Harriet woke up with her head throbbing. With a start, she realized that she wasn't in the room.

It was dark, for a start. Dark, and musky, and she seemed to be lying on a threadbare rug. She blinked, and tried to stand up, stumbling to the other side of the room and grabbing onto the wall to support herself.

She raised a hand to her face, and stretched it out again. There was something there, an amulet, perhaps? There were stomes embedded in them, and though it was too dark to see what colors they were, she could almost... Feel them. Blue. The amulets were cold, cold metal circles with small chains attached to them. Harriet had no idea what they were there for, but it didn't seem good.

Looking around, she saw the others sprawled on the floor next to her. They all had the same amulets around their wrists --bar Caleb. Their captors obviously knew who they were. It was too dark to see what colours they were, but she assumed they did something to magic. Suspending it, maybe.

She ran to them, almost falling over as she crouched beside Mina. Harriet shook her shoulder, "Mina. Hey, hey, wake up, come on..."

The other girl simply groaned and turned over, her hair shifting out of place to reveal dried blood on the side of her face.

Shit.

She pulled Mina's hair away from her face, and searched it for more cuts. That one seemed to be the only one on her head, bar a bleeding lip.

Harriet whipped her head around, and seeing as no one else was awake, she began to look for their bags. She had a water bottle, and Caleb would probably have bandages somewhere. She scanned the room, darting over to the corner and kneeling down beside what looked like a metal chest.

Pushing the top off, she saw that there were no bags, but water sloshed about in the chest, eerily black. Given the choice, she wouldn't have used it, but she didn't have much of a choice. Their stuff wasn't there, and there were no other options. She sighed again, but shrugged her jacket off, exposing her t-shirt. She pulled it off, too, and laid it on the ground, slightly sad at the fact she'd have to mangle a perfectly good top. No other options, though.

Quickly tearing it apart, she took one of the pieces, and dipped it into the water, walking back over to Mina. She dabbed it on her cut, silently wishing Caleb was awake. She had absolutely no idea how to clean a wound, and would probably do more harm than good. But she couldn't leave Mina like that.

She finished dressing her wound, the other girl not stirring. Harriet sat back against the wall, looking down at her, and tucking a strand of hair behind the other girl's ear, leaning down and whispering. "Wake up, okay?"

Instead of staying beside Mina, she got up and went to check the boys. Caleb was fine— they must have taken him out with magic. Kadriq was fine, too. It was surprising, to say the least. He was the Chosen One, after all. He should have fought.

She paused.

Unless...

Harriet jumped back up to her feet, and rushed over to Mina again, kneeling beside her and lifting her arm up. It was scarred over, where the girl had carved countless runes into her skin. Runic magic was stronger when it was written in blood. And Mina was the rune user. Blood wasn't optional. She dropped her hand, and lifted the other one. This arm, too, was scarred, but this time, blood had dried over a set of ruined that Mina had scratched into her skin.

Even though Mina was the protector of the Chosen One, she still hated it when she put her role before herself. Her job before her humanity. It wasn't right. It shouldn't be so easy for her to do.

--

What seemed like hours later, she felt a person shaking her shoulder. Harriet blinked the sleep out of her eyes, looking around groggily. Someone had put her jacket back on her, and she was sort of grateful.

"Harriet Curtis?" A voice, a female voice sounded.

Harriet squinted, trying to make out her face, but only being able to see the dark hair that cascaded down to her waist, and her crooked nose. It was too dark, and her eyes hadn't adjusted. The person grabbed her hand, and pulled her to her feet. She noted the amulets weren't around her wrists, and she cast her gaze around the room, looking to see if anyone else had them on. Except, the others weren't there.

"Where's everyone else?"

The woman, no, the girl dropped her hand and walked to the door. "They are safe, for now. If you would follow me." She gestured to the door, which Harriet just realised was open. It led out to a dimly lit corridor, and the silhouette of the girl stood out more against the background. She could escape right now.

"Where are you taking me?" Harriet asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head at the girl. She simply sighed and said.

"I am helping you escape, is that not obvious?" The girl walked into the corridor, "Shall I just leave you here, or will you come with me?"

She shook her head, and walked over to the girl. Harriet stood just a few inches shorter than her, and she had to crane her neck slightly to see the other girl. "How do I know I can trust you?"

The other girl looked down at her, eyes cool and betraying no sign of emotion. "You can't." She replied shortly, turning on her heel, and striding quickly down the hall. There were no windows, but the walls seemed to be that of a normal house. Harriet took one last glance around the room, and followed the girl.

"Tell me your name, at least?"

The girl gave her an impatient sigh, and turned around, brown hair falling neatly at the sides of her face. "You can call me Katroina."