The Grove (Ravens #1)

ix. her mantra

Trigger Warning: This chapter deals with torture and abuse, especially in the second half. It is not very graphic, but if this puts you at risk, please don't read it.

Ellie woke up a couple hours after Emma's arrival, and the smaller girl was shocked to see another person in the cell. She didn't recognize her companion at first, as she was in a weakened and vulnerable state foreign to the child. A bloody Emma was uncommon, but it had happened before. The difference now was how defeated she appeared. Ellie had never seen the other girl lose. Besides that, her dark hair had been released from her ponytail, and since her hands were bound, she was unable to stop it from covering her face.

    "Who- who are you?" Ellie asked nervously. At that, Emma's head snapped up, and Ellie was able to see her clearly for the first time. As the older girl suspected, her younger counterpart was unbound, and she quickly ran over to her friend. "Emma! Are you alright? What happened? Why are you here?" She removed the gag from the girl's mouth and sat across from her.

    "Ellie, quiet down," Emma whispered, "I'm going to get you out of here. I have a plan, okay?"

    "Did they send you here? Are they coming to get us?" Ellie asked, a hopefulness rising in her voice. She'd been so frightened over the past day, and the prospect of a possible escape was wonderful.

    "You mean the Ravens?" Emma said, "No, they didn't know I left. But you're alright? Did anyone hurt you?"

    "I'm okay, they didn't do anything too bad," Ellie said. She had plenty of new scratches and bruises, but everything would heal. Emma smiled, extremely relieved that the girl she came to rescue was healthy enough. At that moment, however, the door to the cell flew open, and in walked four people, two of them carrying guns. The two left unarmed, Emma figured, were their leaders. Still, the pounding in her head prevented her from gaining a clear image.

    "Back away," one of the leaders snapped at Ellie. This girl had a soft face framed by soft, brown curls, but it was clear from the edge in her voice that she was dangerous. Emma knew exactly who this girl was back before the plague. She was the high school bitch that almost everyone hated. Poor girl, even her old friends would have turned against her in a heartbeat. Now it seemed that her cruelty had found its calling. There was room for wickedness in the wild.

    "So who do we have here?" the girl hummed, walking slowly up to Emma. A staring contest proceeded between the two, as the prisoner was not about to give up a single piece of information, nor would she look away and suggest that she was scared. It didn't matter how nervous she truly was, she was set on maintaining this aura of confidence. The Condor was the one to break the eye contact, nodding to the guards behind her. On cue, they seized Ellie by her arms, pushing her against the other wall. The younger girl looked to Emma in fear, eyes wide and terrified.

    "I'll say it again. Who do we have here?" the Condor threatened. Emma looked up at her younger friend in a pinned position.

    "Let her go," Emma said with a cool confidence behind her words. She was glad her hands were bound behind her because it meant that the Condors couldn't see them shaking.

    Her captor laughed, "Emma, darling, that's not how this is going to work." By including the prisoner's name in the sentence, it became clear that she knew more than she was letting on, and that she would likely know if she was being lied to. Even then, by no means were these two girls strangers. They had never been allies, but they had long known of each other's existence and allegiances.

    "Then you're wasting your time," Emma said, "As long as she is in this camp, you won't get anything from me. You let her go, you take her home, and I won't try to fight you. I'd say it's a good deal."