Don't Leave Me!

Ugh

My head is pounding so hard, and it is as bad as 7 years ago after I fell into the ravine.

Oh, shit!

I quickly sit up and regret it in an instant.

I groan and bow my head low to the floor. My mouth feels so dry, and a pungent smell of blood rushes into my nostrils. I put my hand over my forehead. I wince when my skin comes in contact with a long lacerated wound. A rush of bad flashbacks comes to me, and my eyelids instantly fly open.

Am I dreaming?

Instead of finding myself in the abyss, I blink in the dark. When I can finally regain my entire consciousness, I realize everything. I'm not dreaming! A part of me is disappointed but relieved that I didn't return to the darkest point of my life. I'm sitting inside the empty cell I saw earlier. Automatically I grope my whole body finding that I am fully clothed and untouched. Thank God! I try to stand up with my trembling knees. I walk up and reach the bar of the cells. It's locked, of course! What do I expect? They make me a prisoner here, not hosting me for a holiday.

The lights that once beamed through this mysterious dungeon have already faded, and there are no guards. The only light here comes from two sad-looking orangeish lights on both sides of the intimidating metal door. I try to reach for the lock and yank it off its place as hard as I can, but it won't budge. I sigh in frustration and crawl back to the middle of the cell.

"I'm sorry that you got locked up because of Sabrina," a soft voice comes from the cell beside me.

I was startled by the voice. I look at the source and see a girl sitting with her back resting on the bars separating us.

"I was going to be locked up anyway."

Then there is another silence.

I lift my knees to my chest and hug them tightly. A quiet sob brakes the silence. I realize that only two people are left in the cell beside me. Goosebumps creep up my body, and I stop myself from thinking about the worst possibility of the missing prisoners.

The other captives are asleep or dead or unconscious... I don't even want to know. It is only me now and this crying girl.

"Ssh, it's okay! You're going to be fine! I'll help you out of this place. I promise," I say, trying to calm her down, even though I'm also scared. But sometimes, what you're doing for others is what you need for yourself.

She doesn't say anything to me, but she finally stops crying and turns to face me. Her curly blonde hair falls over her face, covering one of her eyes. She doesn't look at me at first, but when she looks up, I stop breathing.

"Sierra?" I know her. She is one of Lucas's best archers. Why is she here? Why didn't I notice she was missing from the Camp?

"Oh my God, Ava?" her blue eyes still shine even in the dim light. She is one of the popular Fighters in Camp, and I sometimes get jealous of her. Most men in the Camp always set their eyes on her, following her every movement with dried drool all over their faces and tongue lolling out their mouths like dogs.

But she is not the same Sierra I have always known from the Camp. She looks sad, tired, and in a lot of pain. But she is still pretty, and I feel guilty now remembering how I was so envious of her.

I crawl towards her, taking her hands in between the bars.

"Why are you here?" she asks me, squeezing my hands tightly. Her hands are cold and trembling.

"They caught me."

She shakes her head. "How?"

I bite the inside of my lips, tired of telling everyone the same lie. Well, only the beginning of the story is a lie. "I was hiking in the woods and resting in the stream where these people usually gather fish. Then a bear came out of the forest. I was trying to run away from it, and then they killed the bear and attacked me when I was trying to run away from them. Then they knew I'm a Rebel, so they took me here."

"Wait, I don't understand. What were you doing there? How did they know you're a Rebel?" she frowns.

"I-I was resting, then three of them were there with a pickup truck. They were supposed to collect the fish. I was hiding from them when the bear saw me and approached me. I didn't know what to do or where to go, Sierra! The bear was hungry, and I couldn't run away from it! I'm not fast enough! And I didn't know how to climb the trees, so I ran for the stream. Then they saw me running away from the bear. They thought they were helping me by killing the bear. When they asked me where I was from, I lied to them and told them I was from the city and that I was lost. But then they insisted me to come with them."

I pause to catch my breath, "when I said no, I started to run away, but one of them knocked my head with a stone, and I bled. So they took me here." After everything I have been through this day, my tears have decided to show up now.

I quickly turn away from her and crawl back to my previous spot in the middle of the cell. "How long have you been here?"

Sierra turns her back on me, "I don't know," she looks up at the ceiling. "I think it has been a week. I haven't seen sunlight since they put me here."

I feel so bad for her, "why did they capture you?"

"We were hunting that afternoon," she answers me without hesitation. Her voice is shaky, like she might burst into tears at any moment. "We were supposed to hunt to celebrate the first day of winter. It's one of the Camp's traditions. We always celebrate the first day of the seasons."

"Who were we?" So it all happened the night before Lucas took me to forest to hunt?! I thought he was only joking around! Why wouldn't he tell me about this? I could feel something off about him for the whole week. I thought he had avoided me because of the kiss, but maybe it was because he was busy trying to find his missing friends.

"Lucas, Winston, Sabrina, Mason, and me." Sierra wipes her face with her hand. "We went to the forest in the morning. Winston and I were the only ones Lucas sent to the East side of the forest, while the rest went North. We found a doe in a middle of a meadow, but when I shot it with my arrow, I heard a gunshot from across the forest where we were hiding. I thought someone was aiming at us, so we stayed hidden. When they didn't shoot again, Winston and I ran out."

Sierra pauses to catch her breath, and her whole body is trembling. Even in the dark, I still see how thin she's gotten. "I saw my arrow on the doe's neck, but there was also a bullet wound on its side. I knew that whoever it was, they were also aiming for the doe. Then three people came out of the bushes, and one had a gun. They were Obels from this Camp, and we had an altercation with them about who killed the doe. Then one became violent, and Winston was just trying to protect me. But-" Sierra suddenly becomes hysterical. Her voice trails off before she can finish her sentence. I crawl back to her side and try to calm her down.

"But they shot Winston!" her trembling body feels fragile under my touch.

"Ssh, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

She shakes her head in between her frantic sob. After I can finally appease her, she continues her story. "I ran away once they saw Winston's blood. They followed me, Ava! But then I saw Sabrina coming my way, and it was my fault we both got captured. I was going to tell her to run, but I couldn't even speak. Sabrina was just trying to calm me down, but it was too late... they got us! They knocked us out before we could even scream for help. The next thing I knew, we were already here. And-" her body stiffens, and I thought she got a heart attack. "They raped her, Ava! They raped her!"

I just remember the girl she is talking about. Sabrina is that naked girl I saw in Sierra's cell!

"Where is she now?"

Sierra shakes her head frantically. She doesn't have to say anything to answer my question because I already know.

"I'm so sorry, Sabrina!" she whispers in a whimpering voice. "I'm so sorry I couldn't help you, and I should have done something! Anything!"

"Ssh, Sierra, blaming yourself won't bring Sabrina back! " It's not your fault... none of this is your fault," I say, stroking her thin back.

"It is my fault, Ava!" she turns to face me. "I'm too weak to get us out of there!"

"Hey, listen to me! This is not your fault! You are not weak, Sierra! You were brave to run away from them and to survive until now! I promise I will get us back safely to Lucas as soon as I can break out."

"Please, don't leave me!" she squeezes my hand tightly like she's clinging for her life with them.

"No, I won't leave you, and I promise that. But you have to promise to keep fighting with me and to survive! Okay?"