Shatter Pieces

Chapter Eleven: Running

Elvira

When I awoke the next time I wasn't as confused as I had been the first time. This time I knew that I was in a hospital, that I had been taken from Master, and that it was going to take some work to find a way out of this prison. I noticed that the needles had been tapped to my arm probably to discourage me from pulling them out again. My arm and leg were also now covered by some sort of hard bandage, that made it impossible for me to bend them. I assumed that was to help my bones be able to heal, but I had never seen anything like it before.

Careful not to knock any of the needles in case it set of those alarms again I got out of bed and started exploring the room. It was hard with my wrapped limbs and aching back as well as having to carefully move the machines connected to my arms to ensure I didn't pull them out of my arm. If I was going to find a way back to Master I had to know where I was being kept. Because if I didn't get back to Master quickly I knew that the punishment would be even worse than last time, he wouldn't kill me, no he was much smarter than that. If he found me before I found him it would just mean more pain to me, but if I could prove that I hadn't wanted to leave him he might take it easier on me. I began searching for anything that might help me.

There were all sorts of different pills inside the cabinets with labels so full of words I had no hope of ever being able to read them. There were extra sheets and pillows on some of the shelves and I wondered if this room was suppose to hold more than one patient at a time, it would make sense for the amount of extra equipment stored here.

I went back to my search, but found nothing else interesting. I noticed that I was on the ground level of the hospital and the windows were facing a beautiful forest. That was where I was going to have to go, it was the only place I could see that might help me find my way back home. The only problem now was figuring out how to get all the needles out of my arm without setting off the alarm.

Upon further inspection I realized that all of the machines were plugged in. The obvious solution seemed to be unplugging them and then pulling the needles from my arm. Without a second option I knew that it was a risky plan but I had to get out of this place as quickly as I possibly could. Master had to be furious that I was gone and coming back of my own free will would show him that I would always listen to him.

Hurrying over the plugs I began to pull them from the wall one by one. I waited after each machine turned off to see if an alarm was going to sound, but to my amazement nothing happened. As the last display screen went dark I yanked the needles from my arm for a second time. The pain wasn't as bad as I had expected though it did bleed quite a bit. I grabbed a small rag using it to apply pressure to the wound as I made my way over to the window. It swung open with little effort and I maneuvered my body so that I was sitting on the edge with only a few feet between me and freedom. Taking a deep breath I pushed myself over the sill and landed on the cold damp grass that led me straight to the forest.

I glanced back at the room once wondering what would happen if I stayed, if I allowed myself to be taken care of and recover properly. I shock my head, someone here had to work for Master and was reporting what was going on to him. It had to be some sort of elaborate test to see if I really was the good girl Master had been training me to be. With that I turned back to the canopy of trees and sprinted across the grass and lost myself in the deep shadows of the pine and oak forest.

My back screamed from the movement and I felt something thick and sticky covering my back and I was willing to be that it was blood. The wraps on my leg made it hard to run, but I had put up with much worse pain and continued to push my body. It was hard to breathe when every breath sent sharp red hot jolts of pain through my ribs, but I did it anyways. I ran and ran, I wouldn't stop, not when I had no idea if they had discovered I was gone yet.

By the time I stopped running the sun had set in the sky and my body felt like jello. I slowly trudged through the cold dark woods looking for somewhere to rest just for a few moments. When I stumbled into a clearing filled with vibrant wildflowers and lush green grass. I lowered myself into the grass deciding this was as good a place as any to rest.

I wasn't sure where I was or where I was going but I knew that I had to get back to Master. I glanced around at the trees and foliage around me having no clue how far I have come. All I knew was that I was tired and my body was begging for me to rest and let it try to heal as much as possible before heading out again.

They sky was one large dark mass and for some reason it brought me peace. It reminded me a little of the darkness that use to invade my room when Master turned out my lights. But this darkness, it seemed less dense as if it were here to comfort instead of confine me. I breathed in that darkness letting it fill my aching lungs allowing it to hold my soul in its grip.

The world seemed so big from here and that unending sky made me feel as if I didn't matter at all. Compared to the vast area of the sky I was really nothing, my existence was unimportant compared to the grandeur of the sky. The darkness filling my lungs took me away from my body and allowed me to lose myself in the dark endlessness of the black sky.

As my mind began to calm and I allowed my body to rest something fell in my face. I sat up quickly reaching up to brush my cheek, I discovered a drop of water sitting on my finger. I wasn't crying though so how had a drop of water ended up on my face? Then more and more droplets of water began appearing on my skin and I realized that they were coming from the sky.

I looked up wondering what could have been so horrible it made the sky cry, what had been done to it to cause it such pain. I knew what it was like to experience pain, the raw untamed agony of it was something I would never be able to forget. I reached up to collect the tears in my hand, hoping that maybe it would show the sky it was okay to cry. I let my own past flow down my cheeks and the sky's tears washed away my own as they came down faster and faster until I was dripping wet. I lay back down and allowed the soothing chill to carry me away once again, letting my body rest.

The darkness seeped into me, there was no space for light or air here there was only darkness. I had no connection to time here, there was no way to know how long I had been here. This was one of Masters favorite punishments hurling me into the dark and not allowing me any light. It made me into a shell, I never knew what to do when I came out of the room and had to be reminded of how to function like a normal person.

He didn't seem to understand that while the shadows tore me apart they also rebuilt me. After they took every dark thing inside me and used it against me they pulled the long forgotten memories of my past out. They made them somehow clearer as if they wished for me to remember where I had once been instead of where I now was. It was silly and I knew not to tell Master about it because he would insist I needed a punishment for that kind of talk. But I learned to love the shadows even though I dreaded being trapped in them for however long it would be.