The Titan Slayer

Chapter 9

Nine-year-old Anais bolted awake only to be welcomed by the searing pain flowing in her veins. She tried to scream in pain, but she was gagged and bound. The agony was almost unbearable, and Anais felt a tear roll down her delicate, youthful cheek. Anais forced her eyes wide so she could analyze her surroundings. But her attempt was fruitless. She realized she was in utter darkness.

Anais registered her pain and speculated she had a fractured arm and ribs and most definitely a sprained ankle.

Isabel.

Terror and panic seized Anais's heart and rationality at once. Their wicked, glacial hands gripped her poor soul tightly and mercilessly. For an instant, Anais, paralyzed, forgot how to breathe. She unconsciously and unwillingly ran all worse-case scenarios through her head, succeeding in making things worse. Anais tried to shout for her sister, but her voice caught in her throat. It didn't take long before Anais was hyperventilating.

Calm down, Anais. Suck it up and calm down. Where is Isabel?

Anais took a few deep breaths and tried to turn her body. In return, scorching agony exploded in her ribcage. Grunting, Anais tried shouting through her gag, desperate to get any clue about her sister. Please answer, Isa. Please, I am begging you. Tears threatened to spill from the anxiety and agitation.

"Anais?" a small, feeble voice ventured. It sounded wary and tired, but it was doubtlessly Isabel's.

"Mmmm!" Anais exclaimed. Relief washed over Anais, and she relaxed visibly. But that hardly meant Isabel was not hurt. Isabel could've been injured just like Anais.

"Where are you, Ness?" Isabel whispered. Her immature voice was trembling and uncertain. "Are you hurt? Why can't you talk? I'm going to look for you, okay? Don't move."

Anais desperately tried to object. However, Isabel couldn't, or wouldn't, understand Anais, and she stubbornly continued to shuffle around in search of her sister. Finally, Isabel's fingers brushed against Anais's thigh. Despite herself, Anais's breath hitched, and the tears gave in, cascading down her cheeks.

"Shh," Isabel soothed. "Where is your face? What do they have over your mouth?" After a few eye-poking, nose-picking, face-scratching, and hair-tugging moments, Isabel had successfully managed to undo the gag, and Anais gasped for air. Isabel then moved to untie Anais's bonds.

Anais choked on her own words, and when Isa finished untying her, Anais tackled her in a hug. Anais ignored the red-hot pain in her chest, focusing on the faint, sweet scent of Isabel's auburn hair. A thousand emotions burst within Anais's tight chest. Relief, fear, love, anger, hatred, and joy all blended and intertwined together.

"Are you okay, Isabel?" Anais asked between weeps. She held Isabel out at arm's length, and although she couldn't see, she still patted down Isabel. Sadly, it didn't do her much good in the dark.

"I'm okay, Ness," Isabel said, her voice dangerously low and unstable. Anais enveloped her in another hug, and Isa's voice became muffled. "I just have a cut on my leg."

"I thought I lost you, Isa," Anais sobbed into Isabel's shoulder, shaking uncontrollably. "I was so scared. I thought you were gone."

"I'm here now," Isabel reassured. "I was so scared, Ness. I thought I had lost you, too. I thought I had lost you after those men..." Isabel didn't finish the sentence as the seven-year-old burst into tears from the trauma.

Anais smiled a little. There was consolation in knowing that Isabel was with her, but she and her sister were hardly out of trouble. The men that had killed her mother were after them, even after four years. Anais had managed to keep Isabel and herself undiscovered, but the men had gotten clues about them two weeks ago. Anais didn't remember it clearly, but she vaguely recalled how she had gone face to face with the men, the tallest being twice her height. Anais, armed with a hammer, had managed to harm two out of the four men before one kicked her in the ribs. Hence her injury.