Year of no Stars

Chapter 4

...the excitement is wearing off and I still got like 20 chapters to do... 

Year of no Stars- Chapter 4

    My eyes blink open to a bright light. Gazing upwards, I stare at the source and it isn’t the sun. It burns my skin instead of being soaked up and warming my shivering body. Shuffling my hands along my side, my sense of feel takes over as my vision is spotted by the blinding illumination above me. I discover foreign material around me, encasing my bare skin like a cocoon. It flows down from my shoulders to my ankles and rubs uncomfortably against me. What is this?

    I sit up and pain flushes through my aching muscles. Where is Misah? Where am I? I hear voices, murmuring through the walls. I can hear screams; human screams. Where is Corlia? Is she all right? Am I all right? Panic flushes through me and I throw myself from this unknown thing I lay upon, my hands and feet slipping on the smooth surface. It is most definitely not earth.

    The entrance to my chamber opens and a human walks in. He is draped in a white coat, holding a piece of flat wood. A lady struts in behind him, her long silky hair proper up on the back of her head in the strangest way. I crouch in a defensive position and growl at my opponents. The male comes closer with little fear, the female staying back.

     “It's all right,” he says gently. “I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to make sure you're healthy.”

    My growl deepens, rumbling in my throat as I study him intensely. He has features like mine, in ways that I differed from the wolves. His sleek hair flops down in his face unlike mine which is choppy and stays out of my eyes. He is old, older than any human I have ever seen. The male jots something down with a strange utensil on the wood, nodding his head. It seems as if he is studying me as well.

     “Don’t be scared,” he says soothingly, leaning out a hand and I bare my teeth, snapping at his fingers. My unusually large canines catch his flesh and I lick my lips, satisfied. He says I word I have never heard and steps back. “You don’t need to be scared, young girl.”

    When I don’t reply, he signals for the female to approach him and whispers, believing I cannot hear him, “Most feral children can’t speak or even understand English or any language.” She nods and leaves the room, probably to tell someone else.

    “I can understand you perfectly fine,” I growl through grinning teeth.

    His expression is full of shock yet almost pleased. He seems curious, leaning closer to me. “Where did you learn, child?”

    I think about telling him about the wolves and our ancestors but my instincts tell me not to. I had rarely ever lied in my life but my family’s secrets are on the line. “I would listen to hunters while they were near.”

   Suspicion sparks his words. “Interesting, and just by listening, you have perfect language skills?”

    It is a challenge and I accept it. I bare my unusually pointed canines to him fiercely, growling. Be fearful; I am an animal and you cannot tame me. “You have a problem with that?”

    “No, no. Of course not,” he responds.

    I tense my muscles, broadening my shoulders and stare him in the eyes. I want answers and I want them now. “Where is the wolf that was with me when I was attacked?”

    “Child-” he begins but I throw myself at him with a cry. He’s thrown from where he sits, his head knocking against the wall. I have him pinned and he is my prey. I can hear rustling in the halls, hard footsteps against the strange, smooth rock floor.