Salvation [manxman]

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I woke up to the delightsome warmth the duvet provided me with. I snuggled in deeper under the covers, inhaling the scent of the washing agent. It mixed in with the smell of roasted vegetables that were cooked somewhere in the house and filled the air with their delicious scent. I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes, given how cozy and relaxed I was feeling and just pulled the blanket further up. It slid up against my naked skin, tempting me to go back to sleep.

I kept dozing off several times, unable to gather the strength I would have needed to get out of bed. The warmth soothed my aching body and I just didn't want to move a muscle, ready to give in to the temptation of staying in bed all day. I sighed and rubbed my face against the silky  surface of pillows that were surrounding me. My master was going to be so upset that I wasted time being in bed and not cleaning his house. I froze up at the thought of my master, lying on the floor, unmoving as I bolted out of the house and into the woods.

The hunters. The hellhounds. Everything came flooding back at me, making it painfully clear to me that I couldn't possibly go back to my old life. This was just an illusion, the peace wasn't going to last. The thought of them coming for me felt like an ice cold kick in the stomach, making me curl up on myself, hugging my knees to my chest and making myself as small as I could. I needed to find a way out of here. I was about to crawl out of bed as a short knock interrupted me, making me retreat back under the covers.

"Yes?" I squeaked raspily, nervously licking my lips.

I extended my claws, in case I had to defend myself as the door opened slowly. A meadow nymph stuck his head through the door, smiling friendly at me. His hair had the color of wild wheat and coral eyes. Maybe he would help a fellow nymph run away but I highly doubted it. My kind was known to be extremely loyal to their master if treated right and I didn't want to find out how they were treated first.

"You are awake!" He beamed at me, coming into the room. "Master was worried about you. That's why I'm here looking for you."

He sounded like the one from last night that had heard me crash through the trees and alerted the other one. He skipped over to the bed, sat down the clothes and looked at me expectantly. It dawned on him after a few seconds that I wasn't going to change with him looking at me, which made him roll his eyes and turn around, facing the wall. I waited for a moment before I peeled back the blanket, missing the warmth it provided me with instantly.

"You must be hungry." He concluded while I got rid of my top that now only consisted of a few strands of silk. "Lunch is currently prepared downstairs. If you hurry up with dressing yourself we might be able to get down there before Mateo steals all the good stuff and leaves us with the potatoes."

I just dropped the remnants of the top onto the floor, given that it wasn't wearable anymore anyway. My old master had liked to dress us up with as least coverage as possible. We used to think that he just wanted to show us off to the visitors we had but there was a different reason behind that. I shuddered at the memory and was thankful that they had given me just regular chiton for males that fit my navy blue hair. I wished I had a hair clip to put it up with. It currently was just a disheveled mess of wavy strands that came down to my shoulders while I was still covered in dirt and dried mud from last night.

I tapped against his shoulder, signaling him it was okay to turn around now. He gave me a short glance before walking to the door, waiting for me to follow. I didn't want to leave the room. Right now, in here I was safe and leaving meant they would take me and hand me over to the hunters. But I didn't have much choice did I? They could just come in here and drag me out anyway, there was no use hiding anywhere.