So this was it.
I was being carried through the woods on someone’s shoulder, shivering to death as frosted air hit my bare skin. My heart was racing like crazy and my mind was going through all the unimaginable scenarios of my death, bracing for the worst.
Where were they taking me? Would they kill me in one move or torture me? Why were they even kidnapping me? Why didn’t anything make sense for once?
I hadn’t found out one thing about my kidnappers, with the exception that they were insanely fast and didn’t mind the merciless cold.
We must’ve been running for miles, I wished I knew. I was getting a little tired of the unknown, I wanted to tear the cloth around my eyes and see where the hell I was.
Suddenly, they stopped running altogether. I heard howling and cheering and if I didn’t know better, they were cheering for my death. I wanted to hide away, to never be seen again, but at the same time, I wanted to take them all and fight them.
They took out the cloth in my mouth and I bit down on my kidnapper’s hand as hard as I could.
But all I got in return was a bitter laugh.
“Fiesty, I see,” I was surprised to hear a girl’s sharp voice because the person carrying me must’ve been very strong to run with me on their shoulder.
I was picked up from her shoulders and dropped to the ground. I stood on shaky legs as goosebumps rained down on my skin. I swallowed my fear and tried to be brave but I couldn’t stop myself from shivering.
I was going to die.
I heard some rustling as they shoved me through a tent.
They finally tore off the band over my eyes and I was left staring at a young girl, barely a woman, covered in exotic animal furs, her black hair in braids with a touch of brown at her roots. Her face was caked with black paint and savage piercings climbed up her ears.
Everything about her screamed danger.
“So this is the Moon Goddess they claim to have?” The young woman asked while sharpening a wooden stake with a knife. I gulped.
I don’t know why but I was a little surprised. I imagined their leader to be older and crueler and bigger, a giant rock to sit on their brutal throne. Don’t get me wrong, they were still terrifying in their own way.
“You think I’m the Moon Goddess?” I gaped at them but their faces remained emotionless.
“Why else would we go through such lengths to get you?” A tall Asian woman interjected and I realized that she was the one who brought me here, easily recognizing her sharp voice.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not the Moon Goddess.” I replied, hoping that they’d let me go now. I was a little sad that I wasn’t the one they wanted but a little happy that I wasn’t the one being targeted. At least, I hoped not.
They all froze, looking at the woman with the black braids. She stopped sharpening her wooden spear and stared into my eyes.
“Do you know who the real Moon Goddess is, then?” She asked after studying me carefully. She threw her knife down and used her wooden staff as a cane, coming even closer, as if she could see through me.
“She’s my sister.”
The tall woman spoke again, “Maybe we could use her to lure the real Moon Goddess out of her hiding place.” Now I understood why we had to have bodyguards, there really were people out to get us.
“Do you think that would work?” A man asked and it finally dawned on me that he was the only man here. There were five women, including me, while there was only one man.
“They’re too selfless to let the sister of their precious Moon Goddess die in the hands of rogues.” The woman with black braids said bitterly.
I couldn’t help myself from blurting out, “Rogues?” Were they werewolves, then?
“This is the land of the rogues, stupid.” A girl with wild blond hair said but before I could ask anything else, the leader cut me off.
“Make sure her hands are tied and bring her to the river to clean off her scent. Mila, stay.” She commanded and the tall Asian girl stayed back.
My arms were forcefully grabbed by the blond girl and the only guy. They shoved me out of the tent and the sun’s bright orange rays shocked my eyes. The light reflected off the snow, making everything glimmer.
The land was actually pretty small, only about ten makeshift tents set up under the pine trees.
“Let’s go,” The blond girl forced me to walk through the snowy hills in my flats. We reached a half frozen river, like the woman had said, and they pushed me under the water without any warning.
It.
Was.
Freezing.
It felt a thousand needles sinking into my skin. It shocked my heart and woke up my senses.
When I resurfaced, I was a miserable, shaking mess. I coughed and tried to hug myself but my clothes were soaking wet in zero degree water.
“Sorry but we don’t want anyone tracking us.” The guy shrugged as he sniffed me and I finally took a minute to study them in my pathetic state.
The girl had feathers woven into her curly hair, pulled back by a brown headband. Her arms were decorated with leather bracelets and was wearing layers and layers of white animal furs. But what made her stand out was her thick black eyebrows, contrasting immensely with her pale hair and skin.
I snuck a quick glimpse at the guy, too.
Brown furs covered his sturdy body, matching his walnut brown hair. His face was marred with a huge diagonal scar that extended from the right side of his nose, across his nose, until it disappeared under his thick wavy hair. But even with the scar, he was dangerously beautiful. They both were.
They led me back to the woods, where the blond girl shoved me into another tent.
“Get out, Bruce,” She snapped behind her.
“Why can’t I watch?” He asked innocently and I realized that she was going to change my clothes. I breathed in relief, anxious to shed these soaking wet clothes.
“You know damn well. Now go do something useful!” She pushed him out and looked at me, “You better not try anything funny, I can snap you in half before you even blink.”
I gulped, “W-Wouldn’t think of it.” She begrudgingly untied the rope on my wrists.
She dug around and produced a pile of animal furs and belts.
“Give me your clothes. Your shoes, too,” I didn’t like the idea of undressing infront of a stranger but her glare was intimidating enough.
“What are you going to do with them?” I handed her my flats, jeans and cardigan; but left my underwear on even though it was wet.
“Burn them.” She rolled as if to say what else?
I said a silent goodbye to my favorite flats and hugged myself for warmth.
“Well?” I looked at her in confusion, “Pick something or you’ll die before we get a chance to interrogate you.”
I grabbed the first thing I touched, which was a dark brown fur that could’ve belonged to a large bear. I wrapped it around myself, relieved to find that it had already been cut so I could put my arms through. The fur covered my legs, all the way down to my knees. I picked up some sort of fox fur and wrapped it around my shoulders. I never even knew foxes could grow to be so huge, the fur was almost the same size as the bear one.
I felt guilty for dressing in animal furs, I always loved animals and nature. But I didn’t want to die of frostbite.
“Is she done?” I heard Bruce ask from outside the tent.
“Have you been standing out there the whole time?” She demanded, tying the rope back around my wrists, leaving bruises.
“What else was I going to do?”
She sighed in exasperation and pushed me outside.
“Wow, I can barely smell the- nevermind, you missed a spot,” Bruce shook his head and uncrossed his arms, “If you’re going to do something, do it right.” I watched as he bent down and gathered some snow in his hands. What was he doing-
My cheek was hit with a ball of dirt and snow.
I felt another sting my other cheek as the girl threw one at me, too.
“I can still smell some wolf on her.” His nose wrinkled in disgust. She took a whiff of me and nodded.
“Who have you been getting close to?” She asked mischievously and before I could protest, she grabbed a handfull of cold dirt and rubbed it all in my hair.
“There we go!” She said victoriously. I reached up and my once soft, luscious hair felt hard and dry like the dirt itself.
That was going to take a year to get out. . .
“Oh, don’t look so depressed,” He took in my appearance, “You look like one of us now.”
“Shut up, Bruce, she’ll never be one of us. None of those types will be.” She snarled at him and I stepped back from her.
“We’re rogues, not animals,” He shook his head, “You’ll have to ignore her, it’s been a long time since she’s used her manners.”
“Shut the fuck up, stupid!” She hit him on the head and he hit her back. A few of the others walking around stopped to look at them.
“Are. . . you two siblings?” I asked quietly and they both choked, coughing on air.
“No, thank God-”
“It’d be a living hell if we were.” He finished for her.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Do I have to spell out everything? God, blonds really are stupid.” Her eyes blazed, ready to pounce on him.
“Can you two be civilized for one minute?” Mila appeared from behind me, with the woman wearing the black braids beside her.
“We need to move.” She announced.
“Did you sense something?” Bruce asked seriously.
“No, but with them looking for her, we have to go deeper into the woods,” She pointed at me, “Don’t let her out of your sight.” And with a flick of her hand, she started to walk back to gather her things. The others started to do the same.
Once again, I was blindfolded and shoved forward.
I was thinking of a way out but I was surrounded by deadly rogues and didn’t know where I was. The winter woods looked the same no matter where I looked. I could be miles away from my home, I could be stuck here for weeks!
Would my parents even notice I was gone? Or would they be too busy with work to notice? What about school? I had homework to finish, would my school think I was skipping? And what about Aria?
But knowing them, no one would miss me. Not even my parents, they were always away in meetings across the country.
Will I ever return home?
But the better question was, was there even a home to go back to?