Night Runner 3

         “Now, give me your ankle.” I was struck! I did what he’d told me to do! Was nothing the correct answer? I went for my knife, he grabbed my wrist, forced it back behind the chair.

         “What the fuck?! What did you want from me?!” Bard grabbed my other arm, twisted back to the other one and I felt a plastic riot tie close over my wrists. I tried throwing myself from the chair, but Bard’s machismo strength held my shoulders, and conjunctively, the chair, from going anywhere. He sat back down, his eyes were sad when he grabbed my casted leg.

         “I asked for your obedience. You already knew the rules, your reward for the correct answer was this pill,” I watched in horror as he dropped it on the floor and crushed it, smearing it with his shoe. He looked me in the eye and undid his belt, jamming it between my teeth. I tried to push it out of my mouth, shaking my head and fighting it, “I don’t want to see you lose your tongue, Elle likes hearing you talk, especially in your sleep.” The realization that I couldn’t get out of this washed over me. I started to cry.

         “Shh, shh. You’ll black out before you go crazy, I promise.” I bit down on the belt, making sure my tongue was way out of the way, tears streaming down my face, I felt a familiar rush that made me fight to breath through my clamped mouth, maybe it will help make it feel better than it would be otherwise.

         Bard cranked the metal, I felt things in my ankle push and grind, muscles stretched, retracted and blood flowed through me faster than before, my heart was beating like a snare drum! I screamed through the belt, I thrashed against the chair; the leather was getting jammed between the individual teeth, I forced myself to look at Bard, he was watching me intently, nothing in those brown eyes, no emotion, no remorse. When would I black out? I screamed as he turned it further! He shifted from his seat to hold me down in the chair, I flung my head, trying to hit him, against the floor with my good foot, battering anything I could reach, the plastic tie was cutting into my wrists!

         Did I ever tell anyone I wasn’t good handling pain? Yeah well, here’s the story, I hate pain. With such a fiery passion do I hate pain; I will do almost anything for revenge or relief. With Bard holding me down, I couldn’t do anything. I kicked straight out, caught Bard’s chair and pushed back with all I had, which was tunnel vision, a dying supply of adrenaline, a belt and shattering pain in what felt like my whole body. Bard, caught off guard, fell to the ground, I landed on top of him, I could see the whole scene unfolding, me pulling my arms off the chair, forcing them under my feet and the oversized cast, drawing my knife, belt lost, cutting the tie on my wrists and lunging for Bard.

         Except I was on the floor writhing in pain, I did get my hands to the front of myself however and was trying desperately to push Bard away from me. It was only when I tasted blood did I stop screaming. I was still breathing hard, hyperventilating would be the correct term for it, but Elle was standing over me, her hand hovering over my mouth, dripping with blood. Now I’m not sure why I couldn’t move. My whole body was shaking actually, whether with adrenaline, adrenaline from the pain, pain, or Elle’s blood I don’t know.

         Elle was feeding me her blood? She held my head up, I had inhaled it, the iron burst in my throat, and I coughed, hacked, spit out the belt, Elle looked like she was about to have a heart attack and jammed her arm to replace the belt, I shook free to try and breath, she shook her head, said something, touched my lips with her hand. Why was Elle feeding me her blood? Unwillingly, I felt my tongue touch her skin, felt the blood rush to my taste buds, she had a sweet, springtime apple taste.

         I wanted more, I ached for it I think, but maybe it was just from Bard cranking my ankle. Elle had come to my rescue though; I didn’t expect that at all, how had she found me so quickly? She said something, talking to me, was I babbling again? I looked at her big, green doe eyes, and I thought they were really pretty.

         That’s when I saw Frieda shove Elle into the wall. She hit it, head snapping back into the solid door, Frieda was on her like a predator! Why did these weirdoes find it necessary to beat people? I pushed off the ground; I didn’t expect the rush of adrenaline to snap my world back into focus! The tunnel vision vanished, I saw Bard sitting back, watching the proceedings like a man at his T.V. at home enjoying the national chess tournament! I pointed at him, roared something and launched at Frieda!

         The satisfying whoosh of air was the only thing I felt from her, my shoulder in her side, she was underneath me when we hit the floor. I rolled quickly, as quickly as that damned cast would let me! I cut my tie, knife in hand I watched Frieda; she was still lying on the ground, her blonde hair splayed across the floor like a fan. I looked at Elle, she was touching the small circle of blood on the wall from where she had hit. She looked at me and mouthed something, pointing in slow motion, I turned, she wasn’t in slow motion, but I just had that much adrenaline at my disposal. Frieda had pushed off the ground and faced me. I dropped my knife.

         “Is that any way to treat a gift your mother made for you?” I looked at the knife, the shining edge I kept honed to split a hair reflected what I saw. Blue eyes. Angelic smile. Long, sweeping blonde hair. Slender fingers.

         “Mommy?” Bard clapped. Frieda left, I reached out to her, she walked out a door without a glance back. I fell to the floor, my head spinning out of control… Elle? I grabbed my knife, sheathed it and crawled to her, There were rail spikes being jammed through my leg, I didn’t care, Elle had rushed to my aid without thinking of herself, why should I think of myself now? I was within inches of her,

         “E-Elle, you’re…” I fell to my side, she slid down the wall, I saw her through the narrow tunnel of sparkles and black, she lay down next to me, her big, green doe eyes, saying something.



         I was riding a bike. Going downhill to do something important. Something was chasing me in the woods; I couldn’t go into the woods anymore, as it was forbidden. There are mean, bad things that will reach out with their claws and sink them into my arms!

         “OW!” I jolted again, why did I always dream such crap? Bard was standing next to me, I was in that white room again, tied down and he had either stuck me with a needle or removed one I couldn’t tell. “What the hell!” I struggled against the Velcro, pulling as hard as I could. No dice, go figure.

“At least you’re okay”-“No thanks to you! You and that stupid pill bullshit!” Bard undid the straps, I tried moving, and everything hurt. “Have you been beating me in my sleep or something?” Enraged I tor the needles out of my arm, whipping them away and forced myself to get off that prison bed.

         “Actually, that was yourself,” Bard followed me as I stormed to the closet, found it empty and stormed out the door, “if I hadn’t tied you down, you most definitely would have caused your body permanent damage-” I turned on him, I hadn’t forgotten when he’d cranked my ankle-I looked down, I have ten toes.

         “When did… How long?” Bard guided me through the halls, I was pissed, but I needed to get somewhere with normal cloths so people would stop giving me stupid looks.

         “Two weeks. Elle has been asking for you most days.” Elle! She had come to my rescue, given me her blood, but what did it do? Frieda came in and she had hurt Elle! I growled, Frieda was impersonating my mom! Bard probably is using her as a way to screw with me! We got back to the room, the guard dogs were still I place at the doors, I watched them raise their hackles,

         “Switzerland!” I barked at them, they flopped to the floor, Bard went to open the door, but I threw my whole body against it, I must weigh as much as Elle after two weeks on nothing but IV. The doors barely budged, but rather than let Bard open them, I threw my feather light body again and again until I could slip through. The exasperated Bardalph followed.

         “Elle!” She jumped off of the giant sheepskin/rug and ran across the room, acting like an overexcited puppy,

         “Faelyn is okay!” She stopped short at hugging me, losing her smile when she didn’t know how to express herself. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, she sort of tried hugging, and it would do until I taught her better. Bard sat at one of his chairs, a laptop open to some project. I noticed the cage was gone, and there was more space to lie down at the foot of the bed, I could tell that Elle was eating better too; she had lost her bony appearance and was of a lithe figure instead of a skeleton.

         “Faelyn, there is food, do you want to eat?” She held a plate of meaty gravy stuff, I didn’t want…

         “Eat it.” Bard chimed in from across the room, the fire crackled in the following silence. I looked at the food, I could practically see the cow that had been butchered, its big brown eyes, the cries of pain when it wasn’t dead but being carried through the production line surrounded by dead or half-dead herd-mates on their way to be dropped by the load into a boiling vat to remove their skin where they slowly drowned or were burnt to death…

         “I’m a vegetarian.” I looked down at my hands. My cheeks flushing with anger that there seemed to be no alternative. Bard looked over at me from his chair, a pair of glasses was on the tip of his nose.

         “Eat. It.” He turned back to his computer. I turned back to Elle who held the plate up helpfully. I shuddered. Mooooooo… I felt sick. Elle set the plate down; she touched my leg so I looked up at her.

         “Do you need something to make it taste different?” I wondered what she meant and she held up her arm, she had my knife. Why does she have my knife? I snatched the lethal blade away from her.

         “What are you doing?!” I sheathed it and strapped it to my forearm again. “You don’t… Don’t have to do that…” I felt ashamed again, its not like Elle was in good enough health to be a blood donor and I doubt that eau de Elle would make the moo go away. She shrugged and grabbed my knife away from me, was I just that slow? She pricked her finger, squeezing a drop of bright, red, heady, blood onto a little piece of meat. I held my breath. As much as I wanted to grab her finger and suck on it like a morbid lollipop, a part of me was starting to realize that what I was doing isn’t within human nature.

         “Now Faelyn will eat right?” I looked over my shoulder, no doubt that Bard had something else that could be used now that the metal contraption was off my ankle… I looked at the piece of dead cow, at the big drop of blood that was starting to run off the side, to Elle’s expecting face. She was smiling a little, her eyes wide and trusting, I knew that she was waiting, would it hurt her feelings if I didn’t eat.

         “El-GOMF!” She shoved the piece in my mouth as soon as it had opened, now she held the back of my head as well as covered my mouth with her other hand. I felt the meat roll in my mouth, my tongue was doing epic battle to keep it from going down my throat! I looked up at Elle, she was make shh noises, looking over at Bard and back down at me. She was deceivingly strong, or I had gotten really weak.

         I felt bile rising, images of dying cows were running through my head, the blood Elle had dripped onto it wasn’t strong enough! I vomited into Elle’s hand, she immediately let me go and I poured stomach bile onto the floor. From being two weeks empty, there wasn’t much, but the smell was very pungent. Elle was already apologizing and starting to clean up the mess I’d made while I lay on the floor shuddering and feeling my stomach imploding.

         “This is a problem.” Bard had once again turned in his chair to face me, it must have had swivels. “You can’t survive on IV alone. What are you going to do?” I looked at Elle, she was cleaning the floor, she handed me a cloth and I cleaned my face.

         “Well, you could get me some salad, fruit and vitamin supplements. I wouldn’t think that this is what you eat for supper is it.” Bard’s eyebrow shot up, he swept over and picked me up, I didn’t fight, and I felt like I was going to break in half if the wind blew. He went through the halls; the elevator and we came out into the open air. Grazing animals, goats, deer, cow, pig populated endless miles of rolling plains and lush grassland, and chickens were all around picking and munching.

         “This is where I eat. Are you satisfied?” I felt the breeze, it was deep summer, it had to be 80 degrees and I shivered. I curled up into a ball, totally possible now from the lack of a cast, he took me back and set me back on the floor next to Elle.          “I’m busy now, please eat something, I don’t have the man power to go grocery shopping for one person.” With that, he turned back to his laptop. Elle watched me curl up into a tighter ball, I looked at the plate, heaping with dead animal chunks. I shivered again. She pushed the plate away and wrapped herself around me, her body heat was phenomenal!

         “Elle?” I whispered and felt her shift to listen better, “Am I going to starve to death?” She wrapped her arm around me, pulling me tighter. I felt her finger touch my lip, I smelled a springtime apple, I opened my mouth, and she touched her finger to my unresponsive tongue. I lay there, my mouth slowly filling with Elle’s blood. I shouldn’t be doing this… I swallowed, felt it rush to my empty stomach, rumbling for more nourishment. Elle let me drink for who knows how long; I stopped when I felt her arm shaking. She tried to make me take more, I turned to her, buried my face in her shoulder,

         “I’m sorry… Elle I’m sorry…” And I cried myself to sleep on her shoulder.



         Its getting harder and harder to tell what day it is, I still haven’t been able to eat the meat gravy, I try when no one was watching, I licked some of the gravy, but the earthy flavor overpowered my wasting body. I heaved into the toilet, wishing I could just be normal. I’ve been a vegetarian my whole life, as far as I could remember. My dad tried to trick me, switching his burger with mine at a small family party, I remember my mom rubbing my back and holding my hair, I stayed sick for the rest of the week.

         Doctors told us there is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to eat meat, everything was normal inside so really it was my brain that had issues. We saw some psychologists, did some tests about once a year, nothing changed. I lay back down, waiting for Bard to come back. Elle slept peacefully, especially when nothing was going on, she flops down and immediately closes her eyes, falling asleep in minutes. I envy her a little, but I’m grateful to her. I look at her hand and the fresh mark was undeniable. The bruising around it was just one of the indications that I was surviving solely from her sweet blood.

         Which doesn’t make sense. I can’t eat cow, but slurping Elle’s blood was ok? I curled up closer to her, I still couldn’t figure out how to say sorry, I don’t think any apology would be enough for my conscience to be put at ease. She keeps telling me it’s ok, that this is why she is here. I can’t believe it the same way she does. I know she’s smart, but I also know she’s been here in this Den system long enough to forget everything that she used to live for.

         I catch her sometimes doodling on the floor using her mind as the canvas. I watched her creating elaborate scenes by following the movements of her hands, I knew when she was laying lines, when she was shading, erasing and making final touches. I wish I had paper to give her.

         “Good evening Faelyn.” I looked over to Bard, who was once again striding into the room, a briefcase in hand. I know what the case is. It contains the thing that causes pain. It’s really a collar, but upon giving the wrong answer, it pushes a pin into the spinal column, emitting an electrical shock that courses through the body. I’ve been wearing something similar for the past few occurrences, where it’s just a rising amount of electricity whenever Bard wants me on my feet or to go do an errand. I got a medium strength shock right off the bat.

         “Ngh! Good evening!” I got up and grabbed the case from him; the metal felt cold and evil in my hands. Another etiquette issue he says I have, getting a greeting and not returning it properly. He sat in his favorite chair, the rough leather one. I set the case on the table in front of him, knowing that I was bound for a good, long pain session. I wonder if I could ever grow immune to pain? Bard settled deeper into his chair, he actually looked tired for once, bags under his eyes and wrinkles set on his forehead.

         “Go get me a mirror Faelyn, take your time if you’d like.” Take my time? The sooner I got done being tortured the better! I grabbed the handheld from the vanity by the bed, its edges were plain, a nice oval piece. I gave it to Bard, “Thank you Faelyn, now sit on the table, put on your jewelry, we are going to begin.” I’ve been through this at least a dozen times, if I refused to put the collar on, he’d deny me the pain medication. The first few times Elle had come to save me, but then Bard commanded her not to help anymore until he said it was okay.

         “Its on.” I felt the click as it fastened onto my neck, locking it in place until Bard unlocked it. I had tried tearing it off myself; the pin drove itself in deeper and the shock doubled in power. Bard held up the mirror, Looking at his hair, tied neatly at the nape of his neck. He examined his own neck, I noticed two fine scars about three inches apart. Did he have a collar at one point in time?

         “Look at yourself. Tell me what you see.” He turned the mirror on me; I didn’t want to look, because I knew what I’d see. I opened my eyes to the pale girl with gray eyes, sunk into their bruised sockets. Her cheeks were hollow, skin taught over the fine cheekbones, her neck looked strained, like it was a chore just to not be lying down. Her wispy white hair looked yellowish, aged and uncared for. I looked at her eyes again, gray and empty, she didn’t care if she died. I did though.

         “I see a girl wasting away. She wants to die, lie down, close her eyes and never open them again.” Bard didn’t move the mirror, he wanted more. “She dreams of fruit, dried fruit, fruit baskets, head of lettuce, cabbage, beets and radishes, she keeps hoping for the things that will never come because of the stubborn jackass on the other side of this mirror.” I felt the pin push into my neck, it was a tingle since it kept using the same point of entry, maybe the nerves in that spot are dead.

         “Why don’t you eat, Faelyn? You are obviously on the verge of dying, why not fight death?” I looked past the mirror, Bard’s chocolate eyes looked depressed, he wanted me to live, despite the torture he puts me through. Did I want to die? I stretched my neck, scratching at the base of the collar underneath the collar.

         “I can’t. I want to eat; I want to stop living off of Elle’s grace. I don’t want to feel like a reluctant vampire, I want to free Elle from feeling like she has to keep me alive, if I die, she’ll be free from that.” I bowed my head, the electric charge was building, who knows how high it has to be to stop my heart? Maybe I could drive him over the brink, closed casket at the wake please. Bard produced a bowl of meat gravy. I felt my stomach turn; the thick gunk couldn’t hide the minced pieces of beef, chicken or pork. I suddenly knew what was going on.

         “Its time for you to eat.” He handed me the bowl, it was warm, not hot, just warm. I looked up at him, could I plead with him?

         “Please…” I felt the tears catch in my throat, “don’t make me eat this…” He held the bottle in his hand; I heard the pill rattling inside.  What happens when he gives me a question I can’t answer? I dipped my finger in the mess; it was dripping back into the bowl. Bard raised his other hand; it had the remote for the collar, it was turned on red, the highest setting. I licked my finger. I almost dropped the bowl as I started to throw up. I keeled over, coughing, swallowing, trying to avoid the imminent pain, no dice… the bile was just as pungent as it was earlier when I was bent over a toilet.

         I waited for the shock, but instead the pin retracted and Bard unlocked the collar. I fell to the floor; I can’t throw up the emptiness I felt where my stomach should have been. Elle lifted me up; I leaned against her, ashamed that I couldn’t accomplish the simple task of eating. Bard knelt down and put a straw in my mouth.

         “Drink, I surrender to your body’s whim.” I took a tiny pull on the straw and it was a vegetable puree! I grabbed the cup, sucking on the straw trying to get more and more! I tore the lid off the cup, it was already half gone? I tipped my head back and choked down the rest in a second, I felt it hit the bottom of my gut, I felt sick again… Elle grabbed me and made me lean back, it expanded my insides, released the knot that was forming.

         “Thank you, Elle, Bard?” He was brooding in his chair, working at his laptop. I wonder if he was making a report on me or something.

         “Come on, Bard says you’re done for today.” Elle helped me up to go back over to the foot of the bed. I felt full, I knew this would rush through me and I’d feel the pain of an empty stomach in a just few short hours. But I felt better already, I wanted to get up and explore! But then again, the sheepskin was really comfy, and Elle was offering up her cut hand again. I took it, but instead of taking it for survival, I licked the wound until it stopped bleeding.



         “Again!” I wiped the cut on my face; it bled more every time the staff that my opponent was wielding hit me. Adding on to that was the shock, albeit very mild, but it dropped me back to my knees. Every hit I took was a failure. Every hit increased the shock value. I lessened my shock value by hitting the man who faced me. I got up off the floor, wielding my staff at a half-length, it was deceptive, but I couldn’t match the brute strength of the man!

         “Ready to fry pipsqueak!” The skin head lunged at me, swung down hard; I followed his swing, pushing it wild, sidestepped, tripped him and followed through, landing a hit that made my shoulders vibrate. I watched him seize up from the shock, only his third in a row compared to my ten. But maybe Frieda drove her Phelan harder than Bard. He got up, roared and swung at my middle, I parried, used my staff to cover my head, using my body’s momentum to swing around behind him again to knock his knees out from under him.

         My shoulders felt the impact; I don’t want to get him sent to the Pit though. But I have to win. Bard says that he will get a garden for me to grow my own food. I can use the grazer’s manure; any tools I come across and he will provide the first round of seed. Till then, Bard will buy me store vegetables, fruit and vitamin supplements. My opponent hadn’t even received the shock or come off the ground before taking another desperate swing at me, I only had to step back, smack his arm and force his head to the ground by pushing my staff into his neck.

         “Game!” The referee pointed his arm at Frieda, she snarled at the man with the scorecard and administered the shock. The big, beefy man on the ground screamed. I’ve outgrown that stage. I walked back to return my staff to the ref, thinking of how I had thought that one day I could become immune to pain. It is true, to a point. I’m still ‘learning’ things Bard’s way, but now that I’ve been around for what Bard tells me has been three months, he’s given me the freedom to go places, learn things on my own. He says it’s giving me the chance to win the game, outsmart him, and beat him to the punch so to speak.

         “I’m glad I’ve asked you to spend time focusing on your fighting.” Here is Bard now, strolling around in a canary yellow silk shirt and customary white slacks. Elle raced past him, throwing herself at me in a hug that would make Barney look like a slacker.

         “You beat him! Frieda’s Phelan always win at weapon combat, but you beat her best!”  I frowned. How could that be?

         “You have been cheating Bardalph!” Frieda stormed over to us, fury gleaming on the look-alike face. “You’ve been training Faelyn using shock tactics!” Bard raised his hands in defense,

“          It isn’t illegal! Besides, she was on level ten while your Raul was only on level three and crying like a pup!” He snapped his fingers, some gray shirts came over and began fixing my cuts, I watched them pull out the common stitching thread, I didn’t know that the one on my face was that bad. Frieda wasn’t done; she leaned in to hiss at me,

         “You wouldn’t have gotten out of my Tunnels! No one would have taken sympathy on a Phelan who couldn’t eat real food! I would have watched you waste away in the Tunnels!” She put on a smile, looking at Bard now, what a hypocrite!

         “Although, I wouldn’t mind spending some time with you, my dear Bardalph, it’s been cold for quite some time now, hasn’t it?” She trailed her fingers across Bard’s jaw, up to his stern frown.

         “It has been cold. But you know, I really do think I prefer sleeping alone.” She stopped, her face twisted into a mask of anger and rejection.

         “How could you? We’re partners! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?” She went to slap him, Bard grabbed her hand, I had to admire his quick reflexes.

         “That’s just it Frieda. Partners. Not bedmates. Not married, not engaged, not even friends as far as I’m concerned!” He flung her hand back, the gray shirt gave my stitches on last tug and snipped the line. Her look told me that I was the reason that Frieda and Bard weren’t together anymore. But I haven’t done anything! Frieda stormed off, kicking her fighting Phelan on her way, not even waiting to see if he got up, he didn’t.

         The loser in a fight had to take the victor’s shock count. It was dangerous, the longer you could withstand the shock, the less likely you were to win, but if you are able to keep them spread out, you could stock up and then beat your opponent senseless before they could do the same to you. Judging by his reaction to the minor shocks, this guy Raul has never been on a collar.

         “Meet back in my room okay? I have some meetings to take care of and paperwork to fill before I show you the garden space.” I nodded to Bard, wondering if the stitches were too tight and would come undone if I spoke. Elle usually stays with me, but I’ve been telling her to do all the same things as me, more often than not we were sparring against each other, the both of us using different strategies, talking and devising plans to make the moves tighter, more efficient and deadly sometimes.

         “You go on ahead, I’m going to wait for Mr. Big Guy to wake up.” Elle looked crestfallen, but brightened up when I told her “I’ll be there soon, don’t worry!” She smiled weakly at me and left the arena.

         I smiled again; the look of awe on her face was priceless when I presented her with a box of charcoal I wheedled out of the blacksmith and the big pad of paper I had gotten from a storage room near the meeting room. We stored them under the bed, the other Phelan were jealous of us, but the very thought of Bard doling a punishment kept them from acting on us. It was also that protection that kept us from reaching out to the other Phelan.

         “They’re just scared Faelyn, they don’t understand kindness and friendship anymore.” Elle was constantly trying to explain why the others wouldn’t talk to us, eat with us or even accept food or help from us when they were obviously hungry and struggling. Her big green eyes are always pointed my direction, always looking to me for the next move, idea or plan.          “Even though we are Phelan too, we are closer than they will be for a long time.” Closer to what?

Raul was stirring, I was waiting for him really, plus I wanted to see if this guy would take my help or reject it like all the others. I patted his shaved head, he turned and looked at me, I had split his eyebrow down the center on the first hit, it had stopped bleeding for the most part, I dabbed my finger on his wound, making him wince, and touched it to my tongue. Hey, I didn’t say that the veggies had stopped my queries into blood did I?

         It was hot, spicy hot, and it burnt my tongue. No more Raul blood. I helped him to sit up, I had hurt him pretty bad on all the weak spots that Elle and I had hit on each other… Sternum, head, knees, all of them are very easy targets. I had put a good smack into the small of his back, but the blow to his brow and knees is what I was worried about.

         “Hi, I’m Faelyn.” He looked pissed at me, would he leave? Frieda wasn’t even here to direct the gray shirts to stitch up his face… “Hey, umm, Pala? Can you do me a favor?” The gray shirt Pala came over with her team, gave him a light pain reliever, washed and stitched the wound in under a minute. They were chosen by the hospital branch of the organization, Pala would be graduated soon; she would become a full-fledged healer in about a week. “Thanks!” I finished with a smile; they glanced around, seeing no others in need of attention, left.

         “Why did you wait around? I ain’t anything to you.” Raul was getting ready to leave, but I noticed that his knees weren’t cooperating. I grabbed his foot and twisted it left and right, pushed the toe up, stretching the ligaments back to working order. He watched me; I doubt he’d remember how to loosen this again.

         “I waited because I wanted to make sure I didn’t break you, I don’t want to get anyone sent away to the Pit because someone finally told me what was in it and I don’t like the thought so I figure no one else wants to go there either.” I grabbed his other foot, he watched closer this time, maybe he’d remember, there’s no way of knowing for sure.

         “Heh, so were you letting me hit you on purpose? Just to get me out?” Raul had black eyes, there was no drive so he’d gladly lie down and die without caring. I nodded, pulling the knot out of his knee. “I’ve never lost before, y’know? I always hit them hard twice and they stayed down, I hit hard.” I nodded again, I know what it felt like to get a staff smashed into a limb, and it could get broken easier than a rib. “What was that thing you did, knocking my staff too far away? Nevermind, I don’t expect you to tell me.”

         “I do that to give me just a second in order to land a hit, if you hold on with both hands, you won’t get it knocked away so easy.” And then we spent the next few hours trading moves, tips and tricks. Raul was hardcore; he did weights everyday and Frieda practically shoved protein supplements down his throat.

         “I’m supposed to go to the fighter’s branch, the one Jewel runs, its like we get trained for just one thing down there and that’s what we’ll do for the rest of our lives,” he laughed, “I got a long ways to go, I’m only seventeen!” We laughed and parted ways, I hope he didn’t get reprimanded by Frieda, I also hope we didn’t have to fight each other again for a while.

I walked back to the room, the guard dogs greeted me with a woof and I rewarded them with a good hunk of meat I fished out of the gravy slop. Bard doesn’t know that I do that; he’d get mad if he knew I guess. Elle was waiting for me, she had the drawing paper splayed out, charcoal spread across it. She shuffled a bundle of paper on top of the drawing she’d been working on, was she blushing?

         “H-Hey Faelyn. Bard was looking for you, he got done early but he said he’ll come back later.” Elle was seriously flushed. Was she sick?

         “Do you want to see the garden space too? I think it’d be fun, you might even like veggies as much as me!” I sat down next to her, she kind of moved a little further away. “Yeah, I should go clean up huh?” Elle didn’t say anything; she just stared down at the hills flowing with horses and flowers. Why was she acting weird? I slid into the water, it’s been a long time since I’ve even seen a shower, even in the ‘locker’ room there were baths instead; maybe it’s just an old fashion thing.

         “I’ll be back, I-I just remembered there’s a thing I have to check on!” Elle ran out of the room, I didn’t even get to turn around before the door swung shut. She’s acting really weird. We’ve gotten to know a lot about each other, I’ve told her all about my family, my scientist dad, my wild running mom, the house in the country, school, Mimi, running, Karen, the house in the city, the shooting and the day I was taken. I told her about the whole blood situation, about my adrenaline addiction and about how I still wanted to go home, take responsibility for things that happened. I asked Elle to talk about herself.

         “Well, I don’t remember much, its foggy, I hear things sometimes,” Elle had closed her eyes, “I think my brother, I don’t hear my mom or dad, maybe I was a street kid. I used to eat pizza and hotdogs a lot, sometimes I would get a gumball as a special treat.” Her face was sad then, “I think, I think my brother got sick, he got taken away, I was alone, I remember being alone for a long time.” I asked her about school, friends, what she remembered from that.

         “I didn’t have friends, but I was so happy when I learned to write in cursive!” She brandished her charcoal like a sword, swishing in the air and landing on the paper, scribbling elegantly her full name, “Lisa Marie Thare, 16” She looked at the paper, just for a moment, I won’t forget the look of utter hatred and anger that twisted Elle’s face as she slammed her fist down and tore the page to shreds, throwing them into the fire when she was done.

         “What was that for?” I asked, she shrugged, saying that her name is Elle and Lisa never existed. She and I are both 16, Raul is 17, every gray shirt I run into looks old, but maybe that’s the stress, strain and filth making them look like they’re in their 20’s or 30’s. How long do people stay gray shirts anyway?

         The water was still warm when I was done washing, a waste, but I was done. I donned my running hoodie and my cargo khakis, no rules for looking good down here, but I do need to ask for more cloths, maybe we could go back to my house? I looked at Elle’s charcoal drawings, these are real pieces of art, masterful, and I could almost hear the horses galloping over the hills. I sifted through the pictures; I think she used to live on a farm, there were many barn animals, some of them interacting with people in a few.

         She never drew anything from the Den. Its like the world around her doesn’t exist but then suddenly there was the arena, taken from a few different angles, she had recreated some of our sparring, I saw the picture on the bottom of the pile, the one she had to have been working on when I walked in. It was about a month ago, I had stumbled over my own feet, catching the both of us off guard. I’d fallen against Elle, only a staff separating us, our faces just a hair from each other. Neither of us breathed. I had closed my eyes and in that moment I felt her lips brush mine.

         This drawing made me lose my breath all over again, it was how a third person would have seen it in that exact moment as my eyes were closing, my hair was falling from behind my ear, creating a curtain.

         “Oh Elle…” I touched my cheek, it was hot! I shook my head, no way! It was bad enough that I liked drinking her blood before I fell asleep at night! I couldn’t-No! I glanced down at the picture; I swear that the Faelyn in the picture was deliberately twisting her body to be even more provocative! I had to find Elle and explain it was an accident!

I had no idea where I was going to find her… I’d need a bloodhound to find her in this maze… A hound?

         Soon enough I was chasing one of the gargantuan dogs through the Den, down passages that I’d never been in before, maybe she had run back to the group Phelan? The dog woofed, he pointed to a door, scratched the floor outside it, I heard someone!

         “Shh, hang on, good boy…” I patted him and put my ear to the door… I heard a short scream, muffled, I heard people laugh, a woman, maybe a couple… no one man.

         “Thought she…Stupid! Take it… Enjoy… No!” Elle! Some one was going to hurt her! Bard had never taught me the command for enemy, thinkthinkthinkthink!!! I pointed at the door,

         “Russia! Do you hear me! Russia!” The dog looked at me, looked at the door and the next instant was gnashing his teeth, hackles raised, scruff on end, snarling and salivating! Russia… maybe it was the threat of a nuclear winter, but who cares! I threw myself against the door; it was locked, but burst open, revealing hand-to-hand weapons storage! I fell against the floor, the massive dog leapt over me, baying for his attack! I looked, Elle was pinned by Frieda, Randy was brandishing a bludgeoning stick.

         The dog went straight for Randy, he had fewer scars than Bard, how do I know, he was shirtless, his pants loose. He swung the bludgeon at the dog, but the dog was just faster, evading it and biting at his arms and legs, not actually landing anything but was still very menacing and distracting anyway.

         “You Demon Spawn!” I snapped my attention to Frieda, she still held Elle against the wall, and Elle had huge bruises forming across her face… I felt my blood boil. No one hurts my friend and calls me Demon Spawn in the same breath! I launched into action! I grabbed up a short sword, lightweight and easy to use with one or two hands in a small space. Usually brute force was the driving point behind swords; my adrenaline would help me now.

“RRRAAAAGGGGGHHHH!” I swung fast, forcing Frieda to jump back, Elle crumpled to the floor, but I had to jump over her. The second guard dog arrived, they had Randy cornered! I had Frieda in her own corner; she had her fists clenched, snarling at me with her blue eyes ablaze!

         “You have no idea what you’re dealing with Phelan!” Spittle was flying with every word she spoke. I took a fast stab at her, she barely dodged it,

         “You make me sick! Ganging up on a girl! I’ll teach you!” I raised the sword above my head, Frieda was taller than me by a good six inches, but her cringing made her six inches shorter, and it was then when I had the sword above my head that I heard the dogs yelp in pain behind me.

         “FOOL!” I turned, keeping my sword pointed at Frieda, Randy was gone, but there was a werewolf! He had one of the dogs in his hands and threw it against the wall with the other one; they put their tails between their legs and bayed, edging towards the door. I turned back to Frieda, her snarl had twisted into a contorted mouth of fangs, her blonde hair had gone dark, her face was pushing out, claws protruding from her fingertips and her saliva was dripping really bad.

I hacked into her arm, she howled and ripped it out, I was already grabbing Elle, and she was looking at the werewolves in a mix of awe and fear.

         “Lets go! Follow the dogs!” Randy leapt at us, crashing into the ceiling and falling short, he snapped, I could feel those teeth sinking into me! “RUN!” we skid around the corner, the dogs were ahead of us, baying, looking back at us, howling again. Heads popped out of a few doors, a look of instantaneous panic crossed their faces and they disappeared again, Elle and I wasted no air screaming for help, we ran!

         I looked over my shoulder, Frieda and Randy were tripping over each other because they were too large to run side by side, but that only meant that they were catching up slowly! Elle was breathing hard, I think they broke her nose and she was having trouble. We passed carts, potted plants; anything I could throw in their way was thrown, though it had minimal effect, were we ever going to get back to the room? Maybe the ancient doors would keep them out?

         I looked back again, only Randy was there now! He was catching up to us with his rusty brown muzzle snapping in anticipation! Frieda was gone! I turned ahead, I think I found her. Barreling towards us was an absolutely huge wolf, sandy brown muzzle wide, claws out. We were going to die in a hallway. Elle grabbed me and pulled the both of us into a small alcove, once the wolves were facing each other, Randy howled, threw a look over his shoulder and launched at Frieda!

         “Doesn’t he know they’re on the same side?” Elle shook her head,

         “That’s Bard!” I looked, indeed it was, and even through the thick pelt I could see the innumerable scars that patch-worked Bard’s torso. “Let’s go!” Elle tugged me out of the small refuge and we ran, fast and hard, away from the fight. I’m glad I had Elle with me, I would have gotten lost in that maze but all I remember is coming to the giant doors, slipping through them and we huddled on our sheepskin. Waiting.



         “Faelyn!” I jumped in surprise; Bard had materialized in the giant Fireplace! Elle moved in front of me, shielding me like I did her once.

         “It’s my fault!” She yelped, Bard was coming fast, his silk shirt in tatters, his slacks looked like HULK MAD! On his chest and legs were bright red lines, the blood was minimal on his part, but the splattering and his arrival meant that Randy was beaten again. “I got caught and they were punishing me and Faelyn came and misunderstood!” I misunderstood? I pushed her away from me; she looked at me in surprise,

         “They were beating Elle senseless! I couldn’t let them do that to her!” Bard came face to chest with me; I stood my ground, looking up into his burning eyes. His hand went around my throat, they tightened, I felt the collar digging into my skin as I was lifted off the ground in order to be nose to nose with him. I grabbed his steel beam arms, don’t struggle!

         “Who else was with my brother? Why did you attack them? Why were you late?” His breath flooded my nostrils with the scent of Randy’s rotten fruit blood. I coughed, rasped a breath,

         “Frie-da! L!” Gasp. “Ra-oool!” He dropped me; I sucked in air and massaged the new cuts on my neck. This was unlike him! He started pacing; I filled the tub, bubbles and all and retreated to Elle. I heard Bard splash into the tub, I held Elle’s face gently and she pulled away from me, hunching to hide. It made me angry!

         I grabbed her shoulders, pushing her to the ground, pinning her shoulders and I hopped on top of Elle. Her left eye was swollen shut; tears were streaming down her bloodied cheeks.

         “You’re just like them…” Elle whispered. I leaned back, letting go of her shoulders; Elle didn’t fight to push me off, and she was looking up at me. I knew what could convince her that I wasn’t one of those monsters. I did this because I care, I need to know how she was hurt in order to make it better. I leaned down, my lips on her ear,

         “I’m not a monster.” I put my hands on her face, lightly running over her swollen lip, her tears stained cheeks, “I will never be like that, I promise…” I leaned down and put my lips against hers. I felt the split, the swell, Elle’s sticky blood; I wanted a taste, just a little.

         I let her go and lay down in my normal spot. She put her head against my chest and cried. I put my arm around her, holding her in case she fell apart. I smoothed down her hair, waiting.

         When I was sure she fell asleep, I looked at Bard. He must have watched the whole scene unfold. I doubt he cared. But on the off chance he did, I would fight him and an army in their wolf shape if I had to in order to keep Elle safe. Bard nodded, whether in consent or acknowledgement it didn’t matter. Elle curled against me tighter, sighed and the tension left her body. My shoulder was wet, bloody too no doubt. My first kiss had been with a freshly beaten girl. I fought two werewolves with the help of dogs. I’d been strangled. If something managed to become normal in my life, I’d be welcome to the idea.

         But I’d been the knight in shining armor. That should stand for something, shouldn’t it? And damn if I wasn’t tired again. I let myself relax, Elle was warm, I was warm, the sheepskin was soft, and soon, I was as much asleep as I was human. I knew what Elle had meant by closer now.

         They were going to make us like them. I was going to be forced to break my promise to Elle.

         I was going to be a monster.