The Moon Walkers

Out

As soon as my head hits the pillow, I hear the door open. Like clockwork, always the same thing every single day.

"Get up, eat," he growled at me.

Slowly turning my body and standing up, I made eye contact with my captor. Over the past ten years, he has let himself go; he was well-groomed and looked appealing during the first few years. Now his dirty blonde hair almost looks brown from all the dirt that is caked into it; it has grown to just below his shoulders, so has his beard, which has some bald patches in it. He is scruffy and looks dead in the eyes; his eyes used to be an electric blue, now it's mostly black. His wolf is slowly taking over. His clothes have holes from his shifts that he hasn't bothered to patch up.

"EAT" he yelled at me.

I'd rather avoid a beating, especially if I'm going to escape tomorrow. I started walking towards my captor and stopped about a foot away. I sat down and held my hands above my head, and moved my head to the side. A way of showing submission to every meal he gives me, he demands I accept like this; otherwise, he beats and cuts me as punishment.

"Finally, you've come to your senses, and you're being a good girl; one more day, sweetheart, and all of this will be a thing of the past."

He put the plate in my hands and left the room. Fun an apple and a bottle of water the same every other day. I stood up and made my way back to the bed sitting down and sighing I started to eat the apple, slowly the next meal is at 5pm, and that's it for the day at 12 he'll come and get me and take me to the bathroom the last bathroom trip is at 10pm. Usually, he comes by every now and then randomly and throws a bottle of water at me to make sure I'm hydrated, not that I can drink much anyway; if I do, I might pee myself.

There really isn't much to do; I have about ten books, he gives me one every year for my birthday. He also gave me a pencil and one sketchbook. I've read all of the books about five times. After a while, it gets tedious reading them repeatedly, but it is my only escape. Being alone for so long has given me a vivid imagination; it's like my own little movie playing in my head while reading. Drawing-wise, my sketchbook is filled with wolves, flowers, and plants; sometimes, I dream of different wolves and flowers and then spend most of the day drawing them. I guess the one thing I can be thankful for after being stuck here for ten years is my drawings skills. Yay. I decided to spend most of the day drawing the apple I just ate. He came by 3 times, each time throwing a bottle of water at me, snarling, and walking away. The bathroom trip was pretty uneventful. It was the usual grabbing me aggressively and dragging me to the bathroom, watching me while I did my business, then pulling me down the hall to my room and throwing me in. Dinner was a sandwich with moldy bread and another water.

It was midnight now, five more hours, and I was leaving. I double-checked my food put a book and my sketchbook and pencil under my bed to take it with me, made sure the toothbrush and soap were there and some spare clothes okay I have everything. I had two naps already, so I'll be okay to stay awake. I'm not going to risk falling asleep and not waking up, nope.

Five am came fast. I was concentrating on listening to my surroundings, and I heard the door open and close. I went to my door and banged and screamed, okay, I am in the clear his gone. I ran to my bed, took my spoon out of my pillow. I took the sheet of the bed, put everything I was taking onto it, folded it, and tied it to me to make a bag. It took me 20 minutes this time to unlock the door, thank the goddess. I made sure to leave some books under the duvet to make it look like I was still in bed. If he looked in and I closed the door, this would buy me more time to run. Slowly I crept up the stairs and opened the door making sure the coast was clear. I closed the door and advanced to the kitchen. I opened the window and climbed onto the counter and over the sink. Thankfully I was skinny enough to fit through I made it out.

Oh, my goddess, I'm out.

Looking around, I think I'm deep within some forest. There are a lot of trees around and some crumbled buildings around; looking back at the house I just escaped from, this one looks about ready to cave in as well; there is rot all over the building, and the roof has missing tiles. Okay, taking my surroundings in again, I can't stand around for long. I needed to run; I did another turn. I can see what used to be a stone wall surrounding the area crumbled. Listening with all my might for any sound or breathing, I can hear some water running to the left of me; I can't hear anyone around me, okay, good. I'm going to head towards the water; if there's water, I can make mud and cover myself with it to mask my scent so he can't track me and find me.

I crept towards the crumbled wall. If he is still around, I don't want him to hear me running and catch me before I make it far. I climbed over the stone wall. I crept slowly further away from the wall. I broke out into a full sprint when I was a reasonable distance away, still listening for the water. It was getting louder. I was dodging trees, branches and jumping over large rocks. Hoping I was going to make it to the source of the water soon.

Finally, I started to see a river in the distance; pushing myself harder, I ran faster. I knelt down by the water and took a handful of dirt and put it in the river, and started rubbing it all over myself and my makeshift bag; when I was satisfied with the amount of grime on me, I got up.

Okay, think I either run along with the river or cross.

Suddenly, I heard a loud scream from behind me s**t; he realised I had left. No time to think I jumped into the river it reached just below my breast I started walking and fighting my way through the water as fast as I could the adrenaline was pushing me, he couldn't catch me not now I finally made it out if he finds me now he will kill me.

My muscles are screaming at me. I'm exhausted, but I made it to the other side of the river. And broke out into a full sprint again. I need to find somewhere to hide before I collapse. I've been running for about two hours. I'm incredibly malnourished; my body can't take anymore. The trees are getting denser around me; frantically looking around, I see a cave perfect I run towards the cave; this is a good stop for now. I need to drink and eat, and then I can continue after a rest.

For now, I've made it. I survived. I am out; after ten years of torture and neglect, I have made it out alive I get to live a life. I sat down on the cold, wet ground and opened my sheet. I took out a granola bar and a bottle of water. I scoffed the granola bar down and drank half of my water.

Breathing in deeply, I calmed my racing heart down. I need to find somewhere better to stay tomorrow. I'm going to have my first shift if I'm lucky, maybe I can find a house or other wolves to help me.