Literally Illiterate Writing Prompts

7/25/17

Literally Illiterate
Prompt #2 | That's what they said
"You can call it whatever you want-- magic or guilt or both-- but you can never lie to me."
Word count: 1652 (1632 if you ask Wattpad)

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The first thing she noticed was the looming darkness around her. There was a single, faded ray of light coating the tight place she was in, giving her a slight clue as to what was containing her. It looked like wood. Anxiety sent shivers crawling down her spine and her blood pumping through her veins. Her heartbeat picked up. A faint sheen of sweat grew on her brow. The last thing she remembered was heading home from her self defense class.

Calm.

She had to remind herself what the word meant. Whatever she felt certainly wasn't it. She put her dominant hand to the worn wood, brushing her fingers over the dark rings as she turned. She had to squint at the amount of light filtering in through the opening. She allowed her eyes a moment to adjust before taking a timid step forward. Everything was rather... unfamiliar. From what she could tell, she'd just stepped out of a hollow tree. She had no recollection of how she got here... or where she was.

Calm.

She took in a deep, steadying breath. She had to keep her head screwed on straight. She took a brief look around, her deep green gaze taking surveillance of any and everything. There's trees around if the soft swaying of leaves in the rarely blowing wind is any consolation. It smelled of fear and anxiety... perhaps that was her...

For the most part, she seemed... alone. She couldn't be sure, though. Usually, silence was easy to detect. There would usually be the slight ringing in her ears, something to fill the void that uncomfortable silence left in it's wake. Currently, it wasn't there. Perhaps, the sound of the distant ocean was what filled the void, rather than the dull ringing. Or, she supposes there were actual people here.

"Hello?" She figured calling out would give her the answers she seeked. For a moment, there was no reply. No approaching footsteps, no verbal reply, nothing. She moves forward a bit more, her face scrunching up in confusion. Why was she here, on an island, alone?

Later, she would blame the lack of awareness on her confusion. A single hand was spotted through her peripheral, alerting her of the presence of another person. Another person who was coming towards her, to be specific. They had their arms outstretched and were running, too. She didn't think, but she did act. Everything she'd learned in those self defense classes came back as grabbed the person by the wrist, yanked them forward, then aimed a well-placed kick to the back of their leg. She'd brought them to their knees, failing to notice they hadn't come towards her to attack.

Not that she particularly cared, either. She wanted answers. So, she twisted their arm back and held them like that. "Who are you, where are we, how did I get here, and why am I here?"

There was a moment's pause. The soft intake of ragged breathing from both ends. Her internal clock ticked. Seconds passed. "...Please unhand me. There's no reason for such hostility." She glared down at the pink-haired person she had restrained. If I let her go, I could die. She could kill me.

"Not until you answer me." She couldn't take the chance that she was right. She couldn't let this person be her undoing.

"Fine. My name is Kelsea..." There was a pause. Her anger only grew, coming close to the point that she almost began to seethe. She had more than one question, after all. She twisted their arm further. There was a small squeak of pain, then another pause before 'Kelsea' spoke again. "Would you believe me if I said I don't know?"

Somehow she knew that Kelsea wasn't lying. She didn't want to believe it, but she had no choice. She sighed, resigning herself to the fact she may never receive the answer she yearned for.