The Winged

7- Captive

"What are you?" He asked aloud, as if pondering the question.
I bit my quivering lip and pushed myself backwards, up the slanted floor of glass in some useless bid to get away from him. To get away from how he was examining me. He sighed, jolting the jar so I would be flung towards him again, "So small..."
Sam gave a smile as he lowered me down, placing the prison atop a plastic table in the tent. There weren't any sleeping-bags or normal human equipment I knew about in the tent, only their bags and various other things. I made a guess that this wasn't where he was supposed to sleep.

He sat down in front of the table, causing the jar to shudder with the movement as he did. I couldn't have been any more aware of just how strong the creature before me was, or how staggeringly big. And you're trapped. He trapped you. My mind wouldn't let me forget it.
Giving the glass a sharp flick that resonated all around me, he laughed when I tried to stumble away. There was nothing but more walls to knock against.
Sam's voice was practically deafening, "Look at you in there... how have you been surviving? You can't possibly look after yourself, you're so small."
I quivered as if freezing, "I'm... not small," though I certainly felt like I was, "You're just huge!" The first words I had spoken made me sound like I was three, not sixteen.
He tilted his head at the statement, doing nothing but continue to peer at me as I tried to appear brave.
"You could look at it that way, I suppose." The human murmured.

The two of us just stared at each other for a bit, neither one of us moving. The only difference between us was that I was staring up at my giant capturer with dread, whilst he was looking at me with a sort of... pleasure. After a second, his voice broke the silence. "So you're... one of a kind?" He murmured.
My heartbeat had been slowly decreasing to an acceptable level whilst he remained seated and away from me. Those words sent it spiking again. Not alone— he hadn't asked if I was on my own in the forest... the words that the human had uttered were 'one of a kind'. I tried not to wince at how he had phrased it.
"How has a girl like you survived all this time, all alone... out in the big forest?" He persisted, leaning towards me ever so slightly.
I clambered away from him, but still managed a yell, "I manage just fine. I would sooner be out there than be here with you!"

You fool- As soon as the words were out I regretted them, clamping my mouth shut. Eyes wide, I stared up at him, awaiting a reaction. The human only let out a muffled laugh, still careful not to be too loud. "You're noisy, for a little thing," he teased.
I could feel my cheeks flush with heat. "Stop calling me small!" I demanded, with just a hint more confidence. He only raised his eyebrows and gazed at me, a small smile creeping onto his face. My knees were weaker than when I had made the outburst... and with every moment that passed, the more I wished that the words had never left my throat at all. My flash of bravery drained as quickly as it arrived when he began to reach for the jar that held me.

The human's fingers grabbed the top and pulled it towards him. The glass bottom raked and scratched against the table under my feet in an awful sound of grinding plastic. I was struggling to remain standing, shoving myself hard against the back wall of the jar as he dragged it to him.
"Look at your little face, you've gone all red," he was watching me, "Like your hair. It's very bright— What kind of creature are you?"
A whine caught in my throat. Creature. He was talking about me as if I was some insect. Peering in at me with the same sort of look too. I glowered at him, knowing that he was watching my reactions to every word that was spoken.
The giant smiled, "Oh, sorry. Not a creature, are you? You're a Winged. Like a butterfly."
He watched the way I wrinkled my nose at his words, pressing myself against the back wall of the jar even fiercer. Quite abruptly, his eyes narrowed, a thoughtful gaze growing on his face. I didn't have time to try and work out what it meant.

A squeak rung over my head as the black lid began to spin and clatter against the glass. The sound resonated in my ears. Snapping my head upwards to gawk with horror made no difference.
No. I clutched fistfuls of my vest, chest heaving. My heart dropped when he lifted the topper away from the prison, opening the passage to me. Why is he- He placed the lid beside me on the table. Eyes turned slowly onto me. I felt the breath drain from my chest.
"What are you doing?" It came out as a whisper.
He shrugged, "I'd like to have a look at you." Before I could say anything more, huge fingers snaked down through the opening, stretching towards me.