chap 2

Elisa's pov

The next morning when I woke up, Marie was gone. There was a paper beside me with some numbers written on it. Was it the combination of a lock? I didn't have time to ponder over it because soon a guard was unlocking my cell. I quickly hid the paper under the mat and scrambled to get up, nearly falling over from the pain in my feet.

"Where's Marie?" I asked the guard. My hands on the wall for balance.

The guard scoffed, "Shut up and walk."

I bit the inner of my cheeks but didn't say anything more as I limped my way to the food court. The guard pushed open the doors and I stared at the numerous faces on the floor, some huddled together in their rags. I could see some of them glaring at me with contempt- it wasn't something I wasn't used to- but the number seemed to increase. Someone spat on me as I walked over to collect my food.

I grabbed my tray and the server dropped 3 raw potatoes and what was supposed to be sauce- but looked like vomit on my plate. I limped over to a corner and sat down, my back against the wall. My eyes moved from the tray on my lap to scan the room once again for Marie.

"I fucking knew she was bad news." I heard one of the girls beside me talking. They were stealing glances at me and talking in not so hushed tones. "I told Marie but she didn't listen, now she's going to get killed because of this witch."

My head snapped up at that. Panic rushing through my body. The tray clattered to the floor as I reached for the girl. "What did you say?"

The girl shrieked and tried to move away from me. Her friend pushed me off her and they both scrambled to a new spot with their trays. I wanted to reach out for them once again but a hand grabbed mine. I looked up to find Joanne standing there. She hated me with everything in her and never bothered to hide it. Just like now, when she was glaring down at me with disgust.

"Fuck off." She spat. "Don't get them killed as well."

I pulled my hand away from her and slowly got up to my feet. She was slightly taller than me. "What do you mean?" I tried to keep my voice calm, even though my heart was practically threatening to beat out of my chest. I needed to see Marie.

She stepped closer bridging any distance between us. Her hand fisting my gown. "I told her to stay away from a sick person like you but she wouldn't listen."

I felt the same sinking feeling in my chest as the one I'd felt on that night. "Where's Marie?" I managed to voice out.

"Don't worry you'll get to watch her head roll" She scoffed and pushed me, causing my back to hit the wall. "She's only getting what she deserved for associating with a psycho like you."

The words rang in my head. Marie was going to be killed. And it was going to be my fault. Again. My hands began to tremble, my chest heaving up and down. Hot tears ran down my cheeks.

"Oh don't cry-"Joanne's mocking voice cut in. "She was old anyway."

I lunged at her before she could say anything else, tackling her to the floor. My fist collided with her face over and over again. I could hear people shouting for the guards and I could feel hands trying to pry me off from her. Joanne finally managed to push me off before climbing on top me.

She spat blood onto my face and laughed like a maniac. "I fucking hate you, Elisa. I hope you die. Just die, bitch." Someone pulled her off and someone dragged me away, although I couldn't care less.

All I could see was Marie's blue eyes piercing into mine. I'd never see them anymore.

A sob racked through my body as I covered my mouth with my hands. A hand wrapped around my shoulder and I flinched. I'd forgotten someone was by my side. I looked up to see who it was and another sob racked through my body. "Ethan." I threw my hands around him. Ethan was the only family I had left but they separated us since the capture. I pulled back to look at him. He'd grown so much. I touched his face, I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't disappear again. I wasn't sure how he was here since men and women were kept separately but I was glad he was here. I pulled him into a hug again. "Where have you been. I thought you were dead."

His hand moved up and down my back in a soothing way. He stepped away from me and took my hand on his, "Let's go somewhere else. I have so much to tell you."

He led me to the field and I watched him scan the area anxiously before grabbing me by my shoulders. "Listen to what I have to say, Elisa." I could feel his hands trembling on me. I was tired of hearing bad news. I wanted to cover my ears and run away from this nightmare called my life. "You're adopted. Mum and dad wanted to tell you that they found you in a forest but then everything spiraled. Do you understand what I'm getting at?"

I shrugged his hands off my shoulders and looked away from him. "Mum wasn't mad." I just couldn't forget what I'd heard her say.

He looked at me weirdly but didn't bother arguing. " What I'm trying to say is that-" He looked around nervously and fumbled with his hands.

I was starting to get anxious as well. What did me being adopted have anything to do with being found in the forest. "Just spit it out!" I said frustrated.

He let his hands fall to his side. His brown eyes staring at mine with a mix of what looked like fear and pity. "There's a rumor going on." A rumor? I haven't heard anything like that. "They're looking for a baby that was said to be abandoned in the forest...a star birthmark.

Oh. The star birthmark at the back of my neck suddenly felt hot against my skin.

He took my hands in his. "Please, you can't go to the hunting game." He said worriedly.

"I don't plan on going anyways. I'm injured." I wiggled my feet at him and he gasped at the state of my feet as he looked down.

"What happened?!" He yelled. He looked down, examining the state of my feet before looking back at me. I couldn't tell him what happened. He obviously hadn't heard about my reputation and I didn't want him to see me any differently. He tugged my hand in a direction I wasn't familiar with. "Come on, I'll sneak you to a place where you can get treated."

We didn't make it far. John appeared in front of us with a group of men. "And where do you think you two are going." He nodded towards us and his men seized us. John walked up to Ethan and slapped him. "I'm so fucking tired of you siblings always sneaking away. One is a murderer and the other is insane." A murderer?I looked at Ethan but he averted his eyes. John continued, "Take him away, we'll deal with both of them."

"No!" I shouted. "Just let me spend another minute with him." I looked over at Ethan who was already looking at me with a weak smile.

John walked over to me with a sneer on his face. "I'd do that if I ran a charity organization but don't worry, I'll be sure to place your bodies next to each other when you both fail at the hunting competition."

"She can't enter! She's injured!" Ethan protested, struggling violently against the guards.

"For goodness sake, take them out of my sight."John said, throwing his hands into the air. He rolled his eyes and walked away.

The guards dragged me away from Ethan in the opposite direction. I watched as Ethan continued to scream and struggle in their hold till one of the men brought out a needle and pierced it into his neck. I watched him go limp in their hold. I tried to scream but I felt something pierce into my neck as well.

I could see Ethan's figure slowly becoming blurry. I tried to fight it. To get my mouth to scream for Ethan but my eyelids slowly closed.