Claimed

Chapter 1 - Search

From the perspective of Evie

Credit to AlyssaJGross for the character of Katelyn.

Unbroken silence filled the cave. The dimmed torchlight flickered against the walls, almost taunting us with its illusion of freedom. The rotting wooden pillars loomed over us, figures from our nightmares in the distorting light.
Neither me nor Katelyn said a word; we just hung sadly from our shackles, listening to the repetitive drip of water onto the cave floor.

It was driving me insane.

The shadow keeping us here hadn't returned since I had first awoken.
I haven't managed to get to sleep since. The stale air stung my parched throat, and my knees trembled from exhaution. Yet whenever I closed my eyes, images of pain and violence flashed before my eyes - the Isle; Mal was dead; Maleficent infiltrating the school; Mal with the apple; those wolves; helpless as Carlos faced his mother alone; stuck in that stupid dimension; the burns and Jafar; my dissapearance; the shadow. But worst of all: not knowing if my friends are okay.

I jolted forward, my eyes snapping open as shivers racked my body, pumping oxygen into my lungs as fast as I possibly could.
Katelyn stared down at me, concern gracing her features. The baby blue hair framing her face was straggly and knotted, much like I imagine my own is, and all I see in her crystal eyes is pain.
She's close to giving in. I can see it.

I turned my attention to the shackles binding my wrists. They're old and rusty, but far from weak, as neither of us can get them to budge. They've rubbed my wrists red raw, sometimes to the point of bleeding. Therefore, the cuffs are both rusty, bacteria-infested, and splattered with dried blood.
The scary thing is, most of the blood's not even mine.

"..Don't.. Give in.." someone whispers in my ear. The voice was sweet and melodic, if quiet. I look up from the bloodstains, expecting the speaker to be the only other person in the cave with me - but Katelyn looks just as confused as I feel.
"What.. The hell was that?" She mutters. Her voice is harsh and scratchy from disuse and the lack of moisture. Now that I listen carefully, I can tell she was not the one to whisper in my ear.

I wondered briefly if it was simply my imagination, making me hear things that weren't said. But that idea went out the window when I realised that Katelyn's question proved she had heard it too.
When I came to the conclusion that someone definitely just spoke to me, I realised that someone else had to be in here with us. My head snapped around, searching the floor for any unfamiliar shadows.
Nothing.

"Did you hear that?" there was an alarmed element lacing Katelyn's voice. I raised my head, meeting her orbs of ice. Slowly, I nodded my head. Somehow, her eyes widened even further.
"This is bad.." She looks away, eyes searching the damp floor for something that wasn't there.
"What's wrong?"
She doesn't respond.

Time has passed since I heard the voice in my ear.
I couldn't say how much time, exactly, due to my sleep schedule being messed up, and the lack of natural light in the cave- but I knew it had been quite a lengthy amount.

Katelyn hasn't said anything since her 'this is bad'. I haven't managed to coerce her into saying anything else to me; she just stands there, helpless, eyes trained on the rocks, like a ragdoll. Unmoving.
Despite not having known her for very long, she is the only comfort I have in this cave. We are friends. And we will get out together.
So, as expected, it disturbs me greatly to see her like this.

Soon, the thoughts of the voice in my ear, and Katelyn's condition, are scraped away by pang after pang deep in my stomach. I double over in pain, feeling as though I've just had a fist buried in my gut. Breathing heavily, eyes squeezed shut, I lower myself to the ground, back pressed uncomfortably up against the face of the wall, smoothed by the ocean.