Chapter song: Find you- Ruelle

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I don't know how long I have been here; all I know is that I am cold. I am always cold. They must have taken my sweatshirt when they took me. I was left in my blood and dirt covered tank and torn leggings. I've become accustomed to the never-ending chill that seemed to wrack my bones and the burning pain slicing through my wrists. I rested my head against the wall as my tears flowed down my cheeks. I was surprised I even had any left at this point. Maybe this will be the end for me. My only regret was that I didn't get to say goodbye to my parents. Even though they hated each other and sometimes me. I knew the parents that held my hand when I went to my first doctor's appointment were still in there. I knew the parents that created such a magical winter season, when I believed in the joy and all the magic of childhood. Those memories are what kept me grounded on the days they spoke about how much they hated each other, how much they hated me.

I pulled my knees tighter against my chest as I silently wept against the wall.

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I jumped as I heard the iron door groaning as each bolt and lock was undone. I pulled the chains closer to my body as I scooted impossibly closer to the freezing stone wall.

"Are you ready to try again?" One of the men asked. I just stayed quiet not knowing what else to say.

"M-My name is Eleia." I whispered. "T-That... I-I." He cut me off by raising his hand up.

"How did you get here?" His tone was harsh and cold, this man emanated with pure power and disgust.

"I-I don't even k-know where I am." My teeth were chattering as my voice grew quieter with each spoken word. "I-I do not leave the h-human l-lands." My body was violently shaking at this point.

He sighed before standing up and turning around.

"L-Let me g-go." I whispered, my breath a small cloud in front of my face.

I shrunk back against the wall as several people walked in. There was a beautiful woman, her stomach was swollen and protruding from her beautiful violet gown, she had a black, velvet cloak that sat atop her shoulders, and flowed around her tall body. Her eyes a beautiful shade of blue. She was truly stunning. The man who had spoken to me before was standing protectively around her. The other warriors also forming a circle of sorts around her. From me, I realized. They were protecting her from me.

She walked past them, gently pushing one of the men to the side. She crouched down in front of me earning a growl from the man.

"Hello." She whispered softly. This had to be a cruel joke. When she realized, I wasn't going to respond she continued. "My name is Evelyn Ayer. I am the Queen of this territory." My eyes widened slightly at that; I guessed these people were important but never that important. "I tell you this because we do not wish to hurt you, we only need to know that you are not a threat to our people."

"I-I am a human." I whispered. "I am not a threat to a-anyone."

She glanced at her husband, giving him a confused look.

"Humans do not exist." She spoke softly. "They do not exist here."

Great, just lovely.

"We have given you opportunity after opportunity to be honest. My patience has worn out." The man she kept looking at spoke. "Go ahead." I looked back at her with wide eyes, but it was too late. All I felt was pain as my mind got ripped open. I screamed out as I felt every memory, every moment in my life get filtered through. I screamed out until my throat gave in.

"Oh gods." She cried out as she backed away. "S-She was telling the truth. Axel, s-she was telling the truth.  I-I am so sorry, Eleia." She reached to touch me, but I thrashed away from her, my chains digging into my skin, blood leaked from my wrists staining my hands in red.

There were shouts in the room as chaos unfolded.

"Take care of this." He snapped to one of the warriors as he pulled the crying woman out of the room.

The other man walked up to me and knelt down in front of me. He reached for my wrist, but I yanked it away.

"I'm just going to heal you." He whispered. "It's alright." I didn't believe him as I tried to hide them under my tank top.

"Give them to me, now." He grounded out. I shook my head as silent tears fell down my cheeks. "They are going to get infected." I ignored him.

I screamed as I felt one of the warriors grab ahold of my body slamming me harshly into the wall. I cried out in pain, as I heard a mind-numbing snap of bone. I heard it before I felt the pure agony that erupted throughout my arm.

"You fucking idiot." The man snapped at the one holding me as he grabbed my wrists, I felt a weird sensation start at my fingertips, flowing into my skin and up my arms. The skin on my wrists was reforming itself, the pain in my arm was quickly subsiding. The man holding me dropped me quickly onto the floor. I heard a click in the metal, as the chains dropped to the stone floor around me.

"Can you stand?" He asked me quietly. I just nodded; I didn't want any of these people to touch me again.

I stumbled, nearly falling to the ground but his arms hoisted me back up. I thrashed against him until he let me go. His eyes and face stoic as he backed a step away from me. He walked behind me as the other warrior opened the door, leading the way out. I walked into the eerie hallway; torches lined the dark halls. We walked down the corridor passing several other cells identical to the one I was in.

"W-Where a-are we going?" I whispered, my vision slightly blurry from exhaustion and hunger.

"We need your cell for something else, you will get a new one." His voice not giving away any emotion. I tensed at the mention of another cell.

We walked up towards an elevator shaft carved into the jagged stone wall. We must be deep underground. I watched with wide eyes as we went up and up and up. It was as if there were thousands of cells within this place.

The platform suddenly came to a halt, causing my balance to waver slightly. We walked off and in front of us were several cells, none of these had a thick iron door though, just bars.

They pushed me into one before I had the opportunity to look around some more. I could hear a soft chuckle as my wrists were reconnected with tight iron shackles. I winced at the force but let them chain me back against the wall, accepting my fate.

The two men left the cell, locking it behind them before leaving without another word. I could hear the creak and groan of the elevator shaft leaving this floor.

I glanced up across from me to see a man, his dark hair falling in front of his face, concealing his eyes from my view. This room was less dark than my previous cell, but it was still difficult to see clearly.

"What did you do to end up here?" His voice was deep and rich and sent an unusual feeling through my body. I stayed silent as shivers continued to wrack through me. I pulled my legs up against my chest again as I leaned against the wall, trying to find some source of warmth. He suddenly stood up taking a step towards me. My eyes widened when I realized his shackles were nothing but pieces of shredded metal on the cement ground.

I scooted back again and squeezed my eyes shut.

I flinched back when I felt something get draped over my shoulders.

"Relax." He whispered. "I can't think straight when all I fucking hear is your teeth chattering." I cracked my eyes open slightly as I glanced up at him. His eyes were a striking shade of silver, it almost felt like I was looking into two pools of moonlight. Small scars were littered around his face, I noticed one going through his eyebrow and a few scattered across his jaw.

He stood frozen as he took in my appearance as well.

"You look like shit." He spoke quietly. I formed the best glare I could before slumping back down into myself. He stood up before walking over to his side of the cell and sat down, making it appear as if the chains were still around his wrists.

"H-How?" I whispered. He almost seemed startled that I could speak.

He ignored my question as a guard reached our cell with a cart. He threw two pieces of bread onto the floor and then pushed two small cups of water in.

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head from how intense I was looking at it. I managed to uncurl myself from my ball, before pushing myself towards it. I reached out my hand, but I couldn't reach. I cried out as my fingers brushed against it, pushing it away on accident.

He didn't speak as he got up and handed both small loaves of bread towards me.

"Y-You." I spoke quietly pushing the second one back towards him.

"You need it more than I do." He let out a humorless chuckle.

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My whole body lurched as the earth rattled snapping my eyes opened, I looked around frantically. Oh gods. I had fallen asleep. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I rubbed my eyes and was confused when I didn't feel the metal dig into my skin. I glanced down and saw my shackles were crumpled on the ground like his.

Speaking of him. He was gone.

The door was slightly ajar, this was my chance. I shot to my feet, swaying slightly and rushed through the metal barred door. No other cell seemed to be tampered with, at least on this level. I rushed into the elevator and watched as the platform descended to the floor I was on. I quickly got on, pulling a random lever, hoping that was the way up.

It went down.

I cursed myself out and quickly pulled it the other direction and loosed a breath of relief when it actually went up this time.

I could've cried at the marvelous sight around me, the stars, they seemed so...so other-worldly was it normal for the stars to look so much closer, so much more vibrant in other districts besides the human lands.

I barely had time to react as a shadowed figure blasted through the air around us slamming hard into a large lamppost. People were screaming and scattering in the streets, throwing whatever they were holding on the ground. I spun around trying to figure out what to do, where to go. When I saw it. A little boy, clutching a small teddy bear, was screaming in terror as one of the shadowed figures approached him. Dammit.

I charged towards the kid, using my body as a shield around him. I felt his small hands grip onto the back of my bloodied and torn tank top.

"G-Get a-away!" I yelled at whatever this thing was.

It prowled closer, snarling. Its body was entirely black, so dark that no light reflected off of it. It was as if all light had been absorbed. Shadows rained down in a phantom puddle around the beast's figure as it got closer and closer.

"Run." I breathed pushing the kid as fast as I could in the opposite direction. He took off, I was on his tail as we sprinted. He wasn't fast enough; the beast was a breath away from tearing us both apart limb by limb.

I grabbed the kid holding him against my chest as I turned sharply to the left. The beast skidded through the thing layer of snow and ice before charging towards us again. I ran down an alley in between two small stores. I continued sprinting until I reached a fucking wall. We were dead. I had just sentenced both of us to death.

"No. No. No" I snapped. I looked around for anything that could help us.

"Y-You h-have to get over it." I breathed, my chest heaving from running.

The kid thrashed, his grip not letting up on my body.

I was about to throw him over, when the growls sounded right behind us. I pushed him behind me, shielding his body once more as the beast inched closer, spittle flying everywhere as it bared its vicious teeth.

I slammed my eyes shut as it was about to lunge but the pain never came. My eyes shot open as I saw the man from earlier. He wasn't the one with the pregnant woman, but the other warrior. He brought his sword down on the beast neck, quickly severing it. His dark skin, covered in various shades of blood and bruises. I almost felt bad for him.

"Are you alright?" He asked walking over, that is when he noticed the small kid behind me. I quickly turned on my heel.

"A-Are y-you h-hurt?" My body was violently shaking, I didn't know if it was from the freezing cold or the near-death experience. Definitely both.

I jumped as I felt gloved hands on my shoulders.

"Come on." He spoke softly. I followed him with the small boy at my side. He reached up, gripping onto my pointer finger.

"Nathaniel!" I heard a woman shriek. Her black hair was trailing down around her body, her eyes a vibrant shade of purple. She grabbed the boy squeezing him tightly against her chest. Something in my heart cracked slightly at that. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She kept repeating as she pulled me into a hug. "I owe you a life debt, sweetheart." She cried against me.

I didn't even ask her what that meant. The only thing my mind could focus on was that fact that someone had wrapped their arms around me. Someone was hugging me. I couldn't remember the last time that happened.