Chapter 1: Alida

Fire could be your friend, or it could be your worst nightmare. It can guide you out of a dark tunnel or vanish and leave you forgotten in it. In the end, it means what you want it to be. Right now, I can say it is not my guiding light and it did not appear in a friendly manner. It appeared suddenly, and caught up to me quickly, spreading around me and up into the forest trees that were as tall as I imagined a skyscraper would be. I have never seen one in person, but I did see them in many books. It was terrifying to be in this situation; I could not even begin to think of a solution nor a way out. Certainly, this was not what I had in mind when I decided to take the opportunity to escape. I just wanted to go outside as I used to in my childhood, be free; and maybe even find that little boy again, though I know he would no longer be a boy. I can still clearly recall the memory of those days where I first met him and before my world, as I knew it, beautiful and free, turned into a horror.

*****

The trees were too tall for me to see their top, the grass was as high as my waist, the butterflies danced harmoniously along the way, striking enough for a 6-year-old girl, with curious blue eyes to follow. I ran after them until I noticed that my surroundings were a surprisingly big field of flowers. It was breathtakingly beautiful, full of all kinds of wildflowers in different colors. After running around for a while and playing with the flowers, I realized that I had strayed too far away from the path to the house where my mother, my two sisters, and I recently moved into. Thinking about my mother’s angry face, my sick older sister staring at me with her tired black eyes, practically lifeless, wondering where I had run off to again; and my twin sister crying for having left her alone. Thinking about it made me incredibly sad and anxious, making me cry as I walked through the woods, trying to get back to where I had come from.

During my search for the way home, I started to hear a couple of steps in addition to my own. When I was sure that I was being followed I stopped and sat down on an old log, covered in mold from the long time it had been lying there.

“I was told it was rude to follow someone without them knowing you’re doing it,” I told the secret follower in the most cheeky and confident voice I could muster. “I know you’re there, so come out, I won’t bite, unless you mean to hurt me, of course.”

“You’re lost, aren’t you?” Said a frail looking boy with sky blue eyes, brown hair, and pale skin as he came out from his hiding spot behind a tree. “You shouldn’t run after butterflies if you’re going to cry afterward for losing your way.”

“At least I’m not following anyone without them knowing.” I frowned at him, almost losing my temper.

“Sorry”. He looked at his feet; I smiled at his apology that was barely a whisper.

I patted the log in the spot next to me, “come and sit beside me”.

“You’re strange”, the boy said as he walked slowly towards where I had indicated with a small smile and a quizzical expression on his face without meeting my gaze.

“What’s your name?” I asked once he sat beside me. He didn’t reply for a while.

“It’s better that you don’t know”. His expression was apologetic, so I didn’t push him too hard for the answers he didn’t want to give me.

“Why did you follow me?”

“I had no intention of…I thought you were a hallucination”. He kept looking at his hands the whole time he spoke.

I stood up in front of him, grabbing his face with both hands; “well I’m real enough, right?” I smiled at him; his expression surprised by my sudden bold gesture. “My name is Alida, let’s be friends!” The boy’s cheeks were somewhat flushed.

“I’ve never had a friend”, his expression turned thoughtful; “we shouldn’t be…and you shouldn’t have told me your name. If they find out we met…” He trailed off, then stood up and grabbed my hand. “I’m taking you back before they realize we are gone. If they ask, you saw no one and no one saw you, do you understand? And don’t come back here”. He looked terrified; I couldn’t say anything, I only nodded in response. His reaction shocked me; even when he led me by the hand along the way, I didn’t say or did anything. I just walked.

*****

The memory of the first time I met the boy faded, realizing I was still surrounded by fire. Wherever I looked, it was bright orange; I couldn’t escape. The most surprising thing was, I couldn’t feel the heat of the fire. It felt like it was a part of me and cannot hurt me. Even so, I couldn’t escape, the fear towards the fire did not let me. All those times mother burned me with fire or heated metal, left a great fear in me. At last, I had managed to get out of the house, away from the horror and torture; only to get myself trapped within a circle of fire that came out of nowhere. I screamed for help, even if it meant that she would find me and punish me for getting out of my room and deep into the woods. I screamed as loud as I could, wondering when someone would find me. If she would find me. Just when I began to think no one would listen to me and I would die burned to a crisp, I heard a voice calling from the other side of the fire barrier.

“Are you hurt?!” It wasn’t my mother’s voice. It was an unfamiliar hoarse, gruff voice, almost breathless. A man. “Stay away from the fire, I’m going to put it out before they notice!” They? Who is he talking about? I doubt he knows my mother as I do. But somehow he sounds familiar to me. Nevertheless, I did what he told me to do and stood right in the center of the flames. A moment later, the fire was being quenched by streams of water that flowed in harmony and in sync with the movements of its master. Once the fire was gone, there was a tall boy, who didn’t look much older than me, standing where the wall of fire had been. He was breathing roughly, almost as if he just ran the entire forest.

A thousand questions came to my mind; where did he come from? Who… or rather, what is he? How did he find me? How on earth does anyone else than my mother’s henchmen knows this place even exists?!

“Are you okay?” His question in a thick but soft tender voice pulled me out of my thoughts. Although, I couldn’t see him very well, either way, I could tell he was worried.

“I’m all right”. My words sounded strangled, but I managed to answer his question, trying to pull myself together.

“We have to get out of here and get to some safe place. Can you trust me on that?” I stopped paying attention to what he was saying after that question.

His voice is, for some reason, familiar. As if I had heard it before. I started to think the time when I was escaping just a few hours ago.

*****

“The Playground”, as my mother called it, was the torture room that was built in the basement after something tragic happened to her. Sometimes I get the impression that I used to know what it was about, but for some reason, I had no memory of it. I could never understand why she called this room The Playground. Most of the time mother seemed to be amused when she was torturing me; treating me like a toy she can dissect, torment and experiment multiple drugs with. Maybe I can relate the name with her actions and twisted logic.

“I’m in a good mood today.” she said while putting back her torture tools she had planned to use, with a pleased smile on her once doll-like features, now changed by age. She looked at the nearest guard, “take her back to her room.” Mother didn’t torture me today; she only tested a phew drugs on me and gave me a short electric shock before ordering her lackeys to take me back to my room.

I didn’t have much strength in me, falling flat-faced on the floor as the two men let me go once we reached my room. I looked back to the door while they were activating the security code on it, all the while my consciousness started to drift back and forth from reality; fighting the drugs and exhaustion from the electrical shock that was given to me not too long ago.

“Alida”, a soft, barely audible voice called my name. I looked around the room, without moving much of myself, but saw nothing within my bleary sight.

It must be the drugs playing tricks on me, I thought while drifting into a cloudy dream again.

Barely awake, I heard the same voice again, “Alida, can you stand up?”

There it is again,...that voice. I lifted myself just enough to raise my head and look around the room, “she must have done something new to me if I’m starting to hear voices”. I whispered to myself while laying my head back to the floor as I saw nothing or someone.

“Can’t blame you for thinking that. Given the state you’re in, but now isn’t the time to wonder nor explain”. As the male voice talked, I felt a sting on my arm, almost like an injection; but I was too exhausted to bother with it. Not a moment passed when I felt myself being pulled up to my feet, and a sturdy body steadying me. “Listen, I can’t show myself for the time being, but I need you to run past every door and every path I open for you. Don’t look back, alright?” I felt a hand stroking me lovingly with a hint of loneliness, “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting for so long”.

I was so taken aback by the situation, “I… I’ve lost my mind haven’t I? Or am I hallucinating?” The presence I felt was gone, but suddenly two hands grabbed me by the shoulders to shake me slightly.

“There is no time for this!” The male voice sounded frustrated now, almost heartbroken, “now is our only chance. Please,... trust me. You’re not going crazy. I injected you with adrenaline, you should be able to run about for a while”. The hands that were holding me fell away from me, leaving a cold lonely sensation in me, but with lingering warmth in their steed.

“Well, I don’t know if I have truly lost it or not, or if it’s a side effect of the drugs; but I’ll do as you say. As long as it gets me out of here, I don’t care if I’ve gone crazy”. I took a deep breath, eyes determined and ready to get as far away from this place as I can.

*****

As the memory faded, I was overwhelmed by doubt and fear; “no…” my voice was barely a whisper, the words trapped in my throat, my gaze to the ground.

“Alida? What’s wrong?” His voice was gentle with concern. He waited for my response, but to my silence he continued, “we have to go, Alida”. He tried pulling me by the hand to guide me along the way with him when I suddenly pulled away from him; standing still, looking at him with open panic in my eyes.

“Who or what are you? Why are you helping me? Are you going to act nice now so that I can trust you and then sell me off to my mother?!”

“What…” The sky cleared for a moment, just in time for me to see his confused, and at the same time, surprised expression.

“Why should I even trust a stranger that appears out of nowhere and calls me by name? You clearly know who I am so why don’t you start explaining yourself!” I stepped further away from him.

“I understand, I’ll explain everything to you once we…” He suddenly fell silent, his attention drawn elsewhere along the woods.

Instantaneously, I thought I could hear various footsteps, instinctively, I turned in the direction of the sound but saw nothing. “Do you hear that?” The question left my lips before I could stop myself.

“Yes. I can. They’re still pretty far out,” he looked at me before he continued, “they will catch up soon if we don’t hurry.”

“Wait. You’re saying, those men aren't even close? Then how the hell can I even hear them so clearly?!” I couldn’t believe anything anymore. Not even my own senses.

“I’ll explain everything to you once we go somewhere safe. I know you’re confused,-”

“Do you?” I cut him off before he could finish and looked at him with a sharp, cold gaze.

“To some degree”. His gaze dropped to the floor, taking a moment to think before he spoke again, “I promise you, I’ll explain everything. So please…” He slowly approached me, trying desperately not to frighten or offend me in any way. I didn’t move as he took a lock of my loose black hair in his hand, taking it to his lips to kiss it. As he did, he looked at me, his eyes in the dark seemed to burn with passion but with a lingering uneasiness, his lips still lingering near his hand that held my hair, and speaking in a soft, tender voice he continued, “come with me”.