Behind Ivy's shut eyelids, there was a warm red glow, originating somewhere to her right. She could feel a cool, solid floor on her back, and arms, something soft ever so slightly constricting her chest; a blanket, she thought. The soft glow behind her eyelids was undulating, changing intensity-- flickering--her right side was slightly too hot, her left slightly too cold. She was lying in front of a fire. Drowsiness filled her head like cotton, the feeling of unconsciousness.
As sleep left her, she became aware of a few things about her own condition. Her stomach ached dully, maybe from hunger, her mouth was dry and her throat sore, and she had to pee. She slowly opened her eyes.
Where am I? She wondered, trying to recall the events of the past days. Her head spun. An arranged wedding to a wealthy pig-man, running away, the cold forest floor, covered in damp leaves, darkness, noises: crickets, crunching leaves, snapping twigs; fear, shivering through the night, waking up with painfully swollen glands, and dark circles, thirsty and starving, exhausted. Feeling as though her eyes were imploding.
At least that feeling is gone, she thought, though she was still thirsty and more than anything, hungry. Now fully awake, her stomach gnawed at itself, snarling.
Slowly, gradually, she opened her eyes. Despite being conscious her eyelids were heavy and sluggish. The black mists clouding her vision dissipated like dew in the morning sun, and, rubbing her eyes, Ivy looked around.
She had been lying on a straw mat, covered by a haggard, but clean, blanket. A low campfire burned a few feet away, etching a small circle of orange light out of the black shadows of the cave. Beside her, the girl found a bowl of soup and a skin of water.
She had long blonde hair, and white porcelain skin, and soft rose-petal cheeks. Her large eyes were a grayish blue-green, with flecks of yellow around the center, framed by wisps of her golden locks. Despite the fact that her eyes were red and watery, and her skin coated with a film of sweat, her cheeks flushed, and her hair tangled with twigs and leaves, she was quite beautiful for her status. Her brown and white peasant dress, with crossing laces tied across the front, betrayed the fact that she was a poor milkman's daughter.
Hungrily she snatched the skin, and squeezed refreshing cool water into her mouth. Did I do this? Did I stumble about feverishly, find this cave, build a fire, and pass out? Where did this water-skin come from? No..I didn't have this before. Did someone rescue me…or…was I kidnapped? She stopped, and darted her eyes back and forth, searching the dark shadows. Over the sound of her relieved slurping, the peasant girl thought she had heard a noise. Suddenly she was scared. Who or what was in this cave with her? How had she gotten here?
Darkness seemed to close in on all sides of her, enveloping her in blindness, her heart raced, she had tunnel vision, anxiously watching.
"Hello?" she called, voice shaking. There! Did a snake just dart by?
"Is anyone there? Help!" She tried again. She saw movement in her peripheral vision! Or had she? Was it the movement of the shadows? Then she saw them-- two yellow, glowing eyes hovering in the blackness, staring at her.
She was definitely not alone. And whatever was in there with her wasn't human.
