Throb. Throb. Throb. "Uuuung." My head. What happened to my head? Dirt and pebbles cling to my face as I try to lift it. My neck protests, sending a stab of pain through my shoulders. I force my eyes open, squinting into the darkness. The soft patter of rain outside makes me realize how dry my mouth is.
Wait. OUTSIDE! I look around, panicking inside my head, but I can't see anything. Cold air on my face at least gives me a clue to where the exit is while raising goosebumps on my skin. I drag my arms up away from my sides and place my hands beside my head. I try pushing my self up from the floor, but fail miserably. my arms have been replaced with over cooked noodles. I carefully lift one of my hands and run it over my head, feeling for the source of the ache. My hand catches in a small knot that has formed in the tiny, inch long, coils that cover my head and I hissed. There. I fingered the tender spot on my scalp.
How can something the size of a quarter, cause me so much pain? I run my hand over the rest of my head and find another sensitive area"Ouuuch." It's on my hair line, right above my left temple. I stretch on the floor, releasing some of the tension in my muscles. I don't hear anything so I'm probably alone. For now. I role over and slowly prop myself up into a semi-sitting position.
I can see the stone that makes up the walls and the slightly lighter darkness to my right, so I'm guessing that I'm in a cave. After I prepare my self, I try to stand up and stop mid groan. I'm not ready for that. I slowly return to the floor with short, choppy movements. Almost as soon as I sit down, a low growl echos throughout the cave. I had no idea were it came from. I slowly slide back, sending what I hope were calming thoughts. I'm just gonna sit hear and be quite. Don't eat me, please. I taste nothing like chicken. No need to investigate, just stay where you are. I'm sitting up against the wall now, still rambling on in my head. Go to sleeeep. Go to sleeeep. Please don't eat me, I'm sorry. I hear a huff and abruptly shut my mind up. My head wound must be making me a little punch-drunk. Trying to calm my self, I take deep breaths. My heartbeat finally slows, and I relax into the wall. I sat there dozing off and on, listening to the rain pelt the leaves for what seemed like hours.
FLASH. BABOOOOM! A clap of lightning, followed by a crack of thunder woke me from my daze, lighting up the cave and momentarily disorienting me. I hadn't notice how the rain was pounding outside. I rub my hand across my face, brushing off any leftover dirt and clearing my eyes. I sat, looking at the back of the cave, waiting for the next lightning bolt, determined to see what, exactly, I was rooming with. My head felt a little clearer now and I was chilly and sore all over, but at least in here it was dry.
I was glad for my cave. Correction.I thought. This is most likely their cave, whatever it is. I'm the intruder here. Another flash of lightning lights the cave and I hurriedly look back the the animal, but the light is gone before my head swivles halfway around. Great. I missed my chance to see it because of my daydreaming. Damn.
Listening, I try to hear something, anything to warn me if the creature is approaching. Nothing, the storm drwns out all other niose. I stare back into the darkness. I'm not missing it this time. another flash and, just for a second, I see it. A lump of dark fur, about fifteen feet away from where I sat. A large lump. I clamp down on the hysteria that rises in my chest. Just because it's big, doesn't mean it plans to eat me. I sit, staring at the darkness hoping for another glimpse. It doesn't come. Is it a bear? A wild dog? A deer? No, a deer doesn't growl like that. A coyote? to small. A wolf, maybe? But don't wolves that travel in packs? Is he hurt? Are they coming back for him? A sense of dread covered my body like a smothering blanket. I don't want to die being eaten by wolves. Or a bear. I'm only sixteen. I sneeze. Sitting in a cave, catching pneumonia wasn't how I thought i would be spending my summer vacation.
You might not know this, but waiting for your possibly imminent death can be quite boring at times. Outside, the sky is finally starting to light up, the blackness had turned gray. The only sounds I could hear were the soft drops of leftover rain falling from the trees, and the mixed breathing of me and my fellow cave dweller. As the sun rose higher, the shadow of my cave-mate became more defined. I could see the rise and fall of his body as he breathed. I'd dubbed him he because calling him it just seemed wrong and he seemed kind of masculine to me. I wasn't going to name him though. The last thing I needed was to get attached to something that might eat me. I started counting his breaths, for lack of anything better to do.
Breath in. One, two, three, four, five. Breath out. One, two, three, four, five.Breath in, on and on until i started breathing with him. Then I started making up games to entertain myself. Breathing in when he breathed out, holding my breath for five of his, and other stuff like that. the sun inched up further in the sky. I could now see the color of his fur. It was dark brown, and covered in dust, giving it a grayish cast. Breath in. One, two, three.
I stopped counting.
He shifted and raise his head, a yawn revealing a mouthful of large sharp teeth connected to a wolfish muzzle. Nope. Definitely not a deer. He lifted his head higher and pulled his lips back in what looked like to be a grimace.
A scraping sound caught my attention. On the ground near his feet was the biggest chain I had ever seen. One end connecting to the the back wall of the cave by metal plate, the other end fastening around his neck with a large dead bolt. It looked like it had grown into his skin. It hurt just seeing it. I saw his body stiffen and he turned toward me, slowly getting to his feet. A low rumble came from him and seemed to rattle the cave. His hackles were raised and....he was huge. I've never seen an actual wolf, but he was way bigger than any dog I've ever come across. He padded closer to me, watching through weary, narrowed eyes. Eyes, by the way, that were the most amazing color I've ever seen. A deep brownish-red color with lighter flecks of brow in them. I was mesmerised. (He is a he by the way, just something I noticed)
The chain scraped the ground as he moved. He was beautiful. Even in as much pain as I knew he had to be in, he moved with the grace and sureness that all predators possess. He was gorgeous. He was deadly. I could get away, if I bolted now. I doubted his chain would reach the mouth of the cave. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't.
I wasn't willing to risk my life on pretty sure.
It would be safer to stay put. They wont chaise if you don't run. One of the first lessons I ever learned. I wonder if I worked on wild animals the same way it worked on guys. I can only hope, since that's my only plan. He was ten feet away now. My heart thudded in my chest. Five feet. I stopped breathing. He was now standing directly in front of me, his warm breath moistening my face. he sniffed me, and I just sat there trying my best to look calm and composed. my eyes raked over him again, pausing on his neck. you know the chain I thought had grown into his neck? It hadn't. It was sewn into his skin with a skinny metal wire. I started shaking as fury iced through my veins. How could any one be so cruel? I looked up and met his eyes. I guess it didn't matter to him how furious i was, because he went to the other wall of the cave, directly across from me, and lay down. His chain sat lazily curved on the floor and he just....stared. It was kind of creepy
We watched each other for a while, until I just couldn't take it any more. He could eat me for all i cared, as long as i could move. my legs had fallen asleep along with my but and my lower back. my fingers, nose and ears were numb from the cold. I shifted so hat i was on my hands and knees and wiggled until i felt the familiar tingling that told me that my circulation had returned. His hooded eyes opened and he watched as i attempted to stand, using the wall for support.My legs seemed to have turned into rubber without me noticing. After falling for the third time I looked over at him and said,"You could help mew you know." It came out hoarse and my voice cracked at the end, but I was still relieved that I could speak more than the grunts I'd been making. His ears pricked forward, but he gave no other sign that heard me. I got the feeling that he thought my struggling was amusing. On my fifth try I finally managed to take a few wobbly steps and I was proud of myself. I had only a brused knee and a more slightly battered skull by that point.(On my first attempt my hand had slipped. I lost my balance and hit my head off the wall, landing on my knee hard. It wasn't what you would call a pretty picture.)
I scanned the cave and noticed something bulky laying about a foot away from him. I scooted closer and realized that the its in question were my bags. I slowly made my way over to them and him. he followed me but didn't lift his head. I took that as a good sign. When i was withing arms length of his i kneeled down and pulled them toward me. My fingers were shaking as i unzipped my pack. Please be there, please be there. I opened it and Oh thank you god. My water bottles were still in there. All thirteen of them were filled and I rushed taking the cap off, silling some, and poured water down my throat faster than I could drink it. It wasn't until I emptied the second bottle that i notice him staring. I lowered the bottle and his eyes followed it hungrily.
I looked him over again and saw that, despite his large size, he was extremely skinny. Whoever kept him in here probably wasn't feeding him very often, if at all. I mentally kicked myself. If he wasn't getting fed then he wasn't getting water either. I rummaged through my bag until i found the cookie container that i kept all of my small trinkets in. I cleared it out, filled it with three bottles of water and pushed it tward him. After a few suspicious sniffs, he lapped it down frantically. When he was done it refilled it with two more bottles and put the empties in my pack. It was probably my imagination, but he looked a little better. His eyes a little brighter, a little more lively.
I only had six bottles left now. I stretched out on the cave floor in the sun and rested, relishing the warmth. By the looks of things he had not been visited in a while. It seemed to me, they would be coming. Probably sooner rather than later. I just had to wait them out. Hate welled up in me. It filled me almost to my bursting point.
Just you wait, you bastards. When I see you I'm going to make you regret ever being born.
No comments:
Post a Comment