Lykos ✓

Chapter Twenty Seven | Shade

[Keres is changed to Theron. Sorry for any confusion. I have edited the previous chapters]

Blindfolded and befuddled, Talia was dropped onto a bed, in a cottage. The zip ties cut away and the blindfold removed, Talia watched her kidnapper leave the room. She waited with bated breath for him to return but the slamming of the door signalled his exit from the premises. She didn't move quite yet, as she was unsure of what lurked around the corners. Only the soft sound of the ocean waves could be heard. Talia decided to take the risk of moving, in order to find an escape route.

She left the small cottage with no trouble. The was no one is sight as she snuck through the rooms. The escape from the cottage was far too simple and it all made sense when she got outside. The open beach and waving ocean mocked her position. Talia frantically searched for the boat, on the ocean's edge but Theron had dragged the boat and hidden it in the wilderness long before Talia had moved.

There was no escape from this island.

Talia sunk to her knees in the sand, unable to face the dark, unknown future that she had to walk through. Alone on an island with a man who had kidnapped her. The possibilities were endless and none of them looked bright. Drifting through the days and bleeding into the nights, Talia was constantly looking over her shoulder but there was no sign of Theron until mealtime.

Theron would disappear after dropping off her food for the day in the morning. Talia never asked questions or tried to follow him. She would hate to see what he would do if she aggravated him further, seeing as she was held captive on an island somewhere off the coast of Greece. At least the weather had been pleasant.

The sun rose, indicating it was time to get up. Without technology or clocks, she had to reply on the obvious signs to give her days some sort of structure to prevent herself from spiralling. Over the days, her defences had dropped a little bit so when she walked out the door, onto the beach and saw a wolf lulling around in the shade of the house, she didn't blink.

Wolf.

Shade.

Wolf in the shade.

The moment Talia truly processed the threat, she stumbled on the ground with a scream stuck in her throat. Her hands grasping at the warm sand and she pushed herself away from the wolf without taking her eyes off the danger. In the face of danger, Talia typically knew how to act, yet this was a different sort of danger. This was the ending, this was the pages, this was the last sentence. Talia mauled to death by a wolf. The silence loss of her life wouldn't be mourned, recalled or honoured.

The predator picked up on her movement and languidly lifted his head, observing his hostage. Theron had spent many nights as a wolf around the cottage. He enjoyed his life as a beast. It was all so simple. A creature of the night, waiting to see the next day. Often, he lost track of time and this was another time that he had forgot the man-made construction of time. Talia laid on the ground like a deer caught in headlights.

"Stop." Talia held her hand out, eyes closed, waiting for her end.

The wolf stopped and sat on all four like a puppy. It took a few minutes before Talia opened her eyes. Once again, she stumped by the behaviour of the wolf that had listened to her command. Maybe it was her captive's pet. Never in her wild dreams would she imagine that it was in fact her captive.

"Roll over," Talia commanded. The wolf tilted his head as if questioning her intelligence for such a useless instruction. He did not comply but just stared at her, while sitting on his hind legs. When the wolf made no more movement, Talia decided to slowly stand up, with steady movements not to startle anyone.

The urge to run was still under her skin.

Talia fought against her instinct to sprint and instead counted her lucky stars that the wolf was somewhat domesticated. When she returned lowly to the cottage, the wolf trailed behind her returning to his spot in the shade, not following Talia inside.

"Good boy," she muttered.

The wolf growled in response, Talia flinching closing the door to end their interaction. She was trapped in the cottage until further notice. She just didn't want to take a chance after her close brush with danger. Instead she decided to explore the cottage some more and have something to eat. The basket laid on the table, waiting for Talia as it did every day. She grabbed a knife from the kitchen draw. For a captive, there seemed to be a lot of pointy objects to use of her kidnapper.

Talia kept a knife under her pillow, so far sha hadn't had any unwanted visitors. It was better to be safe than sorry. There was nothing new to be found in the cottage. The place had been stripped to its essentials without any sort of electricity outlets. It was as if the place had been built before electricity existed. Talia decided to return to the bedroom and lie down for a bit. Going outside was out of the question and there was nothing else to do. She fell asleep many hours after tossing and turning.

The sunset painted the sky with multiple hues of pink, red and orange. Talia needed to work quick if she didn't want to eat in the dark. She went straight to the kitchen to the food and pulled out her next meal. Too busy indulging in her food, she failed to notice someone in the dark corridor. The wolf growled, demanding her attention. Talia grabbed the knife and shut the kitchen door, not that doors seemed to be very effect for this wolf.

All she had was a knife and a door to defend herself.

~*~

Is Theron a wolf or doggo, stay tuned to find out.

This chapter was so difficult to write 😫