OPEN NOVELLA CONTEST - LONG LISTED
Safety was never an option.
She has nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere safe to reside. No matter how far she runs or how quiet she hides, they always find her. She will never be free of her hunters. Theresa k...
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Everything is sticky from the blood that pools around Theresa. She's still alive? How? The pain is so much that it feels like nothing. Aside from the slickness the runs between her fingers, she can feel something solid and smooth. Her vision is blurry as she opens her eyes, blinking away the spotty clouds. Another cell. Another cage. Theresa sighs, slumping against the ground again. Why couldn't it be over? Was it necessary for the pain to be dragged out this long?
A cough echoes around the dark chamber, making her flinch. She grits her teeth, eyes almost closing. Her stomach feels like it's falling out onto the smooth floor, and her legs are mere sacks of blood, emptying slowly.
"You awake?"
Theresa's heartbeat quickens. She clenches her knuckles, bile shooting into her mouth as blood squelches through her fingers.
"Don't move. They left you to bleed."
Taking a deep breath, Theresa did exactly the opposite of that. Clasping her lips shut and biting down on the side of her cheek, she sits so she can swivel her body and lean against the bars. Her vision comes to her now as the pain eats away at her. Everything in the dark lights up, revealing a multitude of cells. Most of them are empty. All but one on the opposite side of hers, three to the right. They also lean against the bars, watching her quietly.
"You are strong."
"W—" Her voice comes out as a squeak, gurgling in her throat as she swallows the blood and bile back down. "Who are you?" she finishes, clenched fists trembling.
"I'm their other play toy." They shift slightly, putting their face into a lighter space between the bars. It's not much of a difference, but it's enough for her to see shortcut hair, stubble on the chin and scars covering the face like freckles.
"W-What did they d-do to you?" Theresa gasps for some air, leaning toward slightly.
They stare into the darkness. "Put me in the arena. I had to fight for my life, just like you. They keep you alive until something actually kills you."
"Arena?"
"That's what you were in, with the panther and the wolves."
Theresa closes her eyes, head throbbing from the pain. Most of it was physical, but it also hurts trying to process the information. "Are you like me or them?" she manages, opening her eyes again.
"Aburu? No. But we're both Naturian."
"Aburu?"
"We are both Naturian. We have strange ears and pointy teeth, unlike the humans." They shift against the bars of the cage. "But you have the black thing that moves under your skin, right? It destroys things at your command?"
"Nothing is at my command."
They stare at her strangely. "It makes you an Aburu. You are a cursed Naturian; cursed by Creo, who has been cursed by God. They are called the Aburu."
