In the Dark

Gone

There was something on her face, putting pressure on her nose and squishing it down. As she opened her eyes the first thing she noticed was that she wasn't in her room, instead she was outside, the remains of a fire lay next to her.

"I see you're finally awake"

Recognition flashed through her eyes, he was the bad man, the man that hurt her arm and hit her. She looked about her frantically, trying to see if there was anyone she knew, she pinched her arm to see if maybe this was a bad dream or something, but nothing happened. Her skin hurt from were she pinched it, but the bad man remained. He was tall, towering over her, eyes cold like ice stared down at her, rusty brown hair was sticking up all over the place, his body was powerful and he could probably flatten her by just stepping on her.

"The names Mark, but that doesn't matter right now. Your pack is gone so don't get your hopes up about being rescued...Right now you are in a very special position young lady. All you need to know is that you just need to listen to me and only me. You got that?"

She just looked at him, her big eyes staring at him in confusion. Next thing she knew she was lying on her side, her cheek stung from the slap.

"Answer when asked a question or nod your head. This is your first lesson, don't make the same mistake again because I won't be as lenient. Got it?"

She quickly sat up and nodded her head in understanding, her black curls flopping up and down from her vigorous nodding. She kept her head down, looking at her hands, her cinnamon colored skin was barely noticeable underneath the dirt that was caked on it.

"Good" he said and then he walked away, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

As the day progressed, she was left in piece, no one paid her any attention and her eyes were drawn to the bodies of her friends and family members. She saw as they hung their hide, the skin stretched and left to dry in the sun. She could recognize them, she knew each and everyone of them, she was happy when she couldn't find her sister and her mom she felt hope blossom in her chest, they must have survived, she wasn't alone. Her last memory of her sister is when she begged her to run but at the time she had been too scared to move, and look where that got her she was now trapped with these monsters disguised as people.

Her body felt cold and numb, getting colder and colder as these men who called her a monster kept hacking away at the dwindling pile of wolves. The little bit of warmth fueled by her hope was slowly cooling down as the men finished skinning the last wolves, she reminded herself that her mom and sister weren't part of the pile, they must be safe. 'Maybe they'll come back for me'. The thought brought her some hope, she was going to be o.k.

She was going to be o.k.

----------------------------------

She didn't know how long she had been there. Weeks? Months? The day's just bled into each other. She remembered that they had spent a lot of time at the camp, and once the hide was ready they packed up and came to some sort of camping grounds. There were a lot of humans there, men, women, and children. All of them curious to see the little wolf.

They dragged her out of her cage, her clothes dirty and sticking to her, she could smell her own stench and by the way the humans were scrunching up their noses at her, they could smell it too.

Mark dragged her by the leash attached to her collar, a satisfied expression on his face. He had been training her back at the campsite, he called it training but it was really torture; yet, she bore this with patience because she knew that there were still others out there that would come find her. This nightmare was temporary and it would eventually be over. Distracted by her thoughts she didn't notice that Mark had stopped walking and she crashed into his back.

The backhand was quick, blood filled her mouth, and just as quickly she got on her knees and bowed down, "I'm sorry master"

The crowd laughed, "It seems there's still a bit more of training left to do, but don't worry she's completely harmless" Mark laughed at this.

"But what if her pack comes looking for her?" A woman in the crowd asked, I couldn't see her face, my eyes were glued to the ground. My ears perked up at Mark's response, "No worries about any wolves coming to rescue the girl. We killed them all."

Looking up at Mark I dared to say. "Not all the wolves were skinned..." He looks down at me, a crooked smile on his face. "Oh? Did you think there were survivors? We killed the other's before they transitioned, so there's nothing to fear. No one is coming for you" He laughed.

This was it. I was trapped here. This is where I would die.

I was 7 yrs old. 2 Months had been left before I turned 8 but now that didn't matter anymore. They where all dead and I was still here, living in this hell, but it's going to be o.k, there was no one left for me, everyone I loved was already waiting for me at the other side. I just had to make sure that I got to the other side too.

Mark will kill me...he has a heavy hand and a short temper, he'll snap and kill me. I just gotta work him up and I'll be free.

-------------------------------

I was wrong. The seasons changed twice and it was Autumn again and still I was alive.

Mark had a temper, but he knew that if I died his fun would end and who else would he test out his gadgets on. I was truly trapped.

That's when I saw it!

I closed my eyes and there was a palace, full of stories I'd been told and of dreams I had dreamt. Beautiful dreams of playing in the forest, swimming in the lake, hearing someone call my name, though their voices were muffled I knew it was my name they called.

'What was my name?' I couldn't remember it but it didn't matter, there where people here, people who love me. But I can't really see their faces, but that's o.k because I can feel their love. I'm going to stay here...I won't go back to Mark.

This was my home now, I could see the stories I'd been read playing out. Rapunzel waiting for her prince, Cinderella dancing at the ball, the little Mermaid falling in love with the prince. I was safe here. My dreams will keep me warm.

-------------------------------

It had been a little over 2 years since the girl had been brought to our little village. It wasn't really a village but us hunters liked to stay here and use this place as our base. All our families stayed here and even our kids were home schooled, so there weren't any issues with the authorities getting on our case about them missing out on their education. All in all we had a good life here.

The pack of wolves had been eradicated from this region and our families had nothing to fear, we were good. Even though the girl was the only one left alive she proved to be useful. I got to try out my new weapons on her, seeing which one inflicted the most damage, how long it took for them to heal, and so forth. Though, she stopped crying out in pain, at this point she wasn't much of a tester. Her performance was lackluster, boring. She still had her use so it wasn't too bad. Truthfully I'm amazed she's still alive, which shows just how resilient these monsters truly are.

I won't lie, in the beginning it was a bit hard being so rough with her, but every time I saw how she healed so quickly it helped remind me that she wasn't like us. No matter how much like a child she looked like, this thing was a monster, she was a killing machine.

This reminds me, it's time I go feed her. I make my way to the shed behind our cabin. My son Jake is eagerly waiting for me. I can't believe that he's already 13 yrs old. It feels like just yesterday he was learning how to walk. How time flies.

Jake takes after me, he's got his mom's brown eyes and my rusty brown looking hair, he's still growing into himself, so right now he's all awkward edges and lankly looking. I looked the same when I was his age, so maybe he'll also get my height. Maybe.

"Dad can I feed her this time?"

"No. But you can watch, just don't tell your mom"

"Yes!"

I can see the twinkle in his eye, he's excited, this will be the first time he's seen her since I first brought her here. For 2 years I've been her sole companion, it's about time I let Jake get acquainted with her, he needs to get over the initial shock of how human these monsters look. As we get closer to the shed the stench of her hits me. Note to self, I need to hose her down. I pull the keys out and unlock the chain keeping the shed closed, as the door opens the sunlight lights a path into the shed. But instead of seeing a girl there's a wolf chained in her place.

This wasn't supposed to happen, from my knowledge she's not supposed to transition till she hits puberty, she's barely 10 yrs old, she still has time before she transitions, she's malnutrition-ed too so she shouldn't have any energy to change into a wolf.

"Girl!" I yell out to her, she looks up at me. Those golden eyes are empty. There's nothing in there, only the beast is left. I throw the meat into the shed and close the door, the padlock is back on. Jake's just looking at me, I can read the questions in his eyes.

"We might have to put her down" I tell him.

"I've always wanted a dog" is his response.

I guess I read the wrong questions in those brown eyes.