A Story Told With No Words Spoken

2

The man, whose name I assumed was Rhialas, was much taller than me, from what I could tell. I was feeling weak for some reason, and feeling his arms around made me feel safe.

I hadn't felt safe in a long time.

I guess I must have passed out, because when my eyes opened again, I was staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling, from which there were rusted metal chains dangling. That was odd, though what was more confusing was the fact that parts of the house seemed to warp and shift right before my eyes.

I wished right then and there that I wasn't mute, so that I could ask him what was going on.

As I stood up, Rhialas was suddenly there, and I jumped so much that I flew back onto the bed.

"Hey, kiddo. Be careful. After all, being in a new world is a dangerous thing for a human. I don't want you getting hurt."

New world? Dangerous? What was he talking about?

I tried sitting up again, though my head was swirling, and I fell backwards. I winced as I hit my head on the headboard.

Rhialas swiftly picked me up, gently running his fingers through my messed up blonde locks to calm me down. It was definitely working, and the pain in my head soon disappeared from existence.

Now the only pain that stung me was my stitched-up arm.

He soon set me back on the bed, laying down next to me. I wondered why he cared so much about a young girl he had just met, why he wasn't bombarding me with questions about my past. Maybe he didn't want to bother me. Who knew what Rhialas was thinking.

Speaking of Rhialas, he suddenly sat up, snapping his fingers. A notepad and pen appeared out of thin air, and he caught them, handing them to me.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions, alright? You don't have to answer all of them if you don't want to, okay?"

I simply nodded in his direction, opening the notepad up to a blank page.

His first question was easy.

"What's your full name?"

Lilly Calcier.

"What happened that night?"

I hesitated for a second.

A shard of glass got stuck in my skin.

"And what was the cause of that?"

I paused, the question taking me by surprise.

I couldn't answer him. My hands began to tremble so much that the pen slipped from my fingers.

Through my blurred vision, I noticed that Rhialas noted my reaction to his bringing it up.

"Uh, sorry.. that was probably a bad memory for you, kiddo.."

I sniffled, wiping my eyes on my sleeves.

I jumped as his cold fingers lightly traced the scar underneath my left eye.

"Hm.. that was definitely intentional…" he muttered under his breath.

I knew what he meant by 'intentional,' though I tried not to confirm whatever suspicions he had about that night.