His shadow [Ja'far x Oc]

Chapter 16

I rewrote the ending to chapter 15 so please go back and read it before continuing :))

| NEW BEGINNINGS |

It was as if my voice box was ripped from my chest. The screams stopped hours ago. They had chained me up and tossed me into a pitch black room.

The door to the room opened, making me wince from the appearance of light. There in the doorway stood a boy with white hair holding a ring of keys. I stared at him blankly as he strolled over to the wall and unhooked the chain which connected to the one around my neck. He clicked his tongue in annoyance before pulling the chain rather harshly behind him as he left the room, forcing me to go with him.

He pulled me through the long narrow hallway and into a room with many chairs and tables. Children were everywhere but they seemed so happy, they were genuinely happy to be here.

"They're happy?" I whispered faintly and the boy cocked his head around.

"Of course they are!" His smile mirroring that of the Cheshire Cat. "We are all more than blessed to be in the presence of Lady Maader." Lady Maader?

The taller male halted in his tracks and shoved a tray into your hands. You glanced down and noticed it was full of food. You looked at him suspiciously and he just returned the glare in return.

"Lady Maader asked me to give you food," he clicked staring at me in disgust, "You should be thankful that she's not letting you rot in that room," he muttered before disappearing down one of the halls.

I scanned the room of children and noticed some chatting happily. I needed answers so I strolled over there, a fake smile plastered on my face.

"Excuse me," I said softly, catching their attention. "May I sit here?"

"Of course!" One grinned patting the sit beside them.

"So..." I trailed off. "Who's this Lady Maader I'm hearing all about," I glanced between them and noticed their face light up.

"She's our mother!" A girl with light pink hair exclaimed.

"She's the best!" Another gushed before going into detail about how she saved them and raised them. Human trafficking was much darker than I originally believed.

All the children in the room were quickly evacuated and rushed into a much larger room with large cages. Older kids guided the kids with the chains and they began to do labor.

"Oh Amaris!" A feminine voice exclaimed. I cocked my head to the side and noticed the lady from the previous night. She had dark purple hair and dark eyes with light pupils. "I didn't realize by catching one we'd get both," she smirked. "You'll be a wonderful child.. won't you?" She asked, caressing my cheek. I took a deep breath and smiled.

"Of course Lady Maader," I smiled staring into her eyes leaning closer to her. She frowned, slapping my cheek.

"Fatima," she turned towards the white haired boy from earlier, "put her in the box." He nodded quickly rushing over grabbing hold of the chain and roughly tugging me towards the hallway which I originated from.

"That's what I was supposed to do.. wasn't it?" I quietly questioned. The boy laughed and pulled harder on the chain causing me to gasp.

"Our love for lady Maader is genuine," he snapped, opening the door to a room, which surprisingly wasn't dark. The room, however, was tiny and in the middle sat a horizontal box that was made out of concrete and had a slab of concrete on top.

He walked towards it undoing the countless chains that locked the concrete on top and gestured me over.

"Get in," he said sharply pointing at the empty box.

"You're kidding," I laughed in disbelief and only stopped when I realized he was serious.

"Get in the box," he said, this time much harsher. Before I could take a step forward he walked over and pulled me over and threw me in the box. I groaned in pain when I reopened my eyes and he stared down at me before tipping a box over releasing whatever was inside which seemed to be spiders.

The screams from my mouth started out loud but quickly died down due to my already sore throat from e night before. Tears streamed down the sides of my head as I felt their tiny legs run across my whole body. In mere seconds it felt like hundreds babies were pinching me all over. Seconds turned into minutes which turned into hour and hours into what seemed to be days.

My whole body swelled with agony as I laid in the spider carcasses. The box gave me just enough room to scoot to the right so it took a while before they were all dead. I pulled countless muscles and I quickly felt the result of my actions. The box removed all senses of sight and hearing.

"Air," I gasped, choking for oxygen. "Help!" I screamed the longer I'm left in this box and made my chance of living decrease more and more. It felt as if  two large hands were pushing on each side of my head. My eyes burned as if they were lit on fire. My hands immediately went to my throat as I fought for oxygen.

—-

"Oh dear!" A voice exclaimed, pulling me closer to them. I opened my eyes and saw Lady Maader examining me with a worried look plastered on her. I choked back a sob when I noticed something.

"Don't make me go back in there," I quivered, biting down on my bottom lip to surpass the lump in the back of my throat. "Please," I begged.

"Everything's going to be okay, Amaris," she cooed pulling me into her chest as she brushed my tangled hair with her fingers. The sob I had managed to suppress had escaped and I was full on crying.