Dawn Wolf

Chapter 22

Alexis POV

Numb. That's all I felt.

It had been a crazy past few days. I don't even know how long I've been locked up in this wretched cave. It's dark and moist. It's disgusting, I wish Daniel was here. I needed him, we needed him. Me and the babies. The cave is dark, except for a small crack at the top of the small cave, where light fluttered in, giving me some hope. I knew when it was night, and so far from being in here, it has been night 3 times. So I'm guessing I've been in here for three or four days. Ugh. There's a hole in the wall, where a big stone is rolled over as a door. I know there is a guard on the other side. He gives me food and water, he's actually pretty nice. But he's only the day guard, he swaps with a cruel man after dark. I hated that guy, he wouldn't give me extra bread. But the day guard always does.

He even gave me a pad of paper and some lead pencils. I was pretty happy about that, occupying my time. I used it to sketch things, like Daniel and what I thought my baby boys would look like. I had even jotted down some nice names that I liked, like Coby, Jonah, Nick, Isaac and James. James is the name of the day guard. He suggested that name, but I still very much like it. I jumped at a loud crack outside of the cave. There is a small gap between the wall and the door, so I peeked through it. There was a small campfire in the middle of three men, it was freezing in here so it was definitely freezing out there. They were watching the edge of the tree line, anxiously.

They were frightened? What of?

Maybe Daniel was coming! My heart sped up, relieved to be out of here. My thoughts became warm and happy, and I longed to be in Daniel's arms. This cave was surrounded by forest, something I found out while I was being taken here. Another loud crack was heard, and I waited, watching the tree line. A tall dark figure approached, he had someone's body slumped over his shoulder. I could see their figure, they were either a woman or a really curvy guy. I squinted my eyes to try and see who they were. He walked towards the men, who looked calmer now, relaxed even. As he came closer I realized who he had draped over his shoulder.

It was Rhonda.

My heart sped up, out of fear for her. She looked slightly bruised and unconscious. There were marks up her arms and a hand print across her face. I didn't want to know where she had been or what had happened to her. The man nodded at them all and started to approach the cave. I jumped back and sat in the far corner, acting like I hadn't seen anything. The stone was pulled away from the doorway and the man brought Rhonda in and laid her in the middle of the cave. He looked up at me, and I waved awkwardly. "Do you know this woman?" He asked gruffly. "No" I replied, without hesitating. "You sure, sweetheart?" I grimaced at the petty name, but nodded. He turned around and left, pushing the stone back in place.

As soon as the sound of his footsteps were far away, I slid over to Rhonda. I shook her shoulders gently, "Rhonda?" I asked, quietly. I didn't want the man to know I knew who Rhonda is. Her eyes fluttered, still closed. "Rhonda?" I asked again. She groaned and her arm lifted up to her head. "Go away Mark, I'm not watching the Teletubbies with you" She rolled over to her side and winced. I giggled softly at her words, then rolled her onto her back carefully. "Rhonda? It's me Alexis" I whispered, shaking her shoulders again. "Alexis?" She muttered. "Alexis.....ALEXIS!" She shouted, jumping to sit up. I covered her mouth with my hand, telling her to be quiet. I peeked through the door, and no one seemed to have noticed her loud cry of relief.

She pulled me into a hug and winced. "You'll have to excuse me, I'm a little battered" She laughed quietly. She looked down at her arms, which were covered in purple and red marks. "Well, the good news is, that you're safe. But the bad news is, that Mark is most definitely going to kill that guy for beating me so bad. But it was worth it" She said smiling at me. Worth it? What did she mean by that. How could you let someone beat you and then say it was worth it? "What do you mean?" I asked confused. She pulled herself to the wall and rested her head on it. I sat down next to her, still holding my pad and pencil. "They said that they would leave the women and children alone if I went with them. So I agreed" She said, looking up at the crack in the wall. "But they just wanted you to go with them, you didn't agree to be beaten did you?" I asked shocked.

She looked at me and smiled. "You're my daughter, even if you and Daniel aren't married yet. You're my daughter. I do whatever it takes to protect my children, as do you" She looked down at the arm I had wrapped securely around my stomach for the past few days. I didn't want my babies to get hurt, so I made sure that my arm was there to comfort them, I guess. "They told me they had you in this cave, and they said if I didn't allow them to beat me, they would beat you" She said wrapping an arm around my shoulders, comfortingly. I wanted to cry, no one had ever done that for me before. But I was grateful, because it protected my little boys. "Besides you could lose my grandbabies, if they beat you. Me and Mark have already made the nursery for when you visit and we've stocked up the closet with cute little outfits and the most adorable little booties you will ever lay eyes on"