Spirit Animals: Life Of Tarik - Book 1

Prisoner

Tarik was once again locked away from being free. The metal bars that kept him prisoner had gone rusty from the salt water. The heavy chains around Tarik's wrists and ankles had already begun to bruise and rip his skin. There was no sunlight either, so the only source of light was a wall torch. He was starving, and was only allowed to have small amounts of water on the journey to Caylif so that he didn't die of thirst. Lynk didn't want him to die yet. It had only been three days, and Tarik was already in a lot of pain.

Lynk had beat him everyday since he had been thrown onto his ship. Tarik had received many bruises over his body and face, and one of his eyes had swelled up after being struck there. He could feel that his lip had been split after he was kicked in the mouth on the second day. Lynk also liked to pull and tug on Tarik's chains just to make him feel more pain. The man would also yell insults and accusations at Tarik to make him upset.

And somehow, they did upset him.

Tarik was sitting in his cell with his back leaned up against the dirty wall. He had closed his eyes, but chose not to fall asleep so that he wouldn't startle himself awake when Lynk walked in again. This was a moment for him to rest. He would be beaten and yelled at for hours, with short breaks in-between. Tarik took this moment to be at peace. He took a deep breath, wincing as a harsh pain struck his entire body. He knew that he was at his weakest point, and Lynk knew too.

Tarik tried not to think about his friends, as it made him sad and hate himself for running away. He didn't want to look weak in front of Lynk, even though he knew he already did. He desperately wanted to summon Lumeo for some extra comfort, but he also knew that he wasn't allowed to. He tried to push the thoughts out of his head.

He heard the door to the prison open slightly, and light footsteps entered the room. The door shut quietly behind whoever came in, and the person made their way over to Tarik's cell. He didn't dare to open his eyes or even say a word. He wasn't in the mood for visitors, he just wanted to be alone.

Tarik felt a hand gently touch his shoulder, the sudden feeling almost made him flinch away. Opening his eyes, he saw that Chinwe had come to see him. She hesitated for a moment, clearly wanting to say something. Tarik saw the way she looked at him. He knew that she could see he was in pain. She saw his bruises and cuts. She saw the anger and hate in his eyes. Chinwe looked away as if she was ashamed.

Tarik wanted her to feel bad. He wanted to yell at her, punch her. Because the reason that he was here is because she took him to Lynk. If he was strong enough, he would have slapped her hand away from touching him. He saw how she was untouched, she didn't have injuries like he did. Tarik's stomach grumbled, making him look away from her.

He saw out of the corner of his eye Chinwe reaching into a small satchel and pulling something out of it. He looked at what it was, and his mouth watered after seeing that she was holding an apple.

"Do you want this?" Chinwe whispered to him. She held it out to Tarik.

He stared at the apple. It was red, and looked delicious. His stomach growled again in desperation of food. He wanted to reject the apple, knowing that Lynk would be furious if he found out that Chinwe had fed him. Chinwe briefly looked behind her, checking that no one was there before returning her gaze on Tarik.

"Please," Chinwe moved closer to the cell and placed the apple in Tarik's lap. Tarik looked up at her with anger.

"I don't... want it," he said weakly.

"Yes you do. Please, Tarik. Eat it while you have the chance," Chinwe begged. "You won't be able to eat when we arrive at Caylif."

He wanted to say so much more to her. But he was so weak. Tarik wanted to tell her how much he wanted to smash her face in. He wanted to tell her how much he hated her, but he couldn't. He weakly picked up the apple and moved it closer to his mouth. He paused and looked at her, realising that it would be funny if she got caught.