I have 30 chapters planned, but the last will be like an epilogue, so no drama, just a conclusion. So this is the penultimate "dramatic" chapter. Things start getting more "tense" and "climatic" yay. How well I will write these I do not know.
Okay stop rambling, here ya go!
After staring helplessly at Maddy, Jana just shook her head, sighing. No one knew the answer to that question.
"I guess we wait for the others to find us, then…what time do you think it is?"
Jana glanced at the sky; the sun had long set, yet by the position of the stars she could somehow tell how many hours had been taken by the night.
"I'd say about one…"
Maddy groaned, throwing her head back; she found herself looking through the trees at the sky. Strings of grey cloud, outlined by the glow of the moon - nearly at its fullest after yesterday's full moon - were stretched across the inky blanket. Maddy always thought the sky was a bit like a dark piece of paper sprinkled with glitter; the stars sometimes changed, and that was when someone had shook it. Maddy hoped her friends were also looking at the sky - that would mean they were out looking for her.
"So they surely would've noticed we were gone, right?" Jana prompted, and Maddy realised Jana had been staring at her for a while. Perhaps she shouldn't get so lost in her thoughts.
"My parents, maybe…or not. I didn't exactly tell them I was going…"
"So, they wouldn't notice you were gone?"
"Maybe?"
"Maddy."
"They were asleep." She confessed, flopping back down. Burying her face in her hands, her hair falling around as she hated herself for her stupidity.
"But Shan, Rhydian and Tom know, don't they?"
"Yes, but they won't realise I'm gone until school!" She exclaimed slightly petulantly, clenching and unclenching her fists. Her breathing had sped up, air rushing from her mouth erratically; she was panicking. And she needed to stop.
"It'll be okay, Maddy. We'll just have to wait until then."
"Maybe, but it's still my fault." She peered through her hair to see Jana's pitying eyes searching hers. She noticed that Jana was biting her lip; if Jana was concerned, then this was definitely disastrous.
"You told me not to trust them, and I completely ignored you."
"That's not your fault though, Mads,"
"How is it not?!"
"You had every right not to believe me. I didn't exactly have much proof." Maddy shook her head stubbornly.
"Plus, this would've happened either way. You were still going to go."
"True. But I still could've told someone. Me Ma; I should've told her." She sighed again.
Jana wrapped her arm around Maddy and pulled her into a hug.
"Should we sleep now?"
"Probably." Maddy whispered sleepily, leaning her head against Jana's shoulder. Her eyes snapped open again.
"If you don't mind…"
"Not at all." Jana placed her head on top of Maddy's; she could smell the herbal shampoo.
"I can do this, anyway." Maddy chuckled quietly.
"True."
"What are they gonna make us do all day?" Maddy yawned, having just woke up with a stiff neck. The dry leaves on her clothes didn't help.
"Sit and get bored?" Jana offered, glancing at the sleeping campsite. It was about 8, and they were all asleep.
They remained in silence for a few minutes. It was freezing, so they snuggled together. Maddy's clothes were thin, and the last thing she wanted was pneumonia. The trees creaked in the wind, and there was not a single sound of humming cars. It was winter, so most animals were in hibernation, and everything just felt like a horror movie. Like the one she watched before meeting Rhydian.
"Why don't we just run?"
Jana looked up, frowning. "What?"
"Everyone's asleep; why don't we just run for it?"
"Because we don't know where we are, we're tired, they'll notice we're gone, and if we leave then we won't be helping the situation at all and they'll attack our packs." Jana ticked off the reasons, then paused; eyebrows creasing as she frowned at Maddy.
"But surely you already knew that?"
"I guess. I just needed to be told it. For it to be certain. To crush all dreams." She laughed half-heartedly, collapsing back to the ground like her body was sighing. "Sorry."
"Oh okay. Don't worry, Maddy. I get it."
"Sorry…I mean, okay." She corrected herself after receiving a glare from Jana.
They sat facing the forest for a few silent minutes, arms behind them in support as they gazed casually around them. When they had first awoken, it had been nearly dark; it was winter, after all, and waking up just opened them up to the chills - both of the atmosphere and the temperature. But now, as the sun dared set foot over the horizon, golden flecks were littered over the floor. Few songs drifted through the skeletons; bone-white frost glittered; and the forest made everything feel secluded - protected from everything else. It was ironic, really; the gold and shine of the atmosphere would normally show hope, but they both knew it only meant having to face the Wildbloods - but then, Maddy mused, when had anything been how it seemed. She need only to look at her past to realise that.
"So we're really stuck here, then."
"Yep."
"And we can't even go for a run." Maddy shook her head at her own observation, disbelief in her voice. Jana "hmm"ed in agreement, and they collapsed back into silence. Maddy just kept staring, letting time drift away, her lips sealed shut.
"Have you wondered why they took you?"
"Hmm?" Maddy dragged her eyes away from her daydreams as she questioned Jana quietly - absentmindedly. "What? Sorry, I wasn't listening." she added with a subdued laugh.
"Have you ever wondered why they took you?" Jana repeated patiently, not breaking eye contact, and supporting Maddy with a small smile - her only reaction to Maddy's laugh.
Maddy nodded slowly; looked back to the forest. They were all still asleep - for now.
"Not really. I didn't have time." Maddy could feel her voice sharpening, so she took a breath, ending in a sigh. "All I was worried about was that this would keep my pack safe. Nothing else mattered."
"Fair enough."
"Why'd you ask?"
"Well, it all seems a bit…odd, doesn't it?" Jana was met with a blank face, trying to understand. "You've got a pack of Wildbloods, who hate tames, and have a really strict culture, who are suddenly happy to have a tame, instead of attacking another pack? Since when did these people turn down a good fight?" Maddy couldn't tell if Jana was trying to make a point, making rhetorical questions, or if she was generally confused. She didn't think Jana knew, either.
"So, what do you think-"
"I don't know, Maddy." The forest seemed to be a good place to stare, so Jana turned away. She shook her head, chuckling - probably at herself - but it almost looked like tears were pricking her eyes, her eyebrows were furrowed. It was a laugh of disbelief, like Maddy had down earlier. But it came with a lot more bitterness.
"I just don't know."
"Okay…well, obviously there was-" Jana raised her eyebrows, before her eyes reminded Maddy of their surroundings. "Okay, is, something special about me, which they want. Whether they are actually annoyed at our pack specifically or not."
"What makes you think that?"
"Well, since you raised the question, the same can be applied to why they "trained" me. And that was surely before they hated on us?"
"Seems about right."
"So I think they would have done that for the same reason as why they took me. You know a lot about these packs. You DO, Jana. So, what would you say these people would want most?" Jana mused over it for a few minutes, and Maddy watched - there was something enthralling about watching someone's eyes dancing side to side as their brain worked. Suddenly, those eyes widened, but before Jana could speak, a gruff voice tore through them.
"Good morning, cubs." Ian was standing behind them; they had been facing away from camp, so his tent was behind them.
"Morning." They gave a stiff reply, glaring up at him with equally cold eyes. He started guffawing.
"Oh, you little cubs. Think you're so clever. So," he leant down and whispered in their ears, and Maddy could smell the stench in his breath. "Powerful." He stood up again. "But you're not, are you? Eh? We've got you here, haven't we? And oh, you don't even know how much power we have over you." He was menacing, mysterious. It was capturing, in a dangerous way. Maddy shared a glance with Jana, and had the unsettling feeling that Jana was even more scared than she was. Did she know something Maddy didn't?
The camp was stirring around them. The hunters were all up and ready to kill. Everyone was in their place. Everything was so organised.
"Now. I'll return to get you" he shook one bloodied, dirtied finger at Maddy. "In a minute. Renny will deal with you." He waved Jana off casually, saving her from a piercing glare. Feeling Jana's hand take hers, Maddy watched him stroll off to the healers with a churning in her stomach.
"I think I know what they'd want."
Jana whispered gingerly.
"What is it?"
Ian kept throwing wicked glances at Maddy, making her stomach turn each time.
"It's a bit over the top, and extreme, but so are they. But-"
"Jana, what is it?!" Maddy insisted. Ian was coming back. He was coming back, and quickly. He was going to take her away, he was going to take -
"Tames. They'd want to kill the tames." Maddy's eyes widened and her heart beat like a drum but he was here, he was here and he was taking her away by her arm and all Maddy could do was look back urgently at a shaken Jana with resistant but believing eyes, as the words echoed - no, taunted - in her head.
They'd want to kill the tames.
