The Captive ✔️ (#5 in the Our Side of The Dice series)

3. Sunny fields

Song for this chapter are:

Make it Right - BTS

I'm good - Tedashii

The tower - Alisa (Carole and Tuesday)

Everything I wanted - Billie Eilish

****

"My name is Dan. I'm sorry if I startled you. I can't say much, but I need to get you out of this field right now so you can get something to eat," he answered my question quickly.

He no longer wrapped his arms around my waist, but we both were still seated on the ground. Ironically, I was now thankful for the length of the weeds because it served as a natural barrier, and no one could see us.

But just in case, I peeped a little above the weeds, as long as my neck could stretch, and I was able to see the backs of the other slaves spread out across the field, engaging in thorough labor. I looked back at this stranger behind me, who seemed to be around my elder sister Demi's age but probably a little younger. My sister was eighteen years old. He looked fifteen.

He stared back at me. There was now a look of apprehension on his face, and he kept glancing sideways very often, cautious as to take note of the slightest unusual thing asides from what we were doing.

"Who are you? And how do you know that I've not had food to eat?" I asked.

"I'm a slave here as well. I just don't wear the same kind of clothing as the other slaves because I serve the loan shark himself and tend to his personal needs and dealings. Hence I'm a Chief slave. Just like that woman who took you to the dressing room. If you look closely at what she wore today, you will figure that she was wearing the same kind of clothing as I am."

He was right. They both dressed like medical assistants – a plain blue shirt on straight blue trousers. He paused and gave me a moment to recall, and when he got the hint in my expression that I seemed a little convinced, he swallowed and continued.

"So I was promoted by the loan shark as I was once a regular slave, basically; hence why I'm a Chief slave now. I tend to the affairs of the other slaves. I noticed you had not gotten any food to eat because I was the one who distributed the meals to the other slaves this afternoon."

"If it's that irritating piece of meat you gave others that you want to give me, then I don't want." I shook my head vehemently.

"It's not," he replied with an almost unnoticeable eye roll.

"But wait, If you're a Chief Slave, aren't you supposed to be aware that I shouldn't eat anything at all for the next four days? Because the other woman knows and she decided not to give me anything to eat since it's an order from the loan shark himself and also, the title of a Chief slave seems like a title for a grown-up person but you look like a teenager. How old are you?"

He bit his lip in what looked like impatience. He closed his eyes for a full minute and opened them right after he had taken a deep breath.

"I get why you want to know everything. It's okay to ask these questions and want to know everything, but now is not the time. See, I'm fourteen years old and take this as me favoring you because I choose to.

Please don't ask me why I'm choosing to favor you. Take it as it is. If you desperately need to eat, please quietly follow me. We have to run away from here before anyone sees us, " Dan breathed out.

Moments after, he broke the chains holding my legs together in a swift time-lapse, which made me gasp, momentarily terrified by his bizarre strength, but he gave me an awkward, stupid smile, assuring me that it was alright.