Across Worlds - Chapter 9

Falyn

“Wait,” she called out after him. Zeke paused mid step, but didn’t turn. “I didn’t mean to do that.” He didn’t respond. Instead he just stood there, hands in his pockets, not moving.

Falyn’s heart pounded as she waited for him to respond. He couldn’t just ignore her like that. She knew that he had heard her.

“Well say something,” she said finally. Zeke turned to face her, a smile dancing across his lips.

“You’re too sensitive, you know that?”

She groaned. “Shut up! It’s about time we got back don’t you think?” She stalked past him and headed back to the clearing. It didn’t matter if Zeke was following her or not. She wished that he hadn’t followed him at all.

“Are you read to believe me about Akia yet?”

“Of course not!” Falyn was getting tire of him asking. Why was he so bent on her thinking bad about Akia?

“Why not?”

“Because you and Akia hate each other,” Falyn snapped. “Why would I believe that anything bad you say about her is true?”

Zeke shrugged. “Fair enough. But seriously, think about it. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Why are you here if you hate Akia so much,” she asked. “Why not just leave? It’s not like you need to protect me.” Something flickered in his eyes, but it soon disappeared.

“I need to get to Lightport, same as the rest of you. And trust me, it’s easier to get past the guards in a group then alone. You guys are my safe passage. Just deal with me until we get there; then I’ll be gone from your lives. Trust me.

“But in the meantime,” he said in a more friendly tone. “Be careful around Akia, okay? Think about what I said. She’s not the person you think she is.”

With that, he walked passed her and made his way towards the clearing. Falyn watched him go until he disappeared completely.

“What the hell just happened?” She wondered out loud. Since when had Zeke cared about her? Sure he told her about what Akia had done in her past, whether it was true or not, but that was the first time that he had really talked to her. But there was that one time back at Sam’s house when he helped her across the room. And then just a few minutes ago when he forgave her for slapping him.

Thinking about it made her head hurt. Why did Zeke have to be such a confusing person? Was he being nice to her or just acting like it?

For a split second, she thought about trusting him. He was trying so hard to be on her good side. Why would he want to be close to her if he wasn’t to be trusted?

But then she thought back to his arguments with Akia. It seemed that every time they talked they argued. There hadn’t been one thing that they had agreed on since they started. Falyn might not have known Akia for long, but she was more trustworthy than Zeke. At least she had a reason for them all to be together. If Zeke was in charge they’d probably end up going in circles and never reach their destination.

Falyn sighed as she heard someone call her name. They must’ve been ready to leave. Kicking the dirt as she went, she headed back to the clearing. Sure she wanted to keep going, but that would mean seeing Zeke again. And he’d probably have that stupid grin on his face again.

When she was almost to the clearing, she heard a twig snap to her right. She froze and turned ever so slightly. But all she saw was empty woods, silent as ever.

Even as she looked, she could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She searched the woods, refusing to believe that it was just her imagination.

And then she saw the eyes.

Legs shaking, she took a few cautious steps backwards. She knew that the eyes didn’t belong to any animal. That was obvious. They were too big and too humanlike.

Throwing caution to the wind, she turned and ran. If she was lucky, she could make it to the clearing and warn the others. But that was only if whoever was out there didn’t follow her.

She snuck a look behind her. The woods were as silent as ever; no one in sight. Maybe she really had imagined it. Perhaps she was all alone.

Suddenly she ran into something and tumbled back onto the ground. Looking up, she saw a man standing in front of her. He looked just like the man who had attacked her at her house; exactly like him. She was sure that it was him.

Before she could react, someone stuffed a rugged sack over her head. She flailed, trying to push it off, but she had no luck. There was a sudden, intense pain in the back of her head and she blacked out.

When she regained consciousness, all she could think was déjà vu. Her head was pounding and her body ached. She had no idea where she was since everything was dark. Remembering the sack, she reached up and pulled it off of her head and looked around.

She most definitely wasn’t in the woods anymore. Instead, she was in a small room. It had wooden walls and a single light hanging from the ceiling. There was an ominous feel to the room and she felt less than comfortable being there.

She got up and rushed to the door. She tugged at the doorknob, but it wouldn’t budge. She tried again and again. Nothing worked.

“You could waste all your time trying to escape, but that would just delay your death.”

Falyn turned to face the deep voice from behind her. It belonged to a man who looked to be no older than twenty. He had short black hair and dangerous, piercing green eyes. The clothes he wore were nearly skin tight and were completely black. There was a purple stripe on his jacket, one that looked like a sash.

She couldn’t help but feel terrified as he stared down at her. His eyes seemed to dig into her soul, pulling out all of her secrets. It wasn’t like she had anything to hide, but she surely didn’t want him to know anything about her.

“Who are you?”

The man smirked. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

Falyn stared at him intently. There was something slightly familiar about his look and the way that he stood. But she couldn’t figure it out.

“Now I’m going to ask you a few questions,” the man said. “And if you don’t answer truthfully, well, you don’t want to know what I’m going to do.

“First question. Why were you in the woods this morning?”

“I,” Falyn hesitated. She didn’t know much about what was going on and why she was so special, but she knew that she shouldn’t tell anyone about it. “I was going for a walk. You know, just to clear my mind.”

“Clear your mind?” the man looked at her curiously, like he didn’t believe her.

“Yes, I had a rough morning,” she said as convincingly as she could. “I needed time to just be by myself.”

The man shook his head and flexed his fingers. She twitched in pain and fell to the ground. It was like nothing she had felt before. Her muscles seemed to be on fire and her body contorted uncontrollably. Each time she moved, the pain got worse.

But just as the pain started, it stopped. She lay on the floor taking deep breaths. Her muscles slowly relaxed.

“Let’s try this again,” the man said. “Why were you in the woods this morning?”

“I told you, I was taking a walk.”

The man flexed his fingers again and pain set through her body. She grit her teeth, trying to withstand the pain. If she could just ignore it maybe it would go away. But it was only getting worse. Finally she cried out in pain, a loud, high pitched scream.

The pain subsided shortly after that. There was barely any energy left in her body. Unlike the last time, her body wasn’t able to expel the pain as easily. It still lingered in her muscles.

The man snapped his fingers and chains appeared around Falyn’s wrists and fastened themselves to the ground. She couldn’t move; she was trapped. Not that she wanted to move. There was still too much pain lingering.

“I warned you that there was a consequence for lying.” the man said. Falyn wondered how he could be so mean yet have such a silky smooth voice. It wasn’t fair.

He squatted in front of her so they were at eye level. She held his gaze, determined to not let her pain show.

“I know who you are, Falyn Imara Perez. And I know why they need you. But just know that you won’t succeed. My warriors left hours ago to scope out your friends in the forest. They won’t make it very far. Your adventure will be squashed before it can begin.”

“What is it you want?” she managed to choke out.

“It’s nothing I want,” the man said as he stood and headed for the door. “It’s who I want. And you’re gonna help me make sure that she doesn’t get away.”

Falyn wrinkled her eyebrows. “You kidnapped me to be bait?”

The man turned to face her and smirked. “That’s right.” Rage built up inside of her. She yanked against the chains, but they refused to budge.

“You should be honored,” the man said, chuckling. “I don’t bother with people that can’t help me. And you are the most important piece of the puzzle.” With that, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

Falyn just stared at the closed door. She couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened. She had been kidnapped, brought to some room and had been tortured. All so the man, whoever he was, could reveal his plan to her.

How is that even good strategy? She thought to herself. Surely he could’ve worked a bit harder at getting the truth out of her and not revealing his plan. Not that she would’ve given him the answers.

Her body slowly started to return to normal. The pain still lingered in her muscles, but it was nothing like the pain she was in before. If anything, it was soothing; a great reminder that the pain was over.

Now all she could do was sit there and think of a way to escape. There had to be something she could use to get out of the shackles. A bobby pin; was she wearing one? Maybe she could bend the metal and slip it out of the holder.

But even if she could get out of the room, where would she go from there? She didn’t even know where she was. Would she turn up in the woods? Would she be anywhere near the river? She had to be able to find her way around. Getting lost wouldn’t be a particularly good thing.

She finally gave up on finding a way out. There wouldn’t be much of a chance of her getting anywhere unless she had a plausible plan. And right now she couldn’t come up with one. All she could do was sit and hope for a miracle, a rescue of some sort.

Just as she was beginning to imagine certain scenarios, the door to the room flew open.