Past The Point of Escape..

Far away from the palace grounds, in one of the secluded places, Elestria lay unconscious on the wet ground. The dampness seeped through her thin dress, sending a chill through her unconscious body.

She woke up with a groan. blinking her eyes she shut them tightly to get rid of the stinging pain that shot through her eyes. The area where she got hit ached when she moved her body.

Where is she? suddenly, she remembered- they abducted her. Her mind buzzed with memories of what had happened.

With a jolt, she opened her eyes, squinting as she looked around, trying to find out about the place she had been dragged to. but all she could see was darkness surrounding her, Not letting her eyes see beyond its confines.

Tired from everything, She wanted to scream her lungs out, she whispered "why?? Why?? Everything is happening to me, what did I do wrong to have these pains? First they took away my mother and now.." a sob slipped from her trembling lips. Finally tears made their way out of her eyes and sliding down her cheeks. The room filled by her shallow breathing.

"Now..they want to ruin whatever is left within me. I'm all alone, God you see this? this is how you take care of your child? Huh??" Memories of her mother's words mocked her. Her throat ached and hiccups slipped out of her, making it hard for her to even swallow her saliva.

She took deep breaths, and closed her eyes "mother, you always used to say that God loves everyone and protects them, but what is he doing to me?" Her words hung in the air, darkness seemed to offer no solace to her pleas.

She felt empty and numb.

"Mother help me, I feel so scared" her eyes once devoid of any tears were filled with them now. Her eyes started burning. She raised her hands to wipe her tears but she felt something sticky on her hand.

It smelled foul, "it's blood" realization sank in, shaking her to the core as her senses came to alert. Finally sensing her surroundings, 'has Someone died in here?' was the first thing that came to her mind. Her hands trembled, and her teeth chattered due to the cold that seeped through the wet dress.

Panic crawled through her body slowly forcing her to stand up with the help of the wall she was resting against. Her mother's lifeless body flashed in her mind. "is there someone?" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

as she could not see her surroundings, she fell on her knees not knowing what she was supposed to do now. Kneeling on the ground with her hands flat against the floor, she whispered "please get me out of her mom, I'm scared." the floor beneath her palm felt coarse and uneven scraping against her soft skin.

just when a voice entered her ears as a ray of hope. "dont shout" a weak woman's voice sounded.

"Elestria's feet moved on its own and she rose up turning around. Her heart pounding in her chest. A Panicked voice came out weakly from her lips "who.. Who is here?"

moving back on her feet, elestria's head snapped to every corner of the room in darkness, when she heard the voice again.

"shh.. Just walk straight and come and sit". Said the women. But elestria couldn't move her feet, not trusting the person within the room. She stood there like her feet were glued to the ground, her chest huffing from heavy breathing.

"I'm just like you, abducted. come sit, don't shout no one's gonna hear you". The Women spoke again. this time her voice was firm and sharp at the end of the sentence as if it pained her to say those last words.

elestria, trusting the womens voice, walked straight until she felt the wall and sat down silently. After sometimes she muttered "when will we get freed?

A woman turned her head towards her and she flinched when she felt the woman's hand on her head, The woman's soft soothing voice hit her ears. "how old are you?" Asked the women.

Elestria confused spoke "im 19, why would you ask?".

the woman scoffed, her voice piercing through elestria's heart "too bad, it's too late to escape from here".

Tired of hearing everything negative around her Elestria felt as if hope was leaving her. "Why?" Her voice is just above whisper.

Suddenly Elestria noticed a thin light seeping in from the corner of the room. her legs ached with the urge to stand up and look around.

"It's morning" the women spoke softly.

Elestria felt her body stiffened as she processed her words ' how long had she been unconscious?' she snapped her head to the woman, her eyes adjusting to the light.

The Women's eyes bore into Elestria, and her hand remained on her head, a gesture that should have been comforting but felt more like an unwelcomed weight on Elestria.

"You're 19" the woman mused, after a moment she continued "you are past the point of escape, they won't let you go now".

Elestria's mind raced, the hope she felt a while ago came crashing right in front of her eyes. "No" she whispered, more to herself than to the women. "There must be a way out. Someone has to help us". Her voice filled with hope.

The woman's scuff cut through the darkness, her voice filled with bitterness " help? There's no help here. We are trapped in a nightmare and there's no waking up".