CHAPTER 1: SAVED BY THE UNKNOWN
1359 Words
LILAC
I’m sinking.
The water closed in around me, and I continued to sink into what felt like a never-ending pit. Panic had only made things harder than they already were. My whole body had run out of strength from struggling to stay afloat, but the world above me continued to blur.
I kicked my legs harder, trying to push my way towards the surface, but it was as if an invisible force held me back. I remembered what they always said about drowning—how it felt like being in a nightmare you couldn’t wake up from.
They were right. This is a nightmare. I wanted to close my eyes and wish that when I opened them again, I would wake up in my bed in a cold sweat, but I knew that if I did that now, I wouldn’t be able to wake up ever again.
My chest ached, and my lungs screamed for air, but all I inhaled was water.
Was this how my life would end? My entire life flashed before my eyes. It wasn’t much anyway. I spent my life idly, mostly trying my best to please others. The last years of my life were me thinking I was in a happy marriage when it had been a lie all along.
The people I loved and trusted had betrayed me, and now I wouldn’t be able to meet the baby I had prayed day and night to have.
My baby…
Adrenaline surged into my mind once again after remembering my unborn child. I couldn’t die just yet, not with my baby. My arms thrashed around, desperate to break free. I couldn’t give up, not when there was still a chance to fight for the life growing inside me.
“Do not be afraid, my child.”
A strangely familiar voice echoed in my mind. It was very mellow, and it didn’t scare me, even though I shouldn’t have been able to hear someone underwater.
I saw a figure above me emerging from the blurry waters. It was a woman. I couldn’t see her face clearly, but her hand was outstretched towards me.
Her presence was surreal, almost otherworldly, but I didn’t have the luxury to contemplate her existence. I quickly reached out, my fingers brushing against hers. A surge of hope filled me as she clasped my hand, pulling me towards the surface.
“I’ll save you, bring you to where you’re supposed to be. In return, you must-”
I couldn’t hear her last words, but I felt myself being lifted. I think it was important, but my survival comes first. Gasping for air, I broke free from the water’s hold, but the surface I expected to see was entirely different.
“What a beauty. It’s a shame that we can’t taste you.” A man with an odd scent stood in front of me. I shuddered at the dirty look he was giving me. I’m not sure where I am, but this is not the river I fell off. I don’t even remember how I got here.
“Stop fantasizing about that she-wolf and hurry up. The auction is about to start.”
Another man peeked from the door. I sensed boredom in his voice. His scent was very odd, too.
Auction? She-wolf? What the heck are they talking about? And since when did I have such strong olfactory senses? I’ve always had a sensitive nose, but not this strong.
“Oh, let me have my fun. This b***h gave us a hard time catching her. At least give me a moment to appreciate my catch.”
He grinned at me, licking his lips, which sent shivers down my spine. I realized that my horror didn’t end with that after I attempted to stand. There was some sort of metal clinging around my neck. It wasn’t tight enough to strangle me, but it was enough to restrict my movement. Instead of standing, I sufficed on crawling at the edge of the cage, gripping the metal bars.
“Who are you? Where am I?” I asked and suddenly noticed another odd thing. My voice sounded different from what I usually hear. What exactly is happening?!
He snorted instead of answering my question. “I might have really hit your head hard if you don’t remember all the trouble you’ve caused so far. You let half of our catch escape, costing us a lot of money.”
The man suddenly grabbed me by my chin, “I will make sure you get sold to the filthiest wealthy person in the auction later.”
“Can werewolves have amnesia? Isn’t that a human thing?” His companion asked, still peeking at the door.
“Beats me. I liked it better when she was feisty, though.”
And with that, they left without looking back. I tried to call them, but no one returned.
“Cordelia, what was that about? Why the hell are you here again?”
My shoulders jumped at the sudden voice beside me. I didn’t even notice that there was someone else in the room. She was also in the cage, and like the other men, her scent was different, but I didn’t feel threatened by her.
I pointed at myself, “Are you talking to me?”
“Yes, you. Is there any werewolf named Cordelia here? Why did you let yourself be caught by those hunters again? If you’re telling me that this is a plan to save me, then it’s an awful plan!” She was frustrated, worried, and annoyed at the same time, but I was as confused as she was!
I raised my hands, asking for a time-out because there were too many things that weren’t adding up.
“Okay. First of all, I am not Cordelia. My name is Lilac Davis, and I have no idea how I got here. Could you please tell me if this is just a dream? I’m starting to get really scared.” I tried to clear everything up, but she only looked at me as if I had already lost my mind.
She glared at me, “This isn’t the time to joke around.”
I continued staring at her, still wondering what the hell was happening.
Her eyes widened, “Oh, shoot. You’re dead serious. We’re both in trouble. We are so going to die.”
I quietly listened to Senna, the girl who insisted that my name was Cordelia, telling me who I truly was. The more she went on, the more I realized that I was genuinely in a different world. She said we were captured by these trappers who happened to be demons of some sort, and we were basically being auctioned off in a few hours.
“There were four of us. We all escaped thanks to you, but that ugly demon caught me again. What I don’t understand is how they caught you. They brought you back here all unconscious. Don’t you really remember what happened to you?”
For someone who would be sold as a slave, Senna seemed remarkably calm.
“I remember drowning,” I mumbled, and as if on cue, the memories before I got here came rushing back to me.
“I’ll save you, bring you to where you’re supposed to be.
The woman who saved me. She said she’d save me, but a little pull to the surface would do the trick. I’m in the body of someone else, and I didn’t even know what happened to my real body. My baby. All I wanted to save was my child, but I ended up in this place.
Her brows furrowed, “You weren’t wet when you were brought here, but that jerk threw water at you. You were unconscious for a few hours. You were listless, and if I couldn’t feel your heartbeat, I’d think you were dead.”
She can feel my heartbeat?
I took a deep breath and tried to collect my thoughts. We needed to escape from here, or we’d be in danger.
“What exactly did I do for us to escape?”
- Writer
