Eyes are the Windows

2.

   The wind howls over the abandoned waste lands of the Iagenet Desert, hammering right through Pheabee like she was nothing more than a piece of paper being beaten by the thrashing wind. The combined cold and thrashing of the wind made it hard to keep her eyes open, because if she did surely the liquids covering her eyeballs would dry out, but sleep was a luxury she couldn't afford tonight. Not with the unforgiving winds and the Opthals never sleeping and never ending hunt for her life. Everyday was a battle to get through and every night was just another burnden for Pheabee to bear.

   She covered her face with a jacket she had wrapped around her waist to shield her from the whirlwind of sand and beating winds. With protection from the wind, she could finally open her eyes. Not that is was any sort of relief, it was almost difficult to open them with all the crusted sand holding them together like glue, but maybe she thought being able to look around, even if it was just to see the thin fabric of her jacket, would be some kind of security that she could use to keep her fear from spilling out of her mouth. On the contrary, seeing the flailing nearly useless jacket made her fear rise up so quickly in the form of bile, she barely had time to remove the jacket from her face so she could cough up her intestines, as there was nothing else she could be hurling. After she'd finished heaving what could be the only fluids she had left in her body and once she'd relocated her resting place away from the puddle and smell of barf, she returned the jacket back to cover her face.

How long had it been since she'd had a decent meal? Or any meal for that matter? When was the last time she had sat down just to eat? Not because she was hungry, but because it was just part of her day? She was so exhausted and delusional. Too exhausted to think straight or filter her memories between real or just dreams. She could feel silent tears sliding down her face. Real or fake? She moved her hand to her face to feel wet tracks where the tear had raced down her face to pool at her collarbone. The tears only multiplied from there, faster and each one laced with more emotion than the last. Soon she was hugging her knees and sobbing in her chest, heaving with the reality and emotions she hadn't let herself think of. She was going to die out here, or she was going to die on an operation table in the Driorechaeus Mountains, or in exile on one of the Enigma Isles. Every single option she had would result in her death, and each death would be alone where no one would realise she had left this world. Know one would care for her absence or mourn over her grave and leave flowers every week. Her sobbing and heaving had eddied off to a silent weeping and shivering that took over her body. She was so tired. Had she been this tired before? Her eyelids drooped and warned that a wave of unconsciousness was coming her way, and she let it. She let the wave sweep over her and enveloped her in a dreamless sleep.

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Pheabee woke to the feeling of shackles on her wrists and ankles and a gag between her teeth and wrapped around the back of her head. Her eyes flew open. Scanning everything. She was in some kind of metal box, a cage maybe? It was moving up and down ever so slightly and the sound of an engine told her that this was the back of some kind of vehicle. The shock came slowly, then all at once fear barged in front and started banging on the walls of the ever shrinking box. It was too late, the box had surrounded her and they had found her. She let out a muffled scream and wiggled around in her constraints like a fish out of water. Wait, no. Wriggling like a worm and screaming like a banshee wouldn't help her now. This wasn't something she could tantrum her way out of. If she focused hard enough, she could feel the faint out-of-body and foggy minded sensation that only drugs could supply. If she continued to wallow like a child they would likely beat her then drug her off to sleep again, then she would have no chance of escape. She needed a plan, and fast. With the strange cloudy headed affect the drugs had on her made it hard to think straight.

First order of business, this mangy gag needed to get away from her mouth. She pushed against it with her tongue to get it over her teeth and hooked over her chin to rest around her neck.