Captivated

Bruised

For @hunnie_boo  Thank you for your funny comments and reading. You always make me laugh❤️

- Four days till the ceremony - 

I stepped out of the bathroom, showered. I was honestly tiring of the colour white. Everything in my room was entirely composed of white from the soaps to all the clothes I was given. It was everywhere and made everything just seem... endless and hopeless. Like there was no way out.

I stopped in my tracks. On the side table, there was a woven wooden basket with a cover secured on, clearly placed there when I was in the bathroom. I tore the lip off, hoping it was what I thought it was, and smiled when I saw the contents.

Neatly organised were a few water bottles and some items skilfully wrapped in brown paper with string tying it closed. I picked one up tentatively and examined it. It felt like some kind of bread, a food that was long-lasting and a long-term source of energy which would help me as I didn't know how long it would take me to reach civilisation if I ran from here. I rummaged through the contents of the basket and saw a note from, I presume Amara.

'For when you are hungry and do not have food'.

I stared at the cursive writing, suspiciously. She was definitely sending mixed signals. Was she encouraging me to escape or not? I placed the note on the side and noticed a little flap in the basket. As I pulled it up, I noted a small medical box, with a prominent red plus sign. I opened the box and saw plasters, bandages and antiseptic. There was another note telling me to use it wisely with a winking emoticon.

Not suspicious at all.

I looked at the finger where Mikhail had bitten me and sighed at the thin scab left behind. I did not want any remnants from him in my body but I wasn't going to use the plaster on it as I didn't want to raise any questions about where I got the plaster from.

Someone knocked on the door sharply, making me jump slightly. Judging by the single knock it was probably Jacob - also, no one else was allowed to see me. I shoved the basket underneath my bed, and quickly put on some clothes, tying my thick wet hair into a sloppy bun. I opened the door, slightly out of breath to see a miserable Jacob.

"Your ceremonial robes measurements are to be taken today. Follow me".

Would it kill him to be polite?

I nodded anyway and followed him, falling into step rather than trailing behind him like I usually do. He grunted but said nothing, leading the way. We walked and walked, taking twists and turns through doors I had never seen it before, making me wonder how I had never seen them before. There were hardly any people about but those that did see me gave me the same cold shoulder treatment.

"How long till we get there?" I asked, slightly childishly but mostly because the silence was becoming unbearably awkward and my feet were starting to hurt. His moodiness hung over us like a grey could, making the atmosphere stifling and uncomfortable.

He ignored my question and marched on ahead making me increase my pace. Sighing, I fell back into silence, pondering my situation. My conversation with Amara hadn't been entirely useless; I had learned that this ceremony would cause me an awful amount of pain, like your soul being ripped in half - whatever that meant. But a soul wasn't a physical thing so surely the pain wouldn't be physical? Either way, I didn't want to find out. It frustrated how trivially this was being treated, how everyone just accepted whatever Mikhail wanted them to do and how Amara selectively answered my questions. Like when I asked her what a Luna meant, she had told me I would find out eventually, rather than just telling me. Was it a word of importance?