Akuma

Chapter 6

The shackles were still stuck to my wrists, complete with the lock clicked with the chains. However, the chains were no longer tied to the draining pipe. They were actually quite fashionable, if you ignored the fact that they were literally stuck to me.

Once the second chain had snapped, I was actually able to walk out. I walked out of that cell on my own two legs of my own free will; I was ecstatic, and terrified of her waking up at any moment.

I had to avoid the deer on the way out. Then, with a turn that I saw her turn before, I saw the grass. I saw the trees. Then, walking out, I could see the sky. It was so bright, compared to my cell. Judging from where the sun was, it was late afternoon.

The smell of outside was intoxicating. The old building smelled awful, it reeked of death; the deer she threw in only made it so much worse. It smelled worse than a supposed fresh corpse should. At least, I am assuming that anyways.

My body jolted suddenly to keep me on track. I took a deep breath of air before setting off running forwards.

In only a few minutes I was already tired. Despite this, I forced myself to keep going. Thankfully, I was still pumped full of adrenaline. I narrowly avoided another tree branch.

I must have been going for miles. I wasn't sure if I was surprised by how far out of town she had gotten me. I had no idea that there was even land like this outside of Dewhill. Everywhere near there is so industrialized that the only trees around are just in parks or in gardens.

At least, I was assuming I was still near Dewhill. I couldn't have been out for long enough to get me too far away.

Another branch barely missed my neck; I was really hoping I'd find civilization soon. I mean, I had to be close. She did say we were out in the middle of nowhere but, she must have been lying. She had to be lying about mom too. Mom would have reported me missing, at least. Someone would recognize me, then I could go home. Then everything would be okay! It had to be.

Breaking through yet another line of trees, I could see a fence. I quickened my pace back to sprinting, since I slowed down earlier to conserve energy better. As I got closer, I could see the house sitting behind it, and beyond that, a road. A road! People!

A dog began to bark, and an agitated voice wafted from behind the fence.

"What, is there another squirrel?" They asked. It sounded like a boy.

I forced myself to continue to run with what little strength I had left. The dog started barking louder and more frequently. The boy just kept talking to the dog, obviously not very concerned.

"Hey! I need help!" I tried to shout, panting with exhaustion. The dog only kept barking, and I hoped that the boy heard me over the dog.

"Please!" I tried again. "I really need help!" As I got closer to the fence, my legs started to feel leaden. I took it as a sign that the adrenaline was wearing off. Suddenly, the sound of the dog barking was muffled. Did the boy leave? Was I going to pass out only a few yards from safety?

I tried to call out again, but I was losing my voice. Which does make sense, I did a lot of screaming in my cell. My legs started shaking, it felt like they were going to collapse under me at any second. I forced myself to keep going. At this point, it was more like I was speed walking more than running or jogging.

Slowly, a gate opened on the side of the fence, not immediately obvious to me. A skittish looking boy stepped out, he looked around as he took a few shakey steps outwards. He always kept one hand on the gate, ready to bolt. I shuffled towards him, waving my arms as I got closer. My arms were also tired, due to all the struggling it took to snap the chain, but they weren't neatly as tired as my legs.

The boy's frost-like eyes quickly snapped to me. He let out a soft gasp and rushed to me just as I tripped. "Thanks," I forced out. The boy helped me stand as he started nodding aggressively to my thanks.

"I'm Jake, in case you wanted to know. I won't hurt you. Wait that sounded bad," He said in one breath. I stared blankly at him for a second, trying to comprehend everything that Jake said with my tired mind. I just nodded my head and waddled my way to the house. Jake kept his hand on my arm, attempting to make sure I didn't fall over.

"Just wondering, where did you come from?" He asked suddenly before sheepishly adding on, "Oh, and did you want me to carry you?" I glanced over at him before shaking my head. I almost toppled over, due to the dizziness that followed. I kept forcing myself to keep walking. I was so close to safety. Due to me slowing down, Jake slowed his pace as well.

"You're sure that you don't want to be carried?" He asked, a cautious undertone to his voice. I let out an annoyed breath and kept going, trying to ignore Jake's question. However, I still needed to lean on him slightly to walk. Jake let out a short huff before picking me up, against my will.

I automatically let out a small squeak, it was barely audible, though. I wasn't sure whether to be upset at him or relieved.

"You're easier to carry then I thought, have you been eating at all?" He half-smirked half-frowned. Definitely more upset than relieved.

Once we reached the front door, he slowly set me down. I harshly stuck my hand to the wall to avoid falling. This caused the dog inside to start barking again, which in turn caused jake to let out another annoyed sigh. He turned to look at me as he was about to open the door.

"Okay, so, my parents aren't home right now, which will mean that us just strolling in isn't a problem. Though I don't know how I'll explain this when they do get home, but we'll worry about that later. Anyways! I'm going to make a pizza, and I can get you some water," He rambled. Frankly, if I wasn't so tired, I'd be impressed at his lung capacity.

Once he opened the door just a crack, his dog came sprinting out. It was barking and growling, thankfully not biting. I looked on unfazed as Jake quickly scooped up the dog in his arms and tried to calm them down. I stood there for a second or two before meandering my way inside Jake's house.

I observed everything first. The house was undoubtedly middle class. It was much nicer than my house. I heard Jake come in and shut the door, all with the growling dog in his arms.

"Sorry about Riptide, he's not very friendly to strangers from the forest," Jake joked. I stared blankly at him for a moment before turning my attention to the dog. Riptide? It was an odd name, I think I've heard it in a book somewhere. I get the thought that the dog does not match the character at all.

"Uh, I'm going to make that pizza. There's a couch in the living room if you want to sit," Jake mumbled, as he put the dog down and walked away. The small dog strode over to me, chest puffed. He sniffed my legs, fur fluffed up. I slowly pushed it away and walked towards the living room.

This living room was much bigger than the living room that my house had. I shuffled to the pale brown couch and flopped down onto it. Riptide sniffed at my dangling hand. I drowsily scratched his small white head, effectively calming him.

Jake came into the room with a pizza right as my eyes began to close. Riptide began licking my hand. I hummed with content as I fell asleep.

A/N: Any and all constructive criticism welcome!