The dark fog was lifting. Splitting apart, hovering, before slowly knitting back together.
Her tired body resisted the movement. Her stiff shoulders yielded painfully as the shackles that bound her
wrists above her head were lowered in front of her torso. Her legs, weak and strained, were useless to hold
the sudden weight of her body, as her position was altered by the slackened chains. And through this, slowly
the fog parted, hovered, and knit itself together once more.
Nothing... clouds..movement?.. fading...nothing.
And again.
That black fog... relief?.. fading... and then the cold gritty floor beneath her cheek.
The darkness was lifting once more, teasing her with its absence, before reclaiming her in body and mind.
But the darkness was lessening. Losing its density, it was no longer absolute. It fought against the relative
light of the pitch black room, clawing at her as it faded til it was no more than a transparent veil through which
shapes and the occasional shuffling sound could penetrate. She cracked open her parched mouth, desperate
to drag in as much sour air as her damaged lungs could handle. Desperate to force her way through that damned
veil.
The filthy floor was ice cold against her flushed cheek, almost painfully relieving. The chill's touch roamed
over her entire body, penetrating warm flesh where her bare skin made contact, seeping through the thin layers of
fabric where her worn clothes pressed against the ancient stone. Her eyes rolled open at the sound of a quiet body close
to her. She recognized her own hands as she saw ,more than felt, them lifted off the ground, still wrapped in chains.
A moment later, (or was it several?), her hands were placed close to her body, wrists pink, rubbed raw, bloodied, but
unrestrained. She drew a hoarse breath and curled her arms closer to her core. The quiet footsteps that had managed
to penetrate the dark veil ceased. The pitch black room seemed to close in on her, threatening to crush the new found
air from her tired lungs. She could hear only her own ragged breaths. Painfully drawing air in; letting it seep from her open
mouth in a rush. The darkness again seemed to loom.
Then, movement.
A shadow moving in blackness not a foot from her mangled body. Not so much a person, as an entity. Something, but nothing.
Nothing moving within nothingness.
Slowly,from the darkness a shape emerged. Low to the ground, ghosting above the floor, directly in front of her wide, nearly blind eyes.
A blotch, a blur of something. A shadow of superior density to the darkness in which it crept. It hovered in the outer reaches
of her sight. It hesitated. Then moved again, closer, it's movement smooth, confident.
A face.
Green.
That of an animal.
She flinched, shrinking on on herself, a vain attempt to protect what life she had left from attack. She did not cry out. She
had no strength for an act that vigorous. A weak whimper escaped from the further reaches of her throat,and her brow creased
in what would normally be considered mild discomfort. The creature, as if sensitive to the girl's anxiety stopped its advancement.
It regarded her a moment, breathing deeply and steadily. The face was joined in the darkness by a hand that moved at the same
tentative pace as the preceding appendage. Slowly, but steadily, intent on its destination. A whimper again in the cold dark room
as the rather large paw was lowered onto the tragic girl's forehead. It rested there, with deceptive tenderness, before quickly sweeping
around to gently grip the base of her neck, negotiating it's way through her mess of hair. She felt the sure touch of the calloused fingers on her skin.
The foreign flesh felt cool, almost welcome, on her heated nape. The grip was secure. There was strength in that hand, but still, the hold was mindful.
The brow on the strange face furrowed. The lips pulled back revealing thick teeth and the Thing hissed sharply.
Another useless flinch.
The creature's hand remained firmly planted on the neck of the crumpled heap on the ground.
A desperate breath in. One more breath.
"Don't..."
The oppressive darkness swallowed the hoarse whisper. A look of, what?.. recognition?.. in the animal's eyes. It's lips pulled back once more,
curling up at one side. A snear? A growl? An assertion of dominance, perhaps?
It opened It's mouth.
"I promise".