Chapter Two: Mama
Hello again c:. Quick update, I know, but I wanted to post this chapter before I completely change it again for the hundredth time .. Honestly, I'm not happy with this chapter at all, but I know I'll end up overworking it if I keep on editing and editing, and I've convinced myself that it's an improvement to what it was. So here we are.
I really hope you enjoy, and I'll try my best to make Chapter. 3 better.
Please tell me what you think!:)
I open my eyes to find the ground moving beneath me.
I'm flying, I think, watching the sand drift below me with a somewhat relaxed expression. I've always wanted to fly, ever since I was old enough to notice the birds soaring way up, passing the clouds with their wings outstretched. They look so peaceful and carefree, as if nothing could possibly harm them. But I thought flying would be smoother... I think dreamily to myself. And what's that smell?... The thought rouses me from my stupor, clearing my head and snapping me back into a harsh reality.
Ofcourse I'm not flying, I'm slung over the shoulder of a foul smelling cannibalistic mutant who is walking beside another cannibalistic mutant who undoubtedly wants my flesh on a plate, fringed with a knife and fork.
Oh, the joys.
With a groan, I make an attempt to shuffle myself into a more comfortable position, but to no avail. A big, meaty hand has me clamped down tight onto a surprisingly bony shoulder, and moving is all but impossible. My legs, still sore from having been hit by the spike strip, hang limply over my captors chest, while my stomach has to endure the edge of his shoulder jabbing into it with every lumbering step.
"Hey Pluto, look! She's wakin'!"
My eyes roll to the right, only to find the smaller mutant watching me intently with a perverted grin on his face. Pluto, the giant, begins to gurgle again.
"Pri-teee..." He coos, stroking my legs with his free hand.
"Get off me!" I cry, squirming with as much force as I can muster. Pluto seems destraught at my fury, and begins to make childlike noises which I can only assume to be cries of sadness. His grip tightens around me, and my spine feels as if it's about to snap in two.
With another burst of strength, I ball my hands into fists and hit him as hard as I can, acting like an infant aswell as an idiot. The smaller mutant only howls with laughter at our struggle, which serves to feed my anger. While Pluto tries to regain some composure, I open my mouth and snap my teeth down onto his back. At first, I thought I'd failed to bite into the skin, but as Pluto yowls out in pain, I realise with glee that I've achieved my goal.
Pluto, now in a tantrum, picks me up like a ragdoll and slams me onto the ground. You would think that the sand would cushion my fall, but it does little to shield me from the impact. I can't even cry out, the air just gushes out of me like an inflated balloon which has been stabbed by a dagger. But I know this may be my only chance to escape, so I force myself to roll onto my stomach and begin to slowly crawl through the sand.
"Pluto... Whit've ya dun' now?" The smaller mutant scolds, brutally kicking the giant until he falls to the sand, "Teaches ya fir messin' wit' ma things!"
While Pluto writhes on the ground, trying to recover from his attack, the other mutant easily catches up with me, watching me with a contented smirk as I cough and sputter on the ground, making my oh-so grande escape.
"Where d'ya think yer goin'?" he asks snidely, striding beside me as I attempt to crawl as fast as I can. I know, in my brain, that I'm not getting out of this, but my heart fails to believe it. I crawl through the sand as if my life depends on it, which it does. But after a minute or so, the smaller mutant gets tired of watching me slither through the desert, and roughly grabs me by the hair.
I cry out in agony, which doesn't help when I'm trying to get my breath back. He all but lifts me off the ground by my scalp before dragging me back to Pluto.
It seems to take forever before we reach the hulking mutant again, who has now regained his footing, albeit with a few cuts and bruises from the other one's attack. The smaller mutant rips his hand away from my head, and to my dismay, I see some bloodied skin attached to a clump of short, black hair. My hand shoots up to my head to assess the damage, and comes away bloody. I try to restrain the tears from flowing down my cheeks, knowing it will only fuel his amusement.
"Pluto, pick 'er up!" he snarls, kicking me closer to the larger mutant, who only grumbles in response to his partner's command. Nonetheless, he does as he is told, and plucks me off the ground by my ribcage before tossing me over his shoulder once again.
I groan in pain, allowing my body to flop helplessly. There is no way for me to escape now, my body feels like it's going to break into a million pieces if I dare to move.
With a sigh, I allow my head to loll around on the giant's back, feeling extremely nauseated. I desperately try and contain the bile inside of me, since I'm almost certain the giant won't appreciate vomit all over his putrid clothes, and I can't afford to be flung onto the ground again.
"Try an' make a fuss 'gain, an' we'll knock ya out. 'Kay?"
I don't respond. Too be honest, getting knocked out would probably be a more desirable option, if it wasn't for the persistent nagging in the back of my head that's warning me that these mutants would take advantage of me as I lazed back in oblivion, so I choose to rough it out until they take me to wherever they're heading.
Thankfully, it doesn't take too long to arrive there. I only have to endure about an hour of getting churned about on Pluto's back before we set foot in the little village.
There are houses. Not many, but still houses. I am somewhat comforted by the thought. One the way here, I'd been desperately hoping these weren't the type of mutants who preferred to live in the safety of the caves. I would never be able to escape if they had been taking me to an intricate cave system, which only they knew how to get through. Atleast I have a sporting chance of escape now.
As we advance through the village, the smaller mutant begins to traipse across to one of the houses after cheerily calling back over his shoulder that he'll 'be back for me later'. I groan internally. It doesn't take much imagination to figure out exactly what he plans to do with me 'later'. I try and think of a plan that would enable me to escape before he returns, but I doubt I'll get a chance if Pluto is guarding me the entire time.
When we reach a building which must've been a bright little house back when it was first built, but has now mutated into a foreboding building embellished with peeling paint and rotting wood, I'm ungraciously dumped on a little wooden step at the front door. Pluto begins to giggle as I twist in pain. It seems he has yet to forgive me for biting him in the back.
The door creaks open, and I'm surprised that the hinges don't fall off at once, given the poor state of it. I'm also taken aback at the mutant at the other side of the door, who's lack of mutations makes her seem out of place in this eerie little village. She's bald, and obese. She's a bit paler than what's usually considered normal, but I am abnormally pale too, so there's nothing new there. A look of concern etches itself across her face when she finds me on my hands and knees with Pluto standing behind me, tittering like an imbecile, but the woman is quick to stand me up and brush me off.
I grumble in protest as I'm forced to use my legs, which are still in pain from being hit, but I oblige regardless. I stand up slowly, desperately trying to ignore the loud cracks my joints make. The lady gazes at me with pity before taking hold of my arm and hauling me into the house.
As she tows me from room to room, I can't help but notice the mannequins which are gazing at us eerily, as if they take pleasure in knowing I'm suffering. Woman and children dressed in strange clothes grin happily at me, and I don't take my eyes off of their ominous faces until I'm lead into what seems to be a kitchen, with no dummies in sight.
The kitchen is... Almost normal. And if it wasn't for the blood stains streaking across the cabinets and walls with the odd dismembered finger here and there, I'm sure it would look quite pleasant.
The woman, after sitting me down on a chair, hurries over to one of the cabinets. She opens it to reveal about a dozen glasses and canisters, all thick with dust. She pulls one out, and begins to slowly fill it up with a narrow stream of murky tap water. It takes a couple of minutes before it's completely full since the trail of water leeching out is about as thin as the fork in a snake's tongue, and the woman only stops once it's overflowing. With a gentle smile, she twists the tap back around and hands the canister over to me. I sip it generously, ignoring the sickly feeling of the dirt clinging onto my dampened lips. The water itself tastes alright, even though it's a bit more sour than I'm used to.
We sit in silence for some time as I hold the canister in my lap, sipping at it every couple of minutes, until Pluto decides to irritate me yet again.
"Hair.. Pri-teee.."
I spin around in my chair to find the simple-minded giant gawking at my coal black hair like it's some sort of mystical artifact. I sneer at him, but he doesn't seem to mind. It's only when he reaches out to touch it when I swat his hand away, producing a feral snarl from the back of my throat. I've already had enough experience with people touching, or, more specifically, yanking at my hair today.
This seems to have the desired affect, as he backs off and begins to whimper quietly against the wall.
"Don't touch me an' I won't hurt you." I threaten, even though I'm well aware that I won't be able to hurt this giant. Weaponless, the worst I could do is kick him a few times, but even then he'd probably just brush it off with a quick slam of his fist onto my skull. He doesn't seem to realise this though, and continues to cower away from me.
"I wudn't be doin' tha' if I w're you," the woman warns me with a surprisingly gentle tone, "yer in 'nough trouble as it is. If ya hurt Pluto here, yer dead fir sure."
With that, I turn back around to face the bald woman.
"I don't wanna' die." I state quietly, more to myself than to those around me
The woman gazes at me with sympathy, sympathy I don't deserve. She continues to stare for awhile, and the room is quiet once again, not even Pluto daring to interupt this time.
"Name's Big Mama," the woman suddenly announces, reaching across the table to shake my hand. I stretch my fingers out warily, and she holds onto it firmly before giving it a slight shake.
"And wut can a' call you?" She asks, smiling.
I don't particularly want to tell her. She may be being kind to me, but who's to say it isn't just an act before she leads me to slaughter, or worse? But I suppose it's better if she likes me, maybe then I'll have more of a chance of living. So, with a sigh, I decide to compromise.
"I'll only tell you if he leaves." I snap, sounding a bit harsher than I intended.
"Oh, you ain't gotta' worry 'bout him, he won't tell no-one, he ain't-"
"Tell him to leave." I repeat, curtly interupting her.
She nods sadly, before standing up and shooing Pluto out. He wails in protest, but the woman manages to nudge him out the door. He remains at the front step for some time, banging at the door with his fists. But he doesn't get back in, and eventually turns and leaves, slogging through the sand with heavy steps. Big Mama watches him as he walks off, making sure he doesn't retreat before she turns back to me and takes a seat on the other end of the table.
"So?"
"Aysel."
"Excuse me?" She asks politely.
"My name's Aysel." I repeat, inching my eyebrow upward in amusement as she tosses over the strange name. I can remember my mother explaining it to me, about how I'd been so appropriately named. Aysel means moonbeam, which goes well with my silvery gaze and my hair, which is as dark as the sun is bright. She'd been shamelessly proud of the name she'd given me, although I personally don't like it all that much.
"Oh," Big Mama says thoughtfully, giving me a motherly smile. "Purty name."
I shrug, taking another sip from my metal canister.
"Well, I 'ave s'meone I'd like ya ta' meet," she proclaims before waddling across to a crumbling staircase and calling the name 'Ruby'. It isn't long before I can hear a soft pitter patter of feet springing down the steps. The two mutants have a quiet conversation, and I can only hear a soft mumbling as they converse with one another. When suddenly, Big Mama turns around with a younger girl, who appears to be only a couple of years younger than me, tucked under her arm. Like Big Mama, the girl is somewhat lacking in mutations. The only obvious difference is her large, squint eyes which are filled to the brim with sadness, and her skin, which, like my captors, seems thick and hard and is a dull, leathery brown.
"This is ma lil' gurl, Ruby."
I smile at the sweet looking girl, encouraged that not all the mutants here seem to be completely evil. Not that I should care, considering many would file me into the category of 'completely evil' anyway. Well, atleast not all of them here are out for my blood, I mentally rephrase.
"Hey, Ruby." I greet her, giving her a slight nod.
She just smiles in return, seemingly elated that I spoke to her directly.
"Now, Ruby. I need ya' to take this lil' one to yer room, make 'er comfort'ble. Don't go tellin' yer papa she's 'ere though. Needa' keep 'er a secret fir now."
Ruby nods, before gesturing for me to follow her upstairs.
The steps creak under my weight, and I'm sure Ruby notices the frantic look in my eyes as I cling onto the railings, petrified that the stairs collapse under me. I shuffle from one step to the next, until I finally make it to the top. It's easy to tell I haven't been up a set of stairs in awhile.
"Bin' a.. long time, since gurl has bin 'ere.. my age." Ruby remarks quietly, glancing up at me from the corner of her eyes.
"Really?" I question, trying to sound more interested than I really am.
She looks nervous, but answers in her shy voice, "Yep... Last time... I saw gurl 'ere... She wus one a'... Lizar's toys."
"Who's Lizard?"
"Lizar'... Ma' bruther... He tha' one... Who got ya."
My silver eyes widen momentarily, and I'm certain that Ruby notices. The sheer horror in my eyes would be difficult to misconstrue.
As we near the end of a small hallway, Ruby opens a door which has three gaping holes in it. Obviously privacy isn't a big thing in this household.
"Jus' stay 'ere... 'til papa.. 'cides wut ta' do wit' ya." she instructs me tenderly before spinning around and heading for the door.
"Wait, Ruby!" I call, waiting until she turns around to face me before I speak to her.
"You know what ya said earlier... About Lizard's toys?"
She nods slowly, reaching a hand out to touch the door.
"What exactly does he do with 'is.. Toys?"
Ruby gazes at me, wide-eyed. I've got her full attention now. It's seem like forever before she opens her little mouth to speak.
"You don't wanna' know."
She takes off running down the corridor before I can even ask her what she means.