Chapter 53: Chapter Fifty-Three

A piercing howl rented through the night air, jolting Saffron from her light sleep, the howl so far yet so close to her, its sound one of fury and carrying a promise of retribution in it.

She laid on her bed eyes wide open and around her, as she wondered what the noise belonged to, and where it was coming from.

Another loud howl sounded through the open windows of the room she shared with Kiera. But this time, it was a painful mewling sound that tugged at her heartstring, making her rub her chest with the palm of her hand, as her gaze snapped towards the window.

Her gaze went back to Kiera, who was sleeping soundly, soft snores emanating from her slightly parted lips, wondering whether she was the only person hearing the sorrowful sound.

Another howl rented through the air again, the sound echoing far much longer than the others before it, the pain and anguish in it making her stumble back onto her bed, her heart beating erratically in her chest.

The sound went on for what felt like an eternity, but was only a few minutes in reality, each second that passed sending a spike of pain through her heart, and making her curl in a fetal position.

It was only when the pained howl died down, and silence reigned in the night once again that Saffron realized she had been crying.

Saffron had no idea why she had been affected by the sound so viscerally, or why she was the only person who seemed to be affected by it.

Kiera was still sleeping as soundly as she had been when the first howling had started.

And from the lack of chatter that came from the too thin walls that separated the slaves’ rooms, Saffron knew that everyone was asleep, as opposed to her.

Pushing the flimsy quilt off of her body, Saffron slipped off her bed, and tiptoed out of the bedroom, pausing only a second to pick up her slippers, and to ensure that Kiera was still sleeping, before she slipped out, closing the door silently behind her.

The walk from their bedroom to the store-room was unnerving, as with each step she took forward, it felt like her legs were encased in hard steel, making the store-room seem so much farther than it was.

After every five steps, she stopped and took a break due to the shortness in her breath, and a sudden lethargy she felt, which had come out of nowhere.

Saffron wasn’t athletic by any means, but ever since she had began to walk herself home from school, walking wasn’t an issue for her, neither was running. But tonight, it felt like there was something wrong with her body.

She felt like there was something out there leeching the energy off of her, which didn’t make a lick of sense to her, but was also the only way she could explain why she was feeling lethargic, when it had never happened to her before.

She worked on her feet for hours, and no matter how tired she was from the exertion of her body, she had never felt this tired before. And, she hadn’t even worked the day before. So, why was she feeling tired, and how was it possible that she felt like something was draining the energy from her?

She glanced back at the way she had come from, wondering if she shouldn’t just give up the sleuthing and return to bed, when she had no idea what she was even looking for, or what she was going to find, when she got to her destination. A destination which she still hadn’t figured out, only relying on her gut to show her the way.

She had no idea whether what she was going to find was dangerous or not.

All she knew was that wherever the sound had come from, it had to be somewhere around the hot spring she had found the day before, and she needed to be there.

She hadn’t gone far from the slave quarters, but it would take a considerate amount of time to get back to their bedroom–an amount of time which she could use to also get her to the hot spring.

Taking a deep breath, Saffron rose to her feet, and took a step forward, making up her mind to investigate the source of the mournful howl that had woken her up.

It took an awful long amount of time–with moments in which she had gotten lost twice–before Saffron finally made it to the hot spring.

The sun had already began to rise when she got to it, and to her immense surprise, there was nothing to be found there.

There was no disturbance in the fallen leaves to alert her to the presence of another, nothing to indicate that someone had been there at all.

Something akin to disappoint lanced through her heart, before it settled into sorrow.

‘Why?’ She thought with a frown, as she collapsed against the trunk of a tree, resting her head over its body.

‘Were you hoping to find something here?’ The voice asked, its tone dripping with raw sarcasm.

‘Oh, you’re back?’ she faked enthusiasm, answering back through her mind. ‘I felt absolutely bereft without you.’

‘Yeah, I can see that.’

Saffron ignored the jab, focusing her attention on breathing in and out steadily, as a sharp spike of pain speared through her head, rendering her sightless for a few seconds.

‘What the hell?’ she gasped inwardly, when another spike of pain hit her, this time squarely in the chest.

Saffron thought she knew what pain was, but the pain she was feeling now was unlike anything she had ever experienced before, it was all consuming, all encompassing. It was too much for her to handle, and she passed out.

When she came to, the sun had fully risen, and the visceral pain was gone, leaving behind one hell of a headache she had to nurse later, when she got back to her room.

Without wasting any time to wonder what had happened to her, Saffron dragged her battered body back to the slave quarters, spikes of pain shooting straight through her body, from the soles of her feet up to her temple.

When she got back to the slave quarters, she found almost all the slaves gathered in the kitchen, their loud chatter echoing through her head, and making her head hurt even more than it already was.

She wanted to shout at them to keep quiet, but the last statement she heard had her tensing, making her turn around slowly, to face Kiera, who was in the middle of announcing what had gone down in the island while they were sleeping.

“What was that?” she croaked out, hoping and praying that she had heard Kiera incorrectly.

“Ryder was attacked last night,” Kiera repeated, a puzzled expression appearing on her face, when Saffron let out a painful gasp.

“Is he okay?” she asked, earning quizzical looks from the other slaves but she didn’t care, her attention was focused solely on Kiera, waiting with bated breath for the answer to her question.

“Maybe,” Kiera shrugged, her tone flippant, unaware of the turmoil going on within Saffron.

‘Ryder was attacked.’

‘Ryder was attacked?’ she repeated inwardly, grabbing onto the first thing her hand could reach, as she felt her world tilt on its axis.

When the room stopped spinning, she looked around to find the slaves gazing at her with myriads of expressions on their faces, each more negative than the other.

“Kiera, can you help me to our room? I don’t feel so well.”

“Of course,” Kiera nodded with enthusiasm, as she skipped towards Saffron and linked their arms together, stirring her towards the exit.

As they walked towards their bedroom, all Saffron could think about was Ryder, and whether or not he was going to be okay.