Just Beyond the River

The tavern she'd found shelter in was dank and crowded, and had a stench that she wasn't quite sure of. It had been partially concealed behind some trees and when she had entered, not one person turned to glance at her. That allowed her to slink into one of the corners and claim a table to rest at. That was where she'd been for the past hour, only having been disturbed twice by the barman who had forced her to order something lest she wanted to be kicked out. The ale that sat before her remained untouched and judging by the constant looks the barman gave her, he also knew that it hadn't been touched.

Where she was going come closing time, she didn't know. The area wasn't familiar to her nor were any the roads she came across. Stumbling across a tavern of all places had confused her thoroughly but at that moment in time, she had been desperate for any sort of shelter. She didn't know just how far she had ran but she had hope that it was enough to give her a short reprieve.

Her peace was shattered when the barman came over to her table. "Drink up or move on," he said, slinging his towel over his shoulder.

"I paid for this, regardless whether I drink it or not," she replied.

"This ain't a shelter. You come here for a drink or you bugger off."

She looked back at her drink. "How long has this been around? The tavern, I mean."

"You ain't going to change my mind," he said, folding his arms. "At least fifteen years, give or take. I've been here for five."

"And what of this area?"

The man's face was masked by the shadows of the place but she could vaguely see the frown. "You're a traveller." She gave a nod but didn't reply. "We don't get many of them, ain't had any for years. People got put off by that off-limits place on the other side of the river, even though we don't have nothing to do with it. Done everything we could to get more traffic; the owners of this place even purposely made it less modern, to try and draw in punters. People love history and a pub don't sound historic, does it?"

"Guess not," she replied.

"Anyway, what's your business here?"

"Just passing through, I guess. Trying to find a safe place."

He gave a nod and to her utter surprise, sat in the vacant seat opposite her. "You're what, nineteen?"

She blanched and dug her fingers into her thigh. "Close enough. You don't look much older than me."

"Newly turned twenty two. Got no muscle to speak of but I bet my knowledge can vouch for my age."

"You know of any places nearby that're safe and have room?"

He rested his elbows on the table and rubbed his chin. "Safe? With that place across the river, nothing is safe here, but that's just our views on it. There's a hotel maybe three miles from here, heading westbound. She always has rooms available and she's pretty cheap, too. Close to the centre and you might even be able to grab a bargain as a traveller."

As he was talking, the tavern door opened and four tall men entered, each one clad in white. There was nothing extraordinary about them except for the fact that their presence made her blood run cold. She ducked her head slightly and looked back at the barman. "Is there a backdoor?" she asked quietly.

"Not for you to use, I'm afraid. Staff only."

Before he had finished she released the blade that she'd stashed up her sleeve and pointed it at him beneath the table, pressing the tip ever-so slightly against his abdomen. "I need to use it," she said slowly, watching as the men started scanning the place. They might not notice her straight away but she was certain they would linger and actually look, and she couldn't risk that.

The man raised his arms. "Woah, I ain't looking for no trouble."

"Then assist me and you'll have none."

She couldn't stop the man from glancing over his shoulder and spotting the four men that were inspecting tables on the other side of the room. His next action made her want to cry. He looked back at her before standing abruptly from his seat and calling, "You looking for her?"

As the men looked in their direction, she knew she had to do something. Before the barman could step away, she was out of her chair, the table was knocked over and she had her blade to his neck as she stared across the room at the men. Now the other occupants of the tavern paid her attention.

"You brought this upon yourself," she whispered to him, pressing the blade harder against his neck.

The tallest of the men in white stepped forward, making her tug the barman back with her. "Hello, Aurora."

"I'm not going back," she said, sweeping her eyes over each one of them.

"Let's not make a scene," he said, gesturing to the crowd that was staring at them. "I'm sure no one here wants any trouble. Why don't you let that man go?"

"Over my dead body," she hissed.

Instead of responding to her, the man turned his attention to the crowd. "My sincerest apologises for disturbing your afternoon," he said, the tone of his voice making her skin crawl. "We only wish to apprehend this clearly unstable girl who escaped our custody last night." The other barmen were staring at her but she could see the members of the crowd shifting between the two of them as they listened to his words.

"Don't listen!" she shouted. "He's from that place across the river!"

Murmurs started up and she could see people's eyes were now looking more towards him than her. "She's desperate, look at her," he replied.

"Has anyone had any children disappear? Between the age of five and seven? Well, you're looking at the man who takes them." Her words rung through the room and the look that crossed the man's face told her that she'd regret it if she was ever caught.

On the opposite side of the room, a burly man rose from his seat. "You took my boy," he growled.

Another man rose from nearer to where she was still stood. "My sister disappeared when we were kids."

"Where's my niece?!"

The noise rose as more people rose to their feet to address her accusation. The sheer number of people in the tavern who had lost someone made her sick to her stomach. "When they crowd round him, I need to get to that backdoor," she said lowly to the barman.

She watched as he swallowed and the blade pressed even harder against his neck. "Sure, whatever you need," he stuttered, beads of sweat running down the side of his face.

The man in white looked around irritatedly before looking back at her. "She's a deluded little girl," he said. "I don't know where any of your loved ones are."

"Bullshit," the burly man replied, moving away from his table. "You look like a kid snatcher and you're from there. Always knew there was something dodgy about that place."

As the man in white broke eye contact with her, she jolted the barman and indicated that now was the time to move. They began to slowly move to the door that was in the corner closest to the one she had claimed. She made sure to keep the blade pressed to his skin as a warning.

"I can assure you, sir, that this girl is sick and if she doesn't return with us in the next ten hours, there's a chance she could die."

"You know what? I don't believe you, mate. I think she's a scared girl who you're harassing, and you know what else I think? I think she's right and you and your little buddies are trying to take her to your prison."

She made the barman open the door and push it open before nudging him through. "She's escaping!" the man in white exclaimed, his gaze having turned back to them just as she had stepped through.

"Oi, I ain't finished with you," the burly man said, throwing a punch at the man. That action made the other three men stop in their movements to pursue her and instead focus their attention onto the man who had fallen.

She took that opportunity to force the barman completely through the doorway, letting the door swing shut. She released him but pointed the blade at him. "Backdoor," she said.

He gave a nod and led her down the narrow hallway, towards a door that had a key in the lock. She glanced over her shoulder as he turned it and opened the door. "Here you go," he said, making her look back at him.

"Is there a cellar in this place?"

"Why?"

"I can't outrun them."

As she didn't lower the blade, he unwillingly obliged her, leading her out the backdoor and around the side. The door was very well concealed into the woodwork and she wouldn't have believed that it was there had he not dug his fingers into a small gap and pulled open the door, revealing a set of stone steps. She motioned for him to go first and then tentatively followed after he was halfway down. She ensured that the door was properly shut before she continued to descend the steps and eventually stepping off into the dimly lit room that they led to. There were a few empty wooden crates that were oddly spaced throughout the room but other than that, it was empty.

The man was on the opposite side of the room and raised his arms when he noticed she still had her blade out. "Woah, I did as you asked. There's no need for that," he said.

"You don't understand who those people are, of what they're capable of. That denunciation did more than you think!"

"Jeez, I'm sorry. Look, okay, I was stupid to do that, I didn't quite realise who they were, but did that warrant the knife to my throat?"

"You're the one who told them I was here. I could have hidden before they realised, made sure to stay out of sight until they left."

The man gave a nod before rubbing his neck. "You kept a strong arm. How on earth did a kid like you restraint me like that?"

She pointed to the stairs with the blade. "Did you not hear me back there?" she cried. "They take children to that-that place, and there's no escape, no one to hear your screams. There's just you and those white walls until it's time, but when that times comes, you're begging to have those white walls back."

There was silence as those words lingered between them and she raised a hand to her head and pressed hard against her left temple. "You're from there," he said.

"What year is it?" she asked suddenly.

He looked surprised. "2038. When did they take you?"

She slowly put her blade away. "It was a long time ago."

"If you're nineteen that means over ten years, right?"

"I never said I was nineteen," she snapped.

"Then how old are you?"

She let out a sigh, pressed her back against the wall next to the steps and slid down to the floor. The pain that had pulsed through her head had stopped now. "They took me when I was six," she said quietly. "But I was sixteen when...when my time came. The thing is, that was back in 2012."