Jessica
My eyes opened, and the first thing I saw was a pair of gray eyes staring straight down into mine.
He was crouching right above me, his face inches from my own.
He did not blink.
He did not back away.
He just stayed there, unmoving, watching me wake up.
I froze against the cold rock under my back.
My heart pounded against my ribs while I took in his pale skin and his steady gaze.
I jammed my palms against the stone floor and forced myself upright.
“Who the hell are you?” I shouted.
I raised my hands, pulling them into tight fists in front of my chest to defend myself.
“Who are you? What are you doing?”
The words had barely left my mouth before my strength vanished.
My vision blurred, and my arms dropped.
My body gave out completely, and I tumbled backward toward the sharp stone floor.
Before my head hit the rock, a hand reached out and caught my upper arm.
His grip was firm, taking my weight before I could strike the ground.
He pulled me up, setting me back upright against the rock wall behind me.
I stiffened under his touch.
That was when I heard the heavy sound of clanking metal.
His left arm was stretched out toward the wall behind him.
A thick iron chain ran from a cuff wrapped around his wrist directly into a massive iron ring fixed deep into the rock face.
I stared at his arm.
Then I turned my eyes to his face.
He was a stranger, but he did not look like any ordinary prisoner.
Long white hair fell down over his shoulders in heavy strands.
His gray eyes were sharp and filled with clear irritation, showing that my sudden waking had disturbed his quiet.
He wore dark black clothes that matched the shadows of the cavern.
His shirt hung open across his chest, exposing a black star tattoo right in the middle of his ribs.
A small silver ring pierced his left nostril.
A small silver bar went through his lower lip.
I disliked the fact that my mind even registered it, but he was handsome.
Even with the bitter expression on his face, his features were striking.
I pulled my arm out of his grip and pressed my back hard against the rock wall.
“Where am I?” I asked.
The man did not answer me right away.
He let go of my arm, stood up, and pulled his black shirt straight.
He took two steps over to a broad, flat rock and sat down.
His chain dragged along the cavern floor with a sharp, scraping sound.
I watched every single movement he made.
I looked down at his boots, up his long legs, across his shoulders, and back to his face.
Then I looked down at his feet again, following his body up and down.
I did this three times, trying to figure out what kind of person I was dealing with and whether he was an immediate threat.
He rested his elbows on his knees and looked straight at me.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
I did not give him an answer.
Instead, I turned my head and looked around the space.
A heavy rush of water filled the entire cavern.
Large rocks sat along the banks, and thick green bushes grew out of cracks near the water.
The sound of the current echoed continuously off the high stone walls.
I looked back at the man.
Then I looked around the wet cavern again.
Where was I?
Was I dead?
Was this place some realm after death?
Maybe I had actually died during the fall, and my spirit was stranded here beyond the living world.
I planted my palms on the flat rock beside me and tried to push myself up onto my feet.
A sharp pain shot through my knees the second I put weight on them.
My legs buckled immediately, and I dropped straight back onto the cold ground with a heavy thump.
I winced, clutching my knees.
“Damn it.”
The pain was sharp and real.
I leaned forward, rubbing my sore legs, and that was when my eyes caught something lying near him
A pile of wet cloth rested on the sand.
Right next to it sat a small object.
My chest went tight.
My breath hitched in my throat.
It was a small lilac teddy bear.
The fabric was damp but I recognized the round ears and the faded ribbon around its neck instantly.
I dropped to my hands and knees, ignoring the pain in my joints, and crawled across the sand toward it.
My fingers reached out, closed around the soft toy, and pulled it tightly against my chest.
“Thank God,” I whispered into its damp fur.
I squeezed it tight against my ribs.
The toy belonged to Josephine, I got it for her.
The moment I held the bear, memories rushed back into my mind with full force.
I saw my sister’s face clearly.
I heard her voice calling out my name.
I remembered her birthday, the stone halls of the palace, the sudden screaming, the blood on the floors, and the bright fire taking over the room.
I held the lilac bear tighter against my chest.
My eyes burned, but no tears fell down my face.
My throat felt too tight to cry.
The teddy bear proved one vital fact.
I was alive.
A small stuffed toy could not follow a dead soul into an afterlife.
There was no way an object from the real world could cross over with a corpse.
That meant I had survived.
I was alive, sitting in some location on the living ground.
Those men didn’t kill me…
I lifted my head slowly and turned my focus back to the man sitting on the rock.
Now that I knew I was alive, I needed answers from him.
I raised my hand and pointed a finger at the heavy chain around his arm.
“Who the hell are you?” I demanded.
He looked at me without moving.
“And why are you chained?” I asked, pointing directly at the iron link pinned to the wall behind him.
“Why is that iron on your wrist? Why are you locked to the stone?”
I stared at him with suspicion.
The sight of that chain made my stomach twist into knots.
I knew what chains felt like on my skin.
They had chained my arms to a heavy metal bed frame because they claimed I was dangerous.
They accused me of killing someone- someone I had never harmed, someone I had loved.
They had treated me as a criminal locked in a cell.
I looked at the man sitting before me.
Maybe he was locked in this dark cavern because he had done something terrible as well.
Maybe this whole cave was a hidden prison and I am back in it again.
Did I die in the prison in my last life?
The man tilted his head slightly, watching my expression.
“So, you finally decided to ask.”
My temper flared instantly.
“Why?? do you expect me to sit here and ask you polite questions?”
I pushed myself up against the rock face, balancing on my sore legs, and pointed my finger straight at his chest.
“The very first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was your face leaning right over me, two big gray eyes staring down at my face, and all this white hair!” I shook my head in frustration.
“What did you expect me to do? Wake up, smile, and start asking you pleasant questions?”
I folded my arms tightly over my chest, glaring at him.
“When I opened my eyes and saw you staring down at me, I thought I was dead,” I said.
“I thought I had landed right in front of the Moon God or Goddess. Why else would someone with long white hair and eyes like yours be crouching over me in a place like this?”
The moment I finished speaking, the man’s expression changed.
He threw his head back and burst into laughter.
It was not a small smirk or a quiet chuckle.
He laughed loudly, his deep voice carrying across the entire cavern and bouncing off the stone walls.
My eyebrows pulled together into a deep frown.
“What?”
He kept laughing, his white hair falling across his face as he shook his head.
“Funny.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Funny?”
I took a step closer to him, ignoring the ache in my ankles.
“Is this funny to you?”
He leaned back against his rock, a faint grin remaining on his face.
“Very.”
“Do you think my situation is a joke?” I pointed at the cavern around us, at the wet walls and the rushing water.
“Where the hell am I?”
I took another step toward the river, then turned back to face him again.
“Where is this place?”
I stepped closer to his seat.
“And how do I get out of here?”
He rested his back against the cavern wall and looked at me with a calm, unbothered expression.
“I have noticed that ever since you woke up, you have done nothing but curse and demand answers,” he said.
His voice was deliberate and formal, using outdated phrasing.
“Is that how young people speak to elders nowadays?”
I stared at him in confusion.
His speech was unnatural and old-fashioned.
He spoke with the formal cadence of someone who had spent a hundred years reading old text without ever holding a normal conversation with anyone.
“How do I leave this cave?” I asked again, keeping my tone sharp.
He crossed his arms over his chest.
“You need to sit down and relax.”
“I don’t have time to relax!” I snapped.
“If you wish to leave this place,” he said, “you must first calm yourself.”