We and You
* * *
Thirst. First and foremost, there was the thirst. It ate at her, at her tongue, her belly, every cell in her body crying out for water. Too, it incapacitated her, reduced her struggles to nothing, as she lay, still bound, on the floor of the cave, her bonds digging into her wrists and bringing pain.
Pain was the second. It was less than thirst, but it exacted its price nonetheless. Pain was the agony of poor circulation in her hands, the sensation of the bindings around her ankles pressing a fold in her sock against her skin, even through her boot, digging deep in growing misery.
Third, more distant now, was shame and fear. These were together; shame at her vulnerability, fear at what it might bring. Who were her captors, and why? She remembered their words, how they had said they took pleasure in her pain, but there was no "why", no explanation.
Penny moaned now, at the thirst, at the pain, at the shame and fear.
It was dark but not completely black in the cave. She wasn't sure where the light was coming from, or even, in fact, if it existed at all, if the faint images of rocks and walls were not just in her mind.
Maybe.
She moaned again, trying to move her fingers to help with the circulation.
It was silent in the cave.
#
Time became unclear to her. Without the motion of the sun, she no longer knew if it was night or day, and with this uncertainty she found herself unsure of how long she had been here. A day? Two? More?
Moaning was no longer easy.
Motion, then, before her. Something moving. As though she was looking through the eyes of someone else she saw it, moving in the dim light.
Eight legs. Four arms and four legs. Dark. Then, three red eyes, staring at her.
She parted her lips and tried to beg for water with her tongue.
It regarded her.
Please, she mouthed, no sound escaping her dried, swollen lips. Please.
The head moved, almost as though it was curious.
"You suffer?" she heard.
She managed a moan this time.
"Good. We suffer, and you suffer."
It watched her again now, for what seemed a very long time. She watched it back, too weak to look away.
"But we do not die, yet," it said then. "So you do not die. Yet."
It moved away, returned. In one of its hands it held a tube, which it pressed to her lips.
Water. Warm and just so slightly saline, it ran over her lips. She was too weak to swallow at first, and it pooled around her head, soaking into her long, dark hair. Then the thing moved to her, held her head up, and the water filled her mouth.
She swallowed all that she could.
#
In time, the thirst was no longer the first thing. In time, she managed the strength to sit up, her back against the wall of the cavern, feeling her entire side shiver as the circulation returned there.
It still watched her.
In time she managed words.
"Who are you?"
It cocked its head, the three red eyes seeming to burn into her.
"You know. We are that you have hurt."
She shook her own head now. "No. I didn't hurt you. I've never seen you before."
"You hurt us. You burned us."
"Please," she said. "I didn't."
"You lie. We are burned. We are hurt." It paused then, still regarding her. She shook her head again.
"No, please," she said. "I didn't do anything."
It backed away now, and as it did the light began to fade in the chamber.
"You did. And if we die, then you die."
* * *
Thirst. First and foremost, there was the thirst. It ate at her, at her tongue, her belly, every cell in her body crying out for water. Too, it incapacitated her, reduced her struggles to nothing, as she lay, still bound, on the floor of the cave, her bonds digging into her wrists and bringing pain.
Pain was the second. It was less than thirst, but it exacted its price nonetheless. Pain was the agony of poor circulation in her hands, the sensation of the bindings around her ankles pressing a fold in her sock against her skin, even through her boot, digging deep in growing misery.
Third, more distant now, was shame and fear. These were together; shame at her vulnerability, fear at what it might bring. Who were her captors, and why? She remembered their words, how they had said they took pleasure in her pain, but there was no "why", no explanation.
Penny moaned now, at the thirst, at the pain, at the shame and fear.
It was dark but not completely black in the cave. She wasn't sure where the light was coming from, or even, in fact, if it existed at all, if the faint images of rocks and walls were not just in her mind.
Maybe.
She moaned again, trying to move her fingers to help with the circulation.
It was silent in the cave.
#
Time became unclear to her. Without the motion of the sun, she no longer knew if it was night or day, and with this uncertainty she found herself unsure of how long she had been here. A day? Two? More?
Moaning was no longer easy.
Motion, then, before her. Something moving. As though she was looking through the eyes of someone else she saw it, moving in the dim light.
Eight legs. Four arms and four legs. Dark. Then, three red eyes, staring at her.
She parted her lips and tried to beg for water with her tongue.
It regarded her.
Please, she mouthed, no sound escaping her dried, swollen lips. Please.
The head moved, almost as though it was curious.
"You suffer?" she heard.
She managed a moan this time.
"Good. We suffer, and you suffer."
It watched her again now, for what seemed a very long time. She watched it back, too weak to look away.
"But we do not die, yet," it said then. "So you do not die. Yet."
It moved away, returned. In one of its hands it held a tube, which it pressed to her lips.
Water. Warm and just so slightly saline, it ran over her lips. She was too weak to swallow at first, and it pooled around her head, soaking into her long, dark hair. Then the thing moved to her, held her head up, and the water filled her mouth.
She swallowed all that she could.
#
In time, the thirst was no longer the first thing. In time, she managed the strength to sit up, her back against the wall of the cavern, feeling her entire side shiver as the circulation returned there.
It still watched her.
In time she managed words.
"Who are you?"
It cocked its head, the three red eyes seeming to burn into her.
"You know. We are that you have hurt."
She shook her own head now. "No. I didn't hurt you. I've never seen you before."
"You hurt us. You burned us."
"Please," she said. "I didn't."
"You lie. We are burned. We are hurt." It paused then, still regarding her. She shook her head again.
"No, please," she said. "I didn't do anything."
It backed away now, and as it did the light began to fade in the chamber.
"You did. And if we die, then you die."