting to miss the last room we were in. I miss so many things.

The ringing in my ears has subsided a bit, though it doesn't matter anymore. I don't want to hear Connor’s tired footsteps. At least he's still on his feet. That's good. They won't hurt him.