Treason in the Highest Degree

For a while my eyes can’t adjust, and I shuffle forward with, as far as I know, all hell before me. The only sounds are that of my rigid breathing and the more guttural growl coming every time he takes a breath. Eventually I can make out that we’re inside a small, small shack with one door and no windows. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge, and I tense up, preparing to fight. But he just shuffles towards the center of the room, and getting down on his hands and knees, begins to knock. He spends what could have been minutes to anyone else, hours to me, just crawling around and knocking until he hits a hollow area. Smiling, obviously pleased with himself, he begins to pry at the floorboard. Eventually, it lifts into what I now see is a trapdoor. A musty, earthen odor slowly creeps out. He turns his face to me, looking in the eyes. “You first, princess.” he rumbles.

The walls drip with un-soaked water as I’m marched across tan earth floor. It crunches below my feet with what I’m praying are leaves that somehow are underground. By this point there’s no light for my eyes to adjust to, and except for the constant prick of the knife, I wouldn’t know walking backward from forward. Every once in a while my shoulder grazes the walls, and I shudder. It’s an eternity before I finally see a light ahead of us. A silhouette is holding the lantern emitting the rays. The hand on the back of my neck tightens in what I am sure is quite literally a death grip. As we draw closer to my imminent demise, the only sounds are our footsteps, braiding together into the ticking of a clock. My breath grows shallow as I realize at this point I have only two choices- escape or die. Twisting so fast the knife digs into my back, I whip around, hitting the man square in the jaw. I take off, but he grabs my wrist, and lifting me from the ground brandishes the knife. It drips crimson, as if the cut on my back only fueled its hunger for human flesh, and it eagerly waits to satisfy. I fight through the pain, which is quickly working it’s way through my body like liquid fire, and kick him, too terrified to scream. He releases me, and I collapse on the ground, before scrambling away. I hear him cursing in the darkness as a pair of smaller, younger hands grab at me. I don’t think when I throw my shoulder into my newest attacker; just know that I need the light; that I need to get out of there. I’m fast, but he’s much faster, even when wounded, and soon overtakes me, bringing us both tumbling to the ground. We wrestle for a few moments before he has me pinned, his green eyes dancing over my face, simply inches away. He sighs, trying to catch his breath, and flips his hair out of his face before speaking.

“Hello, kitten.”