One Shot | September Writing Prompts

TWENTY-SIX | Yikes

Heart pounding. Breath shallow and heaving. It was too hot and also too cold. Images flashed like sparks of lightening in a shrouded sky. Each image presented itself for only a moment, but dealt terrible, fearsome blows riddled with the terrible images from captivity. Sounds of screams and sobs clawing through the air in the dead of night. Chest tightening. It was getting harder to breathe. The feeling of being seized and lifted into the air rushed through every nerve, every fiber of being. A quick, sharp pain followed by being plunged into darkness. A bright light of a silhouetted figure, but not the one from before. Then darkness again.

She sat bolt upright in her bed, drenched in a cold sweat. Her breathing was ragged. Her heart felt like it was going to burst. Her entire body vibrated with clenching anxiety. It created a terrible tension in her chest and roaring in her ears. Violet glanced around the room. She wasn't there anymore. She wasn't with those terrible humans. She was at the Shelter. She was safe. Violet repeated these things over and over in her mind as she brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms... arm... around them.

It was a strange sensation, having just the one arm. There were moments she could have sworn it was there. Other times, it felt like it was pinching or tingling. Other times, there was nothing. Violet didn't mind the pain, or the pinching and tingling sensations. It was the lack of feeling that scared her. Not that worrying or feeling scared could do anything for her except resign her to the bed. There was little point in worrying or being afraid. When everything in the outside world was out to get them, fear and worry were only hindrances – not that she could stop herself from feeling, despite her best efforts. The humans could do what they wanted when they wanted. She had been there, experienced it first-hand. She knew there was nothing she could do. So, what was the point?

At least, that was what she thought when she arrived at the Shelter. Violet was always acutely aware that there was nothing she could do, but that didn't stop her from admiring the ones who tried.

Violet admired any of the borrowers when they went out into the big rooms of the house, especially if the encountered a human. Perci was one of them. Since Violet was currently staying with Perci and had gone along a few times just to watch her borrow. A few times, Perci was in plain view darting across the counter when one of the so called "team members" walked in. Though Perci was never seen for very long, barely a glimpse, just the thought of being spotted spontaneously like that sent chills down Violet's spine. Violet didn't know what was worse, being seen spontaneously or going out deliberately to visit the humans.

This was one of the reasons she admired Roman and Remus. The twins were always ducking in and out between the walled-in world of the borrowers and the big human rooms. They would speak with the human known as Thomas freely. In fact, they would talk with any one of the team members if they happened to cross paths. Their blend of being with their own kind and the humans was staggering, not to mention their fearless ability to speak without stuttering.

One borrower never seemed to be afraid of the humans – the one called Hickory. Violet had met Hickory seven times now, and always when Violet needed to go visit the human, Ali. Hickory had been on Ali's shoulder when Violet first met her and actually ran down Ali's arm to greet her. Hickory seemed unabashed in Ali's presence, being alright with being carried or held by her human counterpart as well as having long, drawn-out conversations with her. Hickory even dared to tell the human Ali what to do, and Ali listened.

Seeing Hickory's fearlessness in Ali's presence was unnerving but reassuring in some strange way. Violet knew if Hickory said or did the wrong thing, it would take only an instant for Ali to punish the borrower. It would be effortless from a human's perspective to crush Hickory between her fingers. Nothing like this ever happened, of course, but Hickory watched it happen enough to know it was possible. Since coming to the Shelter, Violet began to understand that Ali wasn't like the humans Violet was with before coming to the Shelter. Not that it made Violet trust Ali whole-heartedly, but it was reassuring. Violet knew she could never be brave enough to speak to a human the way Hickory did, and she accepted compliance with the humans. It was the easiest course of action. It was safe – something she hadn't felt in a long time.