Captured by the Beast [SS#2]

Chapter 1

Nuri

Poking at my food, I glanced around hesitantly as Lilium and Cordelia talked amongst each other about normal things. I had briefly met Lilium when I first arrived a few years back. She had been eating by herself with tears in her eyes. She kept saying how she didn’t kill her family and that she shouldn’t be here. Though I believed her, nobody else did besides Cordelia. I met her on my second day of being here. Cordelia was a force to be reckoned with. I think somebody said something about her cap that she always wore and all hell broke loose during lunch. Though Cordelia was small, she was strong. She had managed to beat the life out of a fairy for talking shit and trying to push her around. It was always the quiet ones you wanted to steer clear from. I thought while shaking my head as I thought about the fairy that didn’t live to see the next day. That got Cordelia put into isolation for several months before she came back and met up with Lily.

“Nuri?” Lily called as I looked up at her as she stared at me with her dark brown eyes. Today, she had her dark brown curls pulled up in a ponytail with the help of Cordelia. Humming in questioning, I looked over at Cordelia for help as she shook her head with a smile on her round light brown face. “I said, what’s wrong with you today? You haven’t been the same since visitation today.” She stated as I sighed. She was right, I had been silent since I got back from visiting with my mom.

“My mom came to visit me today again and told me that today would be her last time seeing me. When I asked her why, she just shook her head with tears in her eyes and gave me this.” I explained while slowly raising my scarf to reveal the silver chained necklace that held a red crystal wrapped in what looked like gold vines. My mom had told me that no matter what happened, we’d always be together through this necklace. I found it very suspicious that she had told me that but something also seemed off about her as well. The more she had come to visit me, the weaker she had looked. No matter how many times I brought up her appearance, she would just brush it off with some half assed excuse like she was tired or she had to stay up all night. It was guaranteed that it wasn’t my father since he’d been so scared after the incident that he'd stayed cooped up in his room. “I don’t want to think that my mom is dying but it’s starting to look that way.” I added while covering my necklace again as somebody approached the table before Lily and Cordelia touched my hand in reassurance.

“What do you have there, Nuri?” A troll from one of the prison gangs asked as I stared at Cordelia who smiled as Lily shook her head in disagreement before I turned to look back at it. Though she was short, she was also very human looking.

“A gift from my mom.” I replied as she stepped closer to our table as the cafeteria grew quiet, watching us with curious eyes. “Is there something you need?” I asked as she smiled at me before holding out her hand.

“My boss wants it.” Was all she said before my fist connected with her face as all hell broke loose. More trolls rushed towards us as vines erupted through the concrete floor whipping at them thanks to Lily as Cordelia began dropping snakes from her hands. I guess she could summon them through her hands but that shit was cool. She had a crazed look in her hazel eyes as she tackled a troll before beating her with a tray.

As I admired my two new friends, the troll I had punched earlier tackled me to the floor while trying to take my necklace as I headbutted her. Growing angry, I could feel the heat building up in my body before I was engulfed in flames as the troll screamed while trying to escape me even though it was too late. Quickly pushing her off of me, I stood to my feet while glancing around the cafeteria at the others who continued to try to charge me. Just as I was about to make them roasted meat, the fire alarm went off before the sprinklers came on and gunshots were fired.

[~~~]

Today’s incident got us put in isolation for an entire year. It didn’t matter to me now since I no longer had anybody coming to visit me anymore. Sighing, I leaned my head back against the wall while playing with the necklace around my neck as I felt it heat up. Surprised by the sudden heat, it didn’t take long before it started beating like a heartbeat. Though it was slower than normal, it felt familiar. Has my mother done this? Has she given me her powers? But, I thought they were gone. I can feel my mother’s heartbeat through the necklace. She must have made this herself. I thought as I closed my eyes while feeling her heart beating against my skin. This reminded me of when I was little. I would always fall asleep against my mother’s chest when she read to me at night. The steady thumping of her heart beating always lulled me off to sleep.

Just as I began to get emotional, the sound of the door unlocking pulled me from my thoughts as I quickly opened my eyes and covered my necklace back before sitting up straight on the hard bed. Not even a minute later, a guard walked in carrying a tray before putting it down on the table in front of me. She had avoided looking at me before she quickly exited the room while locking the door back behind her.

“What the hell?” I questioned while looking at the tray that held a shiny silver thing on it. Slowly pulling it up, my stomach rumbled at the sight of the food before me. It looked like my mom’s favorite dish, Chicken Korma. It was my mom’s favorite dish to cook because it was my favorite food to eat. In my opinion, it was the best curry of all time but I think I’m just biased because of my mom’s cooking. Slowly scooping some of the curry and rice up together, I took a bite out of it as a tear fell from my eyes. It tasted just like my mom’s cooking. I thought to myself while swallowing it down as I began to eat more of the mildly sweet curry. Once I was finished, I stared down at the plate through blurry eyes as I couldn’t help but cry. “What did she mean?!” I screamed while thinking back to what my mom had said. Why wasn’t she going to come see me anymore? Had I disappointed her? Was she scared of me now? I asked myself while laying down as I pulled the pillow to my chest. I eventually cried myself into a deep sleep as those questions filled my head.

It wasn't long before I startled awake to the sound of chains rattling and the quietness all around me. Quietly moving my hands towards my eyes, I felt against my face for any sign of a blindfold but was surprised when there wasn't any. Where could I be that would be this dark? "Do you think they'll survive here?" A male's voice inquired as another one started laughing.

"I doubt it. That planet's hotter than the fucking South. They'll burn alive if they're not eaten alive." The second voice laughed as I shuddered at that thought as more voices started to fill the darkness. Were there more people here with me? That question was soon answered as the voices grew louder before whatever we were in came to a sudden halt as quietness now filled the space. Metal on metal sounded out all around us before the floor gave way and we were falling. I squinted my eyes as we fell, focusing in on the blondie with the buzzcut and a muzzle. She seemed to be looking over the sand before focusing on something that I couldn't see. Falling into the sand, I pushed myself up a little while hissing in pain.

"Fuck, this shit is hot." I muttered while quickly looking around for that blondie as our eyes met before she ushered me over. She now had a tan short girl with her as they slowly climbed down into a hole large enough to fit us. I watched as they carefully climbed down before one of the other women screamed out something. Just as I turned to see what the hell was going on, I saw Lily quickly rushing through the sand with some type of giant worm with a beak following closely behind her.

"Lily!" I screamed out while climbing down into the hole as she glanced at me before I hastily pulled her down after me. It didn't take us long to get acquainted with each other as the blondie was called Wren and the tan red head was Yareli. We'd all come to the conclusion that we'd been drugged and sent to this place by the prison. Sighing, we quietly stared up at the hole, waiting for the creature to finish rampaging and killing. We were going to get well acquainted over the next few days as we were being chased by some type of beast.