chap 5

Elisa's pov

I waited for the pain to come but I felt nothing. A warm liquid splashed on my face and I slowly opened my eyes. I gasped at the horrendous sight in front of me. The knife was stuck in Joanne's neck-blood oozing out from it. I pushed her away and quickly scrambled to my feet. My eyes met her lifeless ones and it was as if I could still hear her- still feel her mocking me. Why didn't she stab me.

"Well that was some twist." John said. But I couldn't pry my eyes away from Joanne's. "I didn't expect you of all people to survive but since you did- as promised, you'll get your gift." I finally managed to look away from Joanne and at John. His voice was calm and neutral but his eyes were clearly laced with mischief

"I don't want any gifts. Just Marie and Ethan." I took in a deep breath, willing the next words to leave my mouth. "Are they alive?"

John looked at one of his men and then back at me. He flashed me a smile- a smile I knew all too well. "Yes, they're alive." My eyes stung with tears. They are alive. Ethan is alive. Marie is alive. Before I could ask anything else, 2 hands grabbed me. "Now, don't get too excited. You'll see them at night. It would be a memorable night." He smiled at me before walking away. The men dragged me away. Back to my cell.

When we got to the cell. There was someone else there. Someone else in my cell. Someone else in Marie's spot. I pulled my arms away from the men and marched in, stopping in front of the stranger.

The girl got up with a smile on her face. Her hazel eyes stared into mine as she tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ears. She stretched out her hand and spoke in the sweetest voice that was sure to charm anyone. "Hi. My name's Rose." I stared at her hand and back at her. Something about her ticked me off. She withdrew her hand awkwardly after a while. "I've heard about you-"

"What are you doing here." I cut in. I felt that all too familiar, sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The familiar clawing feeling at the back of my mind that something was wrong.

Rose let out an awkward laugh. "I've been assigned here. Your new cell-"

"I already have a cell mate!" My voice came out harsher than I'd intended and she flinched. She stared at me with a terrified expression on her face but I couldn't care less. "I'm not sure who you are or where you came from but you need to get out." She didn't move. "Right now. Get out."

She stared at the cell door and back at me. She blinked several times and that's when I saw it. A tear. She wiped it off quickly before it could go any further. "The cell door is locked." She stared down at her hands, fumbling with it for a few seconds. Her voice grew quieter. "And I really was assigned here." She didn't say anything more and sat back down, except her back was turned towards me now. I let out a sigh, pinching my nose bridge. I wasn't trying to be mean to her. I just couldn't shake off the unease that something terrible was lurking in the shadow ready to swallow me whole.

I didn't say anything else and moved back to my space. I leaned against the wall as my eyes moved over her body, finally taking in her appearance. She was dressed in clean pairs of clothes. I thought back to the time I was near her, she didn't smell nor did she have any scratch on her face. Her ginger hair was perfectly combed as well. Who was this girl?

I cleared my throat a bit before speaking, "When were you captured."

I could see her stiffen up a bit but she still didn't turn back as she answered. "2 years ago." She's lying. 2 years ago and she was extremely neat? That wouldn't have been possible. Heck, these people would have sucked the life force out of her and yet she was smiling at me as though she just won the lottery.

She must have sensed my doubt because she finally turned around to face me. Her voice was soft as she spoke. "We were trying to escape one night but they found us. They killed my parents and my little sister-" She looked up, blinking away tears. "I haven't seen her since they took her away. I'm not even sure how she's doing or if something bad happened to her." She broke down sobbing. Anyone watching would have been moved to comfort her and disgusted by my utter lack of empathy. But I just couldn't bring myself to believe a single thing she said. She gave a pitiful sob story but it didn't explain her appearance.

The cell door opened and I knew it was time. I threw Rose- who had fallen asleep after crying- one last glance before following the guard out.

When we got to the field John was already there but there was someone else there with him.

"Ethan" I gasped out. I wanted to run towards him but the guard with me grabbed me. "What are you doing?! Let me go!" I yelled at him.

"It's fine. Let her go." John said as he walked towards us. The man finally let go of my arm but before I could take another step, he grabbed me again. Seriously, what's this guy's problem. John was finally standing in front of me and the man released my arm. "Now, Elisa I need you to keep a distance from your brother. If you move there will be consequences." I wanted to ignore him like I always did but something told me not to. Maybe it was the goosebumps on my arms from the moment the guard came to fetch me.

John patted my head. A wild grin spread across his face as he looked back towards his men. "Bring out her gift."

My eyes shifted from John to his men as they dragged a figure out. There was a sac on the person's head but I already knew who it was. My hand covered my mouth as the words left my mouth in a whisper. "Marie."