Living a life where everything from family to dignity has been stripped away, Cara believed that nothing, with the exception of survival, mattered. However, everything changes when she is offered a deal that could earn her back her freedom. The only...
Darkness. Cold and eager to swallow me whole the moment I laid my head down to rest. It was a blessing really. To be able to close my eyes and sleep peacefully knowing that I wouldn't see an image in my mind. I didn't dream anymore. Not the past, nor the future would accept me into its hold. Whether I dreamed something good or bad, either way, I would be terrorized by it. Maybe it was for this very reason that the dreams had stopped. There was only sadness when I relived my past, fear when I experienced the present and empty hope when the thoughts of the future inspired the images that haunted my sleep.
Tonight was no different, the fuzzy blackness that I saw upon closing my eyes was comforting. At least it was until I felt something shift not far from me. Curious, and somewhat alarmed, I cracked my eyes open, the dim shadowy blue of night welcoming me back to the small confines of the shack. The morning was several more hours away judging by the dimness of the room. Looking up through the cracks in the roof, I found that grey storm clouds had moved in to cover the moon as well as the stars, leaving the world dark.
Recalling that I wasn't alone in here, I looked to the place I had grown accustomed to seeing the prisoner, only to find it vacant. Severed ropes laid haphazardly in his place. A scream lodged itself in my throat. Certain that I was imagining it, I opened and closed my eyes. But no matter how many times I did this, the truth remained. He was gone. Or so I had thought just as two large hands took me by the throat. I screamed, at least it felt like I had, but strangely I heard nothing.
There was no warmth in his fingers as they dug into the pale flesh of my throat, sure to leave bruises as he cut off my supply of air. His eyes glinted coldly, his mouth set in a triumphant sneer as the weight of his body increased with the presence of death.
I had to break free! I needed to scream to alert anyone who might hear and come to rescue me from this beast. The captain, those at the house, even the other slaves! I didn't care who so long as they could save me. However, only silence passed my opened mouth, the last whimsy trails of air I had leaking passed my bluing lips, leaving me alone to face my attacker. I pushed and kicked against the chest of the man on top of me, my actions turning feeble as I clawed at his hands.
His fingers tightened. He and I knew it wouldn't be long now before the darkness would set in to swallow me a final time. No. I didn't want to die like this! No matter how loudly my mind screamed and kicked against death, my body was giving out. In what was probably only a few minutes of struggling, I became numb to everything, black shadows growing at the edge of my vision before I felt myself falling into unconsciousness.
The last sound I heard was the screeching call of a raven.
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"...Cara." Someone called down to me "Cara!" despite their evident concern, they chose to whisper harshly rather than yell.
A shiver ran threw me moments before someone shook me, trying to pull me from sleep. I groaned, tucking my knees to my chest in an attempt to preserve what little heat the shiver hadn't snatched. Another shake.
