"Each forward step we take we leave some phantom of ourselves behind" - John Lancaster Spalding
Chapter Two
Tiny pinpricks of light invaded the darkness. Everything felt distant, out of reach. Time stood still, the only sound was the consistent thunderous thud of her heartbeat which echoed in the blackness. She felt like she was being choked by the nothingness that threathened to consume her until she was left as an empty shell.
'...Am I dead? Is this the afterlife? Mum? Riley? Joel!? Why am I all alone!? Oh fuck...'
A faint shuffling noise brought her back to the brink of consciousness. Ellie's eyelids fluttered opened and squinted painfully as sunlight assaulted her dilated pupils. The first thing she noticed was how much her body ached, the pain deep in her weary bones. Her head throbbed as the room swam into focus as her eyesight adjusted.
She was in a prison cell.
The feeling of claustrophobia rammed into her chest at full force. Ellie instantly felt like the crumbling stone walls were pressing down on her. The humidity made the small room felt like a clay oven. Her only source of light was from a small barred rectangle window that was high out of her reach. The door was made from bars which didn't look like they would break away from it's iron frame anytime soon.
Ellie went to get up to see if there was any means of escape when the movement sent sharp pains down her side, indicating an injury she had sustained and hadn't been aware of during her fight with the Hunters. Grunting, Ellie tentatively eased herself into a sitting position, leaning against the wall behind her for support, her body weak. It was then that she noticed the pile of rags in the corner stir and a child's face appeared in the gloom, causing Ellie to jerk her head back in disbelief.
The girl looked to be no older than eight, her tiny fame severely malnourished. Ellie couldn't tell what colour hair the girl had because she was so caked in thick mud. Her eyes however, where a stark contrast compared to the rest of her dirty appearance. They reminded Ellie of the teal hue hidden in the deep crevasse of snow buried at the peak of the mountains back in Jackson. That's not what got Ellie's attention though. It was the look of pure hatred swirling in their depths, making the hairs on Ellie's arms stand on end.
"Jeez what's your problem?" Ellie muttered, her skin prickling. The child emitted a low animal-like growl from the back of her throat but didn't move. "Great, I'm stuck with a fucking cave child," Ellie's head fell back against the stoned wall as she closed her eyes with a wary sigh. Why was a child her age being held captured by Hunters? It didn't make sense. "C'mon I'm not going to hurt you," Ellie tried again after minutes of heavy silence passed, her voice soft and quiet. 'That's bullshit, you hurt everyone that comes into your life.'
"Yo, that redheaded hellcat is awake."
Ellie stiffened as a tall and stocky hunter appeared at the bars to their confinement, leering down at her. She shot him the most hostile look she was capable of, her lips curling into a snarl. "Marcus isn't back yet- I know what you're thinking man but touching her isn't worth it, you'll get your balls chopped off. You know he's claimed her," a voice called out from down the corridor. The man in front of her rolled his eyes and jammed his hands deep into his pockets, shaking his head with disapproval. "Marcus can get fucked one of these days, he always get the fun ones."
'Claimed her? Fun ones?! Fucking sick fucks! This is what Joel meant that I'd rather wish I was dead...'
"Nate if you weren't so kinky and killed all the ones you got then you'd probably get more like her- just do your job man and grab that kid."
There was a rattling of keys and a screech as the jail door was opened. Ellie staggered to her feet, wincing in pain as he walked in with a baseball bat he had retrieved from in the corridor. The Hunter scoffed at her feeble attempts to look aggressive as she brought her fists up into a fighting stance. He lazily swung the baseball bat around before pushing her roughly in the shoulder with it, causing her to step backwards into the wall. "Don't even try sweet cheeks, I ain't in the mood to play games with you if I can't have the fun I want," he said, causing her to shudder at the vile meaning behind his words.
"Don't you fucking touch her!" Ellie snapped as the man turned his attention to the girl trembling in the corner. There was a sudden flurry of movement that took both Ellie and the Hunter by surprise as the child lept at him, hissing in furry. "What the fuck-!" Nate swore as she shot a quick small fist at his crouch, causing him to double over. Seeing an opportunity, Ellie ignored the protesting of her injured ribs and rushed over to the Hunter, using both hands to grab fistfulls of his ink black hair and smashed his face into the brick wall. The man roared in pain and blindly swung his bat which connected with Ellies hand. She cried out as felt several of her fingers break from the impact.
"Jesus Christ Nate!" The other Hunter shot into the jail cell and aggressively kicked Ellie onto the ground and in the same motion caught the young girl as she attempted to dart out between the two men. "The fuckin' bitch caught me by surprise!" Nate whined before glowering furiously at Ellie. Blood dripped off the top of his lip, his nose swelling from where Ellie had broken it when she had attacked him. "I'm gonna make you pay for that-" Nate was interrupted when his companions hand shot out to grab the baseball bat as he brought it up over his head. "Do you want Marcus to throw you into the Pit?! C'mon this fuckin' mutt is putting up a real struggle."
"Let her go!" Ellie screamed as they dragged the snarling girl from the room. She stumbled as she tried to use the wall to pull herself up but was unable to use her broken hand, causing her to fall forward and land on her chest. Nate turned and gave Ellie one last long look as he sneered down at her. "I don't care what Marcus wants," he said with thin lips, his voice barely audible. "I'm gonna have you all to myself one day," he narrowed his eyes and licked his lips slow, before letting out a horrible laugh as Ellie paled at his words. He turned on his heels and slammed the door behind him without another word.
Ellie didn't know how many hours passed before they brought the feral girl back into the cell. Ellie doze fitfully, jerking back awake every time she nearly fell asleep. Her hand ached like a motherfucker and she felt guilty as shit that she hadn't been able to save the demon kid. Ellie tried not to think about what they were doing to her- her only reassurance was that they hadn't talked about her belonging to someone like they had about Ellie. It was morning when they finally dragged her back into the cell and threw her in, shutting the door without a word.
The girl landed in a heap and didn't move. Ellie's heart leapt into her throat and she instinctively reached out for the child with her good hand. Sensing the movement, the girl whipped her head towards Ellie and snarled, baring her broken teeth at her. Ellie snapped her hand back as the girl scurried into the opposite corner and crossed her arms around her knees. It was then Ellie noticed that the girl had been cleaned and clothed, her waist length light blonde hair free of the grime that had caked it when she had been taken. She wore a pink dress dotted with daises. If it wasn't for the fact that she sounded like an animal and was trapped with her Ellie would've thought of her as a normal kid.
"Are... Are you OK?" Ellie asked tentatively, breaking the silence after several tense minutes passed. The girl narrowed her eyes at Ellie before jerking her head to the side, looking at the wall. Ellie scanned her body and felt some relief that there was no evidence of visable injuries on the the child. Maybe the sick fucks hadn't actually touched her...
"Do you want some...?" Ellie lifted and gently shook the can of cat meat a Hunter had tossed into their cell earlier. She had felt too fatigued to eat it all even though she knew she needed to be build her strength back up if she had any chance of escaping. The child eyed her warily before uncurling and lurched forward, snatching the can out of Ellie's grasp. She retreated quickly back into her corner and ravenously scooped the jelly meat out with her tiny hand.
"C'mon surely you know how to speak? I'm not one of those fuckheads you know," Ellie tried again but was met with the sound of food being inhaled. "If you don't say anything back I'm going to give you an extremely lame name," Ellie said, but still got no response. She paused as if deep in thought, absentmindedly flicking one of the dirty laces of her converse. "Fine then, Your name is now... Britney Spears! Wait nah, that doesn't feel right... How about Cyndi Lauper? Yeah! Bingo motherfucker. See Cyndi, that's what you get for being a snobby little shit," Ellie quipped, hoping that jesting with the kid would make a difference
The girl lifted her head and stared Ellie directly in the eye. It almost felt like it was a challenge. Then finally, she opened her mouth. "Finn. My name is Finn."
Ellie was shocked at how well spoken Finn was, her words clear and articulate- not what she had been expecting from the child who had been spitting and hissing only hours before. Ellie gulped as she suddenly felt a sense of foreboding. "So uh, what brings you to this slice of paradise Finn?" Ellie inquired as Finn continued to watch her from across the room. Finn gave a small shrug before she resumed licking the remains of the cat food from the can.
"My Papa is the leader of the Fireflies."
He had almost missed the scrap of fraying fabric that hung caught in a brunch if it hadn't been for the hawk that had caught his attention, perched at the top of the scrub as it took a break from hunting prey. The bird had screeched as he had made he way past a truck and jumped over its hood, causing him to look nonchalantly in its direction. It was then he noticed the denim blue cloth flutter gently in the breeze.
The hawk reluctantly took to the air as the man approached, it's great wings catching in the hot air current. The bird of prey soared high above as the man untangled the fabric from its snare, his face unreadable but deep down he felt a small sense of victory.
It matched the description of the shirt the girl had been last seen wearing.
AN: You know you've obsessed over a plot too much when you start dreaming about it... Don't forget, twists ahead! Although knowing my luck you'll probably guess it straight away. I've tweaked the original oneshot so that this would make more sense, I would advise reading the first two chapters again if you've read this before. I know a lot of people have probably rolled their eyes at the whole 'Joel is dead' plot but I swear there is much more to it than that and I really want to explore this angle I've got going on. I think only a small handful of people with figure out what's actually going to happen. Is that a challenge? Maybe.
Chapters are going to be roughly the size they have been so far, I find it easier this way & have issues sticking to fics if they go over 8000 words per chapter. Positive is it means I can post them faster. Hoping to get the next one out in a week or so, it's getting pretty crazy with Christmas coming up. While everyone is out shopping I'm hiding inside obsessing over TLoU MP, it's actually pretty fun! I suggest to everyone to give it a try, especially Interragations.
Until next time,
- BeautifulDusk