Three: "Sophie"

Nomak is here. He is angry. He stomps down the rusty stairs, his heavy boots echoing in the small room. He is so tall that his head is almost touching the basement's low ceiling.
- Well, well... - he drawls wickedly as he looks around the room, tapping the black widow on his palm- What do we got here?
The black widow is thin and long iron pipe with one end curled. It's his favorite toy. He has others, but he always brings this one with him.
- A little bird told me... - he starts slowly, venom dripping from his voice- ... that one of you took something.
Fear envelops me immediately.
- Something that wasn't his to take... - Nomak starts walking towards us slowly.
Everyone pushes back, scattering further into the corners.
- Now, if he took something that wasn't his... That means he stole it. That he is a thief...
He is looking around now. I curl up small in the corner. My shaking hands gripping my knees to my chest. My teeth clattering.
- And thieves should be taught a lesson. - he smiles, scent of alcohol and cigarettes and sweat fill the room.
Dark eyes twinkle when they land on me.
Please, not me. Please, just not me.
Tears well in my eyes.
I'm so sorry.
I didn't mean to.
I was just so hungry.
He takes a step in my direction. Then another one.
I thought that master wasn't going to come back.
He was done.
He was done with me.
I thought he wouldn't notice if I take a bite.
Words keep coming to me. Excuses. Pleads. Anything, just to save me from the black widow. But as he stops in front of me, looking down with pure hatred in his eyes, as he smiles widely at me...
I know that nothing can save me.
- You dirty little dog... - he says and swings at me.


A shrill sound erupted from somewhere. It came from the bottom of his shuttered heart.  He jerked violently as Nomak's hollow eyes burned into his mind while he kept swinging. He tried to get away. He waved his arms around trying to push his away but he couldn't touch him. Somehow the floor beneath his disappeared and he smacked into something.
Nomak's eyes were gone, replaced with the light. Bright, cream and yellow, lights that would have made his eyes water if he wasn't crying already. Pain spiked through him, making him hiss and take a deep breath.
- Hey, hey, careful! - the voice came from behind him.
From behind where? The thought, lost. Then, for the first time since he opened his eyes, he looked around.
He was lying on his stomach on some kind of carpet. It was thick and fluffy. Then he saw a bed with rumpled sheets next to him. Bed?
- Are you okay? - the voice asked and he felt a touch on his shoulder.
He jumped to the side and hit something wooden that made his entire body scream.
- Easy! Don't hurt yourself! Careful!
Then his wide eyes meet the soft voice that spoke to him.
A girl in white shirt and gray sweatpants was kneeling in front of him. Her hair was light ash brown and messy, falling around her face and shoulders. Her eyes were chocolate brown and somehow innocent. Not that he knew what innocent means.
Not anymore.
She was young, around his age, maybe younger. And she was different from any girl or woman he had ever seen.
- Um... Hi. - she said shifting in her place nervously.
He only looked at her. Eyes still wide, skin cold and sweaty.
- I, ah, I'm Sophie.
Sophie. It sounds nice.
He swallowed hard, his throat protesting and glanced around them.
He was in the corner of a small room. Walls were in soft yellow color and bare. There was a window across from his position, left from the bed, and he caught a glimpse of blue sky and clouds scattered over it. A wooden closet was behind him. That's what he jumped into when he bolted from her touch. It was in deep brown and looked old. The bed he fell from was placed between the closet and some kind of low chest drawer in the same color. Right across from the bed were an open door and another kind of wooden chest. Fear crept up his spine at the sight of an open door. What was behind it? Blood rushed through his head making him dizzy. Exhaustion crept, too.
- You need to lay down. - the girl said and when he looked at her, those big eyes seemed troubled- Let's get you back to bed.
She shifted closer but he jumped away again, hitting the closet, then clumsily falling into the side of the bed because his body wouldn't cooperate.
A guttural wail ripped from him as the pain spread everywhere. He started coughing heavily.
- Hey, it's okay. I won't hurt you. Don't be scared. - Sophie soothed- I just need to get you back to bed so you don't rip your stitches.
He managed to take a deep breath and stop coughing. Then he looked at her again.
She was still kneeling on her spot looking at him. He couldn't find anything evil or dangerous in her big eyes. They just seemed worried.
Slowly, she moved again towards him. This time he didn't bolt. She took one of his arms and carefully moved it to her shoulder. That's when he noticed he was all in cast and bandages. Both of his arms and legs were in heavy, white cast. He wore some kind of thin black shorts and his entire stomach and chest were wrapped in bandages.
- I know it hurts, but you just lean on me. I've got you. - she murmured to him then went to move him up.
Pain shot from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. He hissed and coughed again.
- S**t! I'm sorry! Just a second! Hell! There we go.. - she cursed and they both stumbled to bed.
It was so weird to hear someone so tiny and innocent like her curse that it actually made him smile.
His eyes lids got heavier.
- There. It'll do. - her voice was breathy but pleased as she spoke- I'll get better at this, don't worry.
She smiled at him and started arranging the sheets and pillows around him. He watched as she placed two pillows under his legs, pulled the crisp, light duvet over him to his chest, then leaned closer to arrange the pillow under his head.
The smell of lilies and ocean enveloped him immediately. It was strangely soothing and he breathed in deeply, his eyelids falling shut. He felt himself drifting somewhere.
A second later the bed dipped and he managed to open his eyes. Sophie was sitting on the edge of it, looking down at him with such tenderness written on her young face that made him want to cry. His throat was tight and burning.
- Who.. a-are you? - he squeezed the words out.
She gave him a small smile. Two dimples appeared on her cheeks.
- I'm Sophie.
Sophie.
He felt he was losing a battle against the darkness again. The pain lashing over his body was lulling him to sleep.
The mattress dipped again, then he heard her say: 
- Why don't you take some rest and we can talk later.
Fear came back, choking. He knew that dark, evil eyes were lurking somewhere in the darkness. Waiting. He could hear the sound of iron pipe being tapped on the palm.
Panic settled in.
Sophie.
He jerked again, twisting to the side, and reached his hand for something, searching through the darkness.

Then he felt something warm touch the very tips of his fingers peeking out of the heavy cast. It soothed him immediately, forcing the fear and the pain back into the depths of the swallowing blackness. His breathing evened and his pounding heart calmed.

Reviews

[Elle Brice]

Great chapter! I was really eager to find out what happened after he was in the hospital! I really like your writing style; it's easy to read and at the same time sounds mature. Can't wait to find out what happens :)