The She-Bean

The Glade

You were torn between wanting to call out to the voices above you, hoping they would be able to help and complete terror of what they would do to you. As it was you kept quiet, staring up at the crack in the ceiling.

This too, turned out to be a mistake.

The doors opened with a creak and bright white light poured into the cage. You winced and closed your eyes quickly, burying your face in your knees. You let your hair fall around your arms as you tried to block it out. You were trembling violently again and you couldn't stop.

A loud thump sounded and the box shook, telling you someone had jumped in. You whipped your head up to see who you were dealing with.

Blinking hard agenst the light you saw a boy standing across from you. He was tall and lean, but strong, with dirty blond hair that fell in front of his deep brown eyes. His mouth hung slack as he stared at you, and he sounded shocked as he whispered

"You're a girl."

"What'd you say Newt?!" someone called from above you. Your head snapped up to see six other boys staring down at you over the rim of your cage.

"I said it's a bloody girl!" this boy, Newt, yelled back, in a thick British accent.

Your eyes darted between the teens above you to the boy in front of you, debating your options. You could fight, but 7 against 1 seemed like a losing battle. You could run, but where would you go? Besides you would have to get out of this box first and you werent sure you could even move right now.

It didn't really matter anyway. You didn't have time to do anything. The boy looked down at you again and took a step forward. You felt every muscle in your body tence in fear as you pushed your back further agenst the wall. The boy's eyes went wide and he steped back, putting his hands up in a gesture of piece.

"Whoa there greenie" he said, taking another step back. "There's no need to pannic, I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise."

You stared at him skeptically, as he croutched down. He didn't come closer, just made himself eye level with you.

You looked him up and down, still tence. He seemed harmless enough, but looks could be deceiving. He didn't speak, instead he patiently watched you study him. A few moments later when he did speak, it was in a calm gentle voice.

"May I come over to you love?"

You cocked your head to one side, confused. Why would he ask permission? What would he do to you? Could you trust him? So far it seemed like he wanted to help you. You felt your worried expression soften and gave him the tiniest nod of your head.

He smiled and stood, silently making his way over. He sat down next to you, though he left enough room that you wouldn't touch. You appreciate this. You still couldn't stop yourself from shaking and you didn't really want him to know that.

You looked at him, still confused and scared, but grateful not to be alone. You offered a weak smile, which he returned.

A loud noise from above you tore your attention away. One boy with strange eyebrows was glaring daggers at you. You shrank in on yourself as he yelled,

"What's taking so shucking long Newt?!

"Shut your hole Galley! She's scared, and you're just making things worse by yelling!"

"It's not that shucking hard! Just get the slint head up here!"

Newt was right. The loud voices were pushing you over the edge. You buried your face in your knees again, wrapping your good arm around yourself and hiding behind your hair. The shaking got worse and you felt a tear slip down your face.

"Dang it Galley you're scaring her!"

You sucked in quick short breaths, waiting to hear the boy above you yell again, but he didn't. Istead the only sound was the slight creak of metal as Newt shifted closer to you.

He reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind your ear. You tensed at the touch, but as he continued to smooth your hair back you felt yourself calm. Your breathing evened out and the tears stoped, the shaking even slowed a bit.

"There you go love. Can you look up for me? Can you show me your eyes?" he asked quietly.

You took a deep breath and slowly met his eyes.

"There you are."

He reached up and brushed back the rest of your hair before gently wiping the tears from your cheeks.

"Can I help you out of this box now greenie?"

You looked from him to the boys above you and then back again. Newt seemed kind enough but the boys above you did not. You shook your head slightly. Newt looked like he was going to say something but a booming voice cut him off.

"That does it, I'll take care of this shank Newt!"

You cringed as the angry boy from before jumped into the box with a loud crash. He stood and began stomping towards you.

"Up!" He yelled.

You stumbled to stand but your knees gave out and you were on the ground again.

"I said up!" he shouted grabbing both shoulders and forcing you to your feet.

You winced hard as he touched your injured arm but you didn't think he even noticed.

"Leave her alone Galley! You're making it worse! Don't hurt her!" Newt protested but Galley wasn't listening.

He grabed you around the waist and threw you out of the box. As you flew through the air, time seemed to slow and instinct kicked in.

You tucked and rolled backwards, springing to your feet a second later. You had no idea where you learned to do that but at this point, that was not a top priority. Right now you needed somewhere to hide and get away from these crazy people.

You scanned your surroundings, not really taking anything in, just searching for a hiding place. Your eyes locked on a group of trees in the distance. That would work!

You pushed off to run but were suddenly jerked back. Galley had the back of your shirt in his fist.

He pulled you roughly to his chest and whispered in your ear, "Where do you think you're going greenie? I'm not done with you yet."

The instinks from before took over again.

"let... me... GO!" you shouted, jerking your elbow into the boy's nose, his hands flew to his face.

He let go of you and as he did only one thought rang through your head, loud and clear.

Away.

Get away, go anywhere so long as it was away from these crazy boys, run AWAY!

You did. You ran and you were sure it was the most amazing feeling you'd ever experienced.

The world was drowned out by the pulse of your own heart in your ears and the roar of the wind as it whistled by whipping your hair out behind you. Your legs moved faster than you thought should have been possible as you darted across the field.

You chanced a glance behind you, just to see if you were being followed, you were. All 7 boys chased after you though you had a good lead and were stedily pulling further away.

One boy was glaring at you coldly and clutching his nose that you knew was most likely broken. The hate in his eyes was terifying and that fear stregnthened your resolve propelling you forward faster.

You turned your attention ahead again, focusing on one particularly large tree in the distance. You ran to it's base and without hesitation, began the climb.