Chapter 2: A Cold Meeting
Feeling heavy and roughly awake, I can barely open my eyes. My neck is sore and feels like a brick, along with my shoulders. To stretch some, I raise my arm slowly and place my palm over my eyes, rubbing them with my fingers. I open my eyes, blinking profusely, as my vision gradually becomes clear. The room I am in is dark and made of stone. All that is inside my room is the bed I lay in with a table and chair placed across from it.
There is a short but long space in the stone that seeps with dim light. I crawl out of the bed and walk up to this slit in the stone wall; it is a sliver of a opening to the outside. By peering through the opening, and I am suddenly weak in the knees - I am hundreds of yards above the ground! I see treetops, rock boulders, and creeks from below to afar. I back away from the slit in the wall and walk over to the only space to get in and out of this room: a giant wooden door.
I grab ahold of the handle and pull, but it is sealed shut and extremely thick.
It must be heavy...
I decide to sit in the chair and stretch my arms and legs out and slouch over the table. Rubbing my face against my arms, and I begin to feel sick.
I have no idea where I am; my stuff is gone; don't know who kidnapped me, and-
There is a noise from the other side of the door; it sounds muffled. Pausing a moment from my intrusive thoughts, I walk up and press my ear against the cracks between the wooden door and stone wall, listening carefully.
"Look and see! Look!"
I hear a person speak and their steps walking loudly.
Are they coming to this room?
Without hesitation, I rush over to my bed, sitting still and listening to the steps echoing against the stone floors. I turn and lie down with my back towards the door, so whoever-they-are will think I am still sleeping if they come in.
The door opens, and I force myself to stay as still as possible with slow, even breaths. There is more than one person in the room, judging by the number of footsteps made on the floor.
"So, what are we going to do with her?"
"I don't know. He brought her here and said put her somewhere."
"Yeah but he wants to see her and she's asleep."
It is a man and a woman talking. I continue to try and breath evenly, hoping they will never check if I am really sleeping by touching me. I can feel my body wanting to freak out.
"We can wake her?"
"Then you do it; I'm not touching that."
I feel my palms getting sweaty, because I hear one of the two people walk up towards the bed. I can feel their body heat leaning over me. I swear to myself I will not let my eyes open.
Don't do it! I won't, I won't, I WON'T!
"Hey Avelina, she seems to be having a nightmare or something. She's squinting her eyes pretty hard." The guy leans over more, and I'm at the point of losing control of my composure. My body will not stop shaking.
"What are you talking about? Let me see, Eustace." The girl Avelina pulls the hair from my face away and leans into my face.
"Eustace," she says softly.
"Yes?"
"Eustace -" she strokes my hair behind my ear. Her fingertips brush my face and they are icy cold; I could not help but shiver a little from that unfortunate encounter "- she's not having a nightmare."
Avelina pulls more hair away from my face and hover over my ear.
"... She's pretending."
My shirt is pulled up and a cold tip of something is placed on my back; it's like a ice-burning sensation. The tip moves up my skin and I cannot handle the burn - it is too intense! I pull my back away, and Avelina and Eustace begin to go after my arms and legs. I squirm away from their hands but it is no use - they have me pinned against the wall and bed. Both Avelina pulls at my arms, while Eustace pulls at my legs.
"You weren't clever enough." Avelina says in a calm and quiet tone of voice.
"Eustace, she needs a bath before we head to the courtyard. Tell Ida to get the bath ready in the boudoir room. I can walk her there."
Avelina pulls my arms behind my back and I wince. The grip Avelina has over me is ruthless and strong. I feel petrified because I can't move without feeling pain.
"Are you sure?" Eustace stares down at me then looks up to Avelina.
"Yes, plus we can't keep him waiting."
Avelina then forces me to pull myself up out of the bed. I want to lash out yet the pain from my arms are too intense to do anything; all I can do is wince in pain and try to cooperate with my limited movement in my arms and force my legs to move. Avelina pushes me forward to the door and I struggle to find my balance when I am hunched over with my arms locked.
"Damn girl, what do you think you're doing - learning to walk? Move it!" Avelina was very impatient with me and pushed me on out the door with me dragging my feet here and there. We turn a corner and walk down a long narrow hallway to some stairs.
"Don't make me carry you." Avelina then puts one of her hands under my shirt, over my lower back. The sensation of the icy burn was beginning to resonate up my spine. I took this as a threat and did my best to walk up the stairs, because the burn was only mild in comparison to what I felt a few minutes ago.
At the top of the stairs, Avelina guides me to the nearest room and kicks the door closed behind us.