Page 6 of Captured By the Monsters
When we exited the cave, I plastered my face to the window to stare out at my barely visible surroundings. I wondered if it was nearly dusk here, too, like in The Above, or if it was always this dark and gloomy.
A few feet further, the shuttle settled in the dusty expanse of the foreign land. With a hissing noise, the doors opened. An almost excessively sweet smell hit me immediately, making me gasp and choke.
I desperately sucked in air, trying to dislodge the scent, but with every inhale, a painful burning seared my nostrils and lungs. It was as if the air itself was doing it, and I wondered if the leader representatives forgot to mention this. Were our bodies not equipped to live in their environment? Was the air poisoning us?
The fact that the air was poisonous seemed like a pretty important piece of information to omit. Then again, maybe no one knew since the women who were sent down never returned. I scratched at my throat in a panic as my eyes bulged, terrified I was suffocating. Around me, the other girls mimicked my motions, tears streaming down their faces. All this time, no one had spoken, but our expressions said it all. We realized a vital piece of information that no one ever told us.
The monsters wouldn’t kill us—their land would.
Well, the monsters may still kill us, but for now, they weren’t the imminent threat.
Was this why the monsters kept demanding more and more women? Because they weren’t actually receiving them? Were they all dying during their first seconds in this foreign land?
Cursing the world, I hopped out of the shuttle, back toward the mouth of the cave. If I could just go back… But that was a fool’s wish. Staring into the inky abyss back to The Above, I knew I’d never be able to scale the drop. I would need another transport. The monsters had to have something they used to rise out of this hellhole during the war. I just needed to find one before I died.
When I returned to the shuttle, I found it empty. Unease skidded through me—I hadn’t heard the other women leave. Did they run? Or did someone—or something—take them?What little air remained in my lungs whooshed out at the thought.
Of their own accord, my legs started running. I had to find safety of some kind.
Ashy dust plumed around me every time my feet kissed the ground, and I tried hard not to cough. I didn’t want to risk inhaling any more of the noxious air around me.
I had no idea how long I sprinted—not far, considering the very air was knocking the wind out of me—but eventually I gave up and collapsed to the ground, exhausted and sick. With my cheek burrowed into the dust, I stared into the distance, barely making out the form of a large structure with looming spires and imposing turrets.
A castle? Perhaps. Definitely a building of some sort.
Which meant I was close.
If I could just make it there, I might find a way to escape. But Fate was a cruel bitch who taunted me with the vision of freedom when in reality, I would never reach the structure—just like I didn’t reach my twenty-fifth birthday.
A depressing ache settled in my heart, knowing that my mom was right.
I wasn’t coming back—but I wanted to, if just to tell everyone in The Above the truth. To save more lives.
Unwillingly, my eyes grew heavy until they shut completely, but not before a shadow danced across my line of sight. A light wind blew over my body, sending a chill straight to my heart as I felt the presence of something in my midst. A scratching sound told me the thing was close.
Refusing to lose, I opened my mouth and took a deep inhale, the lethal air swirling heavily in my chest. A victorious smile graced my lips as the answering darkness of death called to me. I stepped into its embrace, unconsciousness washing over me.
Even dead, I’d managed to spite these monster bastards.
