They had been traveling for hours now, the sun stayed in front of her as a sign that noon had passed a long time ago. They hadn't stopped once since they began moving again. She wasn't exactly doing much exercise, but it was getting tiring.
They finally stopped in another clearing. They had been jumping around the trees without tripping a single time; these people were magical as they were evil. Prostitution is a joke; they might be going to sacrifice her to the gods! Ha!
She really had no idea what had been going on for a while and she was starting to lose her mind. She was either hallucinating all of it or it was just some fucked up dream. If it really was reality she was going to do what she always does with problems: act oblivious until it goes away.
She had had some time to think about what was going on and she had decided that she'd rather not know. A wise decision if you asked her.
The guy who had been carrying her said something but she didn't catch a thing, foreign language, you see. He was probably threatening her or something. Obviously she wasn't going to do anything; he had already proven himself stronger, faster and overall more capable than her. That didn't mean she had forgotten about escaping.
He had already tied her around a tree before she could even blink, what was going on with this guy? She kept her face as blank as she could manage and her eyes gazed away from his face. She was starting to get sick of being submissive, but she knew it the only thing was keeping her relatively unharmed.
She could feel his eye on her, looking at her with annoying scrutiny: she was being analyzed. Her face remained impassible and devoid of emotion, there was only emptiness in her eyes as she let her guard down, if he wanted to do anything to her no one would stop him. She noted Bandage Man slightly eyeing them from afar; he looked like he was trying to hide his interest. She hated that she had taken advantage of his compassionate trust to try to escape, he was probably going to get in trouble but whatever. Not really her fault. What would he have done in her place?
She knew she was giving nothing away, just looking weak and submissive with her nose pointing to the ground and her dropped shoulders. He was probably seeing nothing but a fragile, helpless girl lying in front of him usually men enjoy being able to intimidate others. She wonders what he is thinking about her, deep she wants to be acknowledged by him as a decent threat but she is realistic enough to know that if he did nothing good would come out of it.
A hand peaked through her peripheral vision and poked her in the cheek.
Her eyes widened and she took a sharp breath at the sudden movement, she felt her chest tighten and a familiar emotion bubbled in her, making her throat close and her jaw clench. She could take being looked over, laughed at but he was humiliating her. She let her eyes meet his in an act of defiance for a second before looking away and relaxing her body again, taking in controlled breaths. He seemed taken aback by the pure fury in her eyes. Good, she mentally smirked and slapped herself for letting her emotions out. He corrected his posture so he was leaning forward again seeking another emotional outburst, but she blinked the anger away. She wasn't going to show that again, even after he poked her again, this time pulling away his finger quickly like he thought she was going to try to bite it off.
She might not have a lot of dignity left but she doesn't bite. Her chest wasn't as tight anymore so she stopped controlling her breath. She was making a conscious effort to maintain her body relaxed while her heart was screaming in her ears and the adrenaline kicked in, she was waiting for his reaction. She had made a mistake and she was going to pay for it in no time. She heard her fate being pronounced in a casual way and waited for the pain to come.
She opened her eyes and they felt dry, when did she close them? She saw his back as he walked away from her. Huh?
Okay this was unexpected but she could work with it, either he was: 1 being cruel and just delaying her death or 2 he found what he was looking for and deemed her acceptable. She was confused and she didn't like it. A few minutes were enough to make her think that she wasn't going to die by their hand any time soon. So like, option 2.
It didn't make sense. At all. What was he looking for, defiance? Was he testing her? Why?
She didn't understand. Good lord, she could practically feel a headache coming.
He could have been searching for something to dislike about her so he wouldn't be as guilty, but she must have already burdened him enough to be at least a nuisance. Not likely.
He could have been trying to make her unstable for whatever was going to happen, he wanted her (the product) to be as upset as possible. May be.
He could have been playing with her, enjoying being cruel to her. Ah. Nope. He could have hurt her anyway he had wanted when he was carrying her, no one would have known. She had been at his but he humiliated her in front of everyone. Oh, he was making a statement, he was placing himself above everyone else, saying "I'm the leader", just a power display of sorts. Oh. He had wanted to deliver the message and she had just followed his lead. Well, she felt stupid.
Now she could see it, the way the others subtly looked at him as he continued to prepare his tent. He used her to create this aura of authority; he had seen through her escape, he was the one who caught her, he was the one who made her lose her cool. He was going to be the one who takes the decision of what to with her during the rest of the trip. Woohoo!
He asked Log Man for something, he handled him a scroll. The scroll. He put her blankets on the floor right next to his tent and looks at her. He was saying if you behave you can sleep next to me, like a pet.
That fucker… That was a power move, she had to give him that, but that didn't stop her from wanting to rip his nails one by one.
She calmed down. Now all she could do was observe the situation: the way they interacted with each other, their surroundings, which does what in the camp… and find a way out of their grip. She was fucking tired of playing submissive, scared girl.
Keep your emotions at bay and think…
…
Mask Man said something and left the camp leaving three slightly confused men behind, she watched them sit in circle and start playing a card game, ah yes she remembered playing them at night with her family…Good times, she always won them.
After at least half an hour one man had left but he returned within minutes with logs to start a fire. She smiled when she saw him. Finally, now maybe, maybe, just maybe there was a chance for her to escape if they used it to cook meat. Her slip was enough to make the two men who had stayed in the camp suspicious. They said something to the Log Man and he answered, which relaxed them a little. She could tell that they were still wary. Bandage man kept stealing small glances her way. Boy, sorry that I took advantage of your compassionate nature but you're the one kidnapping me, I'm not the mean one here.
They seemed paranoid of her for a while, she could feel their experienced eyes on her, watching her every move. So she kept a blank face and innocent eyes, looking like the cute airhead she used to pretend being.
They talked animatedly while playing the game, but she still could feel their gazes. She could feel the underlying threat they presented to her but they looked completely oblivious to her existence, like they had forgotten that she was there. That was the first time she looked directly at the group. She was interested on knowing if she could pick up how they made that atmosphere, like she could afford to make every mistake on the book and get away with it.
She could tell that they tensed up immediately when she lifted her head, but she kept watching them. Their conversation seemed a lot more forced now, she was tempted to look away but them Mr. Mask returned. Mask man was immediately informed of something. Ah, his authority was obvious at this point, his trick worked. He turned his head to look at her, the other men's eyes followed his. Her focus was on him, she was being stared at by the man who tricked her into making him the expert on kidnapping girls on the woods and who will take the decisions on her well-being from now on, so she did what every rational person would in her situation. She kissed his ass, looking to the floor again, making three stunned men look at him in awe.
Let's be nice to each other, Mask man.
The sun left and darkness ate it all, the night began.