Chapter Six

“What is she doing here?” Vicoretta snarled from the darkness. The room in front of me was black, black as night. I couldn’t see her sneer, but I knew it was there.

“I invited them.” Adam said smiling and disappearing into the darkness. Ste gripped my hand.

“It’s okay.” Ste whispered in my ear. I nodded, but not quite in agreement. He pulled me alongside him into the dark room. I walked slowly, sliding my feet along the ground rather than lifting them. I squeezed his hand with both of mine, biting down on my lip.

                  When we left the surprising sanctuary of the barely lit corridor I was plunged into darkness. My eyes strained to find some light, but there was none to be found. The room was completely dark. It felt as if I was being sucked into a black hole of nothingness, with every step I took I got sucked further and further into the darkness, losing any hope of return. I pulled myself closer to Ste and gripped the top of his arm. I moved cautiously through the room, feeling, but not seeing, countless pairs of eyes staring at me.

“Everybody,” Ste’s voice sliced the silence. “This is Joanie.” There was a murmur in response.

“Hi.” I said as quietly as I could. Ste pulled me further into the dark room.

He sat me down on what felt like a sofa. When he sat next to me, I clung to his arm. I felt like a little kid lost in a supermarket, except the lights had gone out and there were monsters traipsing around after me. I tightened my grip on Ste, if I was hurting him he wasn’t complaining.

“Are you hungry?” A familiar female voice asked me, she sounded maternal, sincere. “My name is Kathleena. I’m Stenaghen’s mother.”

“Joanie.” I mumbled unnecessarily.

She laughed. “I know who you are. Are you hungry?”

“Yes she is.” Ste answered for me. I glared at him, forgetting that he couldn’t see it. Ste stood up, I grabbed his hand trying to keep him next to me. “I’ll be right back.” He whispered, I could practically hear the smile in his voice.

                  As soon as I could no longer touch him I started to panic. My breathing quickened and my heart raced. I bit down on my lip to stop a squeal from escaping. Sooner than what it felt, Ste finally returned. He put his arm over my shoulders and I struggled to get as close to him as possible. He placed a plate on my lap. I tried to figure out which food he’d discovered for me but my hands were shaking too much. The first thing I ate tasted like metal, but it couldn't be, it tasted good - great even. The next thing was more familiar, cheese. Bread and cheese. That seemed to be becoming a bit of a routine. I felt around the plate and found other foods but I wasn’t hungry enough to chance it. I could hear murmurs travelling throughout the room, all too quiet for me to understand.

                  I reached up to find Ste’s face. When I knew he was looking at me I whispered into his ear. “Can we go now, please?”

I heard a strange throaty laugh in response. “Is the human not enjoying itself?”

“She’s a her.” I heard a voice cut in, I recognised the voice but couldn’t put a face to it.

“Whatever.” The first voice continued. “Uncomfortable are we?” I felt Ste’s grip on me tighten as I heard a chair scrape, signalling that someone was standing. “You’re lucky to be alive. If I was Stenaghen you would have been dead the second I saw you. You smell like you’d taste good.” Suddenly I felt hot breath heat up my face. Whoever this person was they were right in front of me. I strained my eyes hoping that I would make out their features. I felt a cold hand touch my arm, they raised it and then dropped it. My arm landing with a smack on Ste’s leg. “Not much of you though.” I trembled.

“Stop.” Ste snarled. His voice stern, angry.

“Am I upsetting your girlfriend?” The voice taunted. But I could no longer feel her breath on my face, she was retreating. “But, I am still rather hungry.” It was Vicoretta, i could feel the malice in her voice. The hot breath returned, in the silent room I could hear her licking his lips.

                  I heard another chair scrape quickly. Somebody else was standing. They were going to feast on me, my thoughts were surprisingly calm. The fact that they would attack me like a pack of dogs would hunt a rabbit was inevitable. Even if Ste tried to protect me, he wouldn’t be able to fight them all off. And of course it was guaranteed that he would do anything at all. Still my thoughts stayed calm. I didn’t want to die, why was I not panicking? I knew one of them would get to me, yet I was weirdly passive. Then I felt Ste stand, leaving me. No doubt to help the others kill me, to make it easier. With him sitting at such close proximities there was always the possibility that they’d hurt him. But not anymore, he’d gone. The calmness I had questioned before disappeared now, like salt so easily dissolving in water. I sat frozen by fear, quite literally a sitting duck.

                  Once again I had the too familiar feeling of this being my last day on Earth. For a person so young I had survived too many near-death experiences, my luck had run out. But just like with all the others I found myself thinking of those I would miss most. Lucy, of course. I would miss the way her smile could light up a room and that when her hair caught the candle light it would shine brighter than I’d ever seen the sun shine. I would miss Tom and Zoey. Matt, of course I would miss him. I could argue with him until the day I died but if he wasn’t there, I’d miss him. I hope he would miss me too. But not too much, I don’t want any of them to miss me too much. They have that new girl, I can’t recall her name now, it seems hardly important in comparison. She will replace me. She can slot right into the gap that I'd left, she would help heal the hole that I might leave.

                  Ste. This thought surprised me. I’d always been convinced that I saw Ste as an enemy. But even now as I knew he, along with his friends and family, lunged towards me, I didn’t hate him. I didn’t see him as an adversary. I found myself thinking of him fondly. Remembering the very few memories we had together. I played them through in my head, I chose to re-live those moments rather than to live in the moments that would be my last. Remembering the times that he had looked after me and protected me, I almost smiled. The times we had argued and the times I had cried. I remember the times he was upset with more pain and more anguish then I felt over any other thought. That’s when I realised, a little too late some might say, that I loved him. My capture. My saviour. Ste, I loved him.

　

Abruptly, a pair of hand grabbed the tops of my arms. I waited for it, ready. But the direction I was pulled in was unexpected. I being pulled out of the dark room. Towards light. I could see a glimmer of light, simultaneously feeling a faintest glimmer of hope. The hands threw me over a shoulder. The body that I was strewn across, ran. Faster than I’d ever known possible, but the speed was not the only impressive thing, we leaped. We crossed huge amounts of space in less than a second. The surroundings were blurred, practically disappearing. I tried to close my eyes but the wind kept them open. My eyes began to water and I started to feel dizzy.

                  Just as I was certain that I was going to throw up, we stopped. The hands put me down and sat me on a familiar bed. My eyes drooped. But I wasn’t tired. How could I be after the most terrifying and exhilarating time of my life. But still my eye lids became heavier. I knew who the person was, the body, the hands. It was Ste. I fought against my exhaustion to thank him. I tried to move my lips but I couldn’t. I could hardly be bothered to think.

“Sleep. Sleep, Joanie. You’re safe now.”

 

That wasn’t Ste.

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