Waking up from a hit to the face is an odd experience. The sting in my face went from a slow ebb to a loud shrill, I bit back a groan. My body was pressed to a warm, wooden flooring, my other arm bent at an uncomfortable angle. 

"Ah, she's awake," The words filtered through my murky conscious.

"Imagine that, leaving on your wedding night,"

A wave of nausea overcame me, I dug my forehead into the floorboards, struggling to regain my senses. My cheek. The hit. The escape.

That's right.

My eye prickled with tears, I wanted to scream.

"If what you say is true then we'll accept your plea for a house arrest. She is not to leave, otherwise we'll definitely consider alternate methods,"

"Thank you," A grave-sounding voice, Eli's voice.

A pang of sadness ran through me as the events of last night ran through my mind. I was lifted off of the floor and taken outside, I felt the cold run through me, freezing my bones. My breath hitched.

"I know you're awake," Eli's voice, full of bitter and hurt. I gathered my surroundings, there was a unit of four or so Hunters around us, all of them armed.

I bit hard on my lip, slowly finding my own footing and doing my best to walk forth. Silence was my best policy in this situation. The two of us slowly shuffled to Eli's house. I could feel the weight of many eyes set on us. Townspeople, leaning out to get a look. I caught a glimpse of Charlotte, her mouth open in horror as she watched as I passed. I looked away and forwards, shame flushing across my chest.

We reached Eli's home, the two of us entering into the living room, a dark cloud hanging over. Eli still had a slight scent of alcohol to him; reminiscent of a happier night. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair fraying from his braid. My chest hummed with apprehension and I shifted awkwardly, looking away from his bloodshot glare.

All of the guards filtered out of the house, save for a stockier-looking man who I recognised as the leader.

"Marian, you are under indefinite house arrest for the time being being. Depending on how you proceed and act over the period of your pregnancy will determine how your situation will change from there. Luckily, your petition on behalf of your husband has been received and you will not be sentenced to jail if you act accordingly to our community standards. Good day,"

Eli petitioned for me not to go to jail. 

I'm married. 

My escape failed and now I'm under house arrest.

The door closed. It was just Eli and I, alone in the room with an incredibly thick layer of tension between us. I looked up to him, he stared back. His eyes welled, a stark contrast with the red rim that came with sleeplessness.

I wanted to sleep, I didn't want to be here where Eli was staring at me with the kind of eyes that crushed souls.

He was the one that brought me here in the first place.

My fists clenched and my fury bubbled. I was not going to be guilt tripped into something I was unashamed of doing. I turned, making my way to the bedroom.

"Where," Eli hissed, "do you think you're going?"

"Away from you," I managed coldly. The bruise on my forehead still stinging.

"Come back here," Eli's voice was deadly. I stilled. When he didn't speak again, I turned slightly. He shook his head, "you don't understand what you've done,"

"I think I do," I spat.

Eli shook his head, "You have just made both of our lives so, so much worse,"

"Well I was trying to leave anyway," The words blurted out.

"No!" Eli shouted, I flinched back. Eli's anger was almost visibly simmering now, he shook his head, "now we are both stuck in a prison that is impossible to escape,"

"And it sucks, doesn't it?" I cried, "now you know how it feels,"

"You are so selfish," Eli shouted, "if it wasn't you then it would've been someone else! No matter how it happened. For someone who always goes on about the righteousness of others, you can barely afford to sacrifice yourself,"

I didn't have an answer to that.

Instead, I levelled my view at him. In my coldest voice, I managed.

"I hope I die, and I hope you're forced to watch,"

Spinning on my heel, I slammed the bedroom door behind me. My back hit the door and the fiery willpower that burned brightly within me diminished as I slid down, collapsing into a sobbing heap.

...

I wish I could say that the next few weeks moved easily and quickly. But they didn't. I spent the first few days confined to the bedroom, in a chair that I'd dragged up to the only window. Eli only visited to bring me food. We didn't talk but on the third day, he was the first to break.

"Marian, please," I didn't budge. In fact, his plea sent a well of tears springing to my eyes. Now wasn't the time, I still wasn't ready to talk about this.

Instead, I would go back to the book which he'd afforded me. Sometimes I would stare out the window, dreaming of the sticky Spring days back at home, the taste of lemon iced tea, how the Jacaranda tree would blanket the ground in a carpet of blue. How swinging back and forth on the swing would only add to that.

And I thought about my family. Were they thinking of me? Did they mourn? Was it selfish of me to hope that maybe, just maybe they were still looking for me? Had they travelled to Canada to work with the Police? Had they found Kacey's car? Had they pieced together enough evidence?

Or had any suspicion been stamped out by Eli's people?

Sometimes I'd loose myself in hours of endless thought. So I'd turn back.

Baby names... Perhaps Charlotte? Or maybe Elisha.

So I'd loose myself, staring past the circling flurries and distant figures moving back and forth.

I wasn't the one to hold grudges well, so when Eli told me that he'd be going into town for a few days and that his brother would be looking after me, I sagged with relief.

Daniel had a darker head of hair then his brother and possessed more of a leaner frame. However, while Eli was concerned in practicality, Daniel was concerned in other affairs. Conversation came naturally. We talked about politics, travelling, morality, community dramas and pretty much anything else except Eli or my life before. We gained an unspoken understanding throughout our time together.

Daniel was two years younger than I was, but his love for the community and the good of all was beyond his years. While I took to the kitchen, Daniel studied. Over meals we'd debate and chat and after the chores were done, we'd return to our respective readings.

The feminist that I used to be, would've normally baulked at the idea of cleaning houses and cooking meals. To me, it didn't matter, if the house was dirty, that was my fault, if I was hungry, that was also my fault. Daniel was too busy studying to be of proper use in the household and I sometimes wondered if he was more set as a companion than a guard.

"What are you studying?" I asked. It'd been just over a week since the wedding and Daniel and I had set into a comfortable routine.

"Politics," Daniel murmured, "hopefully I'll be able to work my way up and serve my community externally,"

I nodded thoughtfully, clearing the rest of the dishes, "And what inspired you to get into that?"

"The Elders recommended it to me. Said that we always need intelligent men on our side in those areas," Daniel beamed. My breath caught in my throat.

"Is that... normal? Growing up here and then going into the outside?"

"Well..." Daniel paused, "not incredibly common. Different people are destined for different things. Most prefer to stay. It's a safe haven. But if they're successful, if they explode with a business or go into politics or the police or any other kind of respectable career. The Elders are happy with that,"

"Understandable," I nodded, my stomach sinking. How far did this go? What did this mean for my chances of escape?

Escape seemed like the last thing to address as I laid over the toilet in an almost ritualistic morning event. Morning sickness, almost every day. My mind would flip and pain would arc across my forehead. I'd sit by the bowl for a few, very long moments before getting to work.

When Eli returned, I immediately missed Daniel's presence. Refusing to give up my expanded territory of the kitchen, I continued to cook and clean. Every day, the house would be scrubbed clean. Eli didn't say much but a few words in passing. He'd spend most of the day at the markets, trading items but always bringing another stock of firewood just after the sun set.

We avoided one another, and that's the way it worked. He slept on the couch and I slept in the bed. The flurries outside began to taunt me and there was only so many times I could pace the perimeter of the house.

My first time stepping outside in almost three weeks came when it was time for my first ultrasound. It was done by a woman I hadn't met yet; Doctor Carmen. A recent arrival, she introduced herself as the doctor that would be tracking our pregnancy. Eli was pleased, standing behind me.

Tests and scans and more fancy words thrown at me. It bounced off and fell around me as I was face with the reality that I was pregnant at eighteen. I would have to care for another human being where I was barely able to care for myself.

This all rushes to the forefront when we first heard the heartbeat of the baby. Dr Carmen had a beaming smile on her face.

"Everything's looking great!" She smiled. I nodded biting my lip, my vision blurring and a tear slipping out. Soon it was two and I was sniffling. I couldn't do this.

Dr Carmen seemed to understand and we quickly wrapped everything up with me booking in another prenatal appointment in two weeks. It was unusual but necessary, Dr Carmen insisted, especially since the harsh environment that I'd been in.

Eli held me the hold way back, like a shattered china teacup that was seconds away from falling apart into nothing. After shuffling through the snow and making it back into the house, Eli let me to the singular comforter in the living room. He kneeled before me.

"Marian," My name was a whisper on his lips, a gentle plea. Through teary eyes, I looked up. The tears may have frozen but I was still barely holding up appearances. I wanted to wail, I wanted to cry, I wanted to slam my hands against the wall and scream about how freaking unfair it was for me to be dragged into this mess.

Eli placed a warm hand against my cheek. It was a welcome gesture of support.

"Marian you need to listen to me," Eli whispered, "for the good of you, and the baby, we need to put this behind us,"

I wanted to crumbled. Of course he would say that.

I shook my head fractionally. "I already tried," It was a whispered lie. Of course I hadn't tried to put it behind me. The man abducted me. How could I just, forget that?

"You need to try harder. If you keep going like this, you'll be stuck in this house for the rest of your life,"

"Yeah," I whispered bitterly, "and continue to pump out enough kids to be used in your doomsday army before you throw my body into the snow,"

Eli blinked, then chuckled. "Where did you get that from?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I sneered, "you're stuck with me so you're trying to make your prison sentence feel a little better before you're done with me,"

Eli shook his head, his voice low, "I don't know where you're getting this from. I'm doing this because I love you. I can't continue living like this because I love you."

A lump stuck in my throat, "Then why would you do this to me?"

Eli sucked a breath in through his teeth and breathed out before answering.

"We all have a test before we're allowed to the Claiming Ceremony, right? For the men, we have our training followed by our test, for the women, it's the test followed by the training," He stilled, gathering his next thoughts, "we'd gone through weeks upon weeks of gruelling abuse, I mean, you know what it's like. I'd built my home from the ground up, I'd established myself as a respected figure and then... the final test. We were supposed to spend an undetermined amount of weeks in the wilderness. We didn't know how long or short it'd be. Kind of like the ending to yours,"

I nodded, a lump sticking in my throat.

"The next ridge over was my best friend, we were all networked into the same radio channel and it was a toss up between enjoying the conversations with others and letting your batteries run dry. Anyway, a few weeks in, we were all hit by this insane blizzard, like something I've never seen before. I was especially worried about avalanches,"

Eli took another breath, he can't continue holding my gaze.

"My friend called through to tap out. His shelter had been buried in the snow and there was no hope of him getting out if they didn't act fast. Because we were so remote, I knew that he wouldn't have a lot of time. They wouldn't have been able to make it... So I gave up, I packed up my things, I crossed the line and broke the rules," Eli blinks rapidly, he looks up at me, "Marian, when I found him, I was sure that he was already dead,"

I looked away.

Eli took that as a sign to continue, "Thankfully, I was able to dig him out. And while my fast thinking was applauded, I'd still failed the Test. So the Elders took it upon themselves to develop a test specifically designed for me,"

"To find me," I whispered.

Eli nodded slowly, "To find myself a wife and have children with,"

A cold chill set over my bones. "I was your test," I croaked, tears springing to my eyes. How could I be so stupid? Everything was an act. Just so that he'd succeed in his stupid test. I wanted to leap up and run. I wanted to throw the nearest vase at him. Eli wasn't only my jailer, but my prosecutor as well. He'd brought me here, he'd kept me here, and he made sure that I wouldn't be able to escape.

"I'm sorry," Eli pleaded, pressing his forehead to my knees, "I am so so sorry,"

I looked down at him, so vulnerable, so lost. 

"I hate you," I whispered, tears rushing down my face. The final string of angst that had been holding me together, shattered. Instead, I joined him on the floor of the house, holding one another. Fatigue overwhelming me. It was too much. It was too much to handle.

Eventually, we fell asleep in one another's arms.