Page 101 of Lost in the Dark

If that were the case, all the wealthy men in town would find themselves down in my cave.

As I padded down the tunnel, I heard a low shuffling sound and rocks skittering about the cavern floor with each of the human’s steps. It was obvious they were trying to be quiet, but with my superior hearing it was no use.

I paused as the sound drew nearer and contemplated how I was going to approach this situation without frightening the woman.

Who was I kidding? Of course she was going to be frightened. My legend proceeded me and I had this struggle each time a new “sacrifice” ended up in my cave. Perhaps if I called out to her to reassure her first?

Yes, I’d call out to her to console her.

“Do not be afraid, human. I mean you no harm.” My voice was harsh and gravelly from disuse, and the resounding echo from the cavern walls made it even more ominous.

I heard the human suck in a breath before she turned the opposite way and started to run.

My tail twitched behind me in annoyance. It was dangerous for a human to run blindly in these caves. The floor was littered with rocks and the tunnels often led to dead ends. I had no choice but to chase after her.

“Wait,” I called out as I chased behind her. “I said I mean you no harm!”

Her screams bounced off of the cave walls and pierced my sensitive ears, but there was no way I was going to leave her to die down here, lost and alone.

With each of my wide steps, I closed the distance between us. When I was only a few feet behind her, she tripped and fell to the ground with a loud thump.

Carefully I crept closer, until her feet rested in front of me. I reached out with my boot and gently nudged her bare toes, but she didn’t move. The soles of her feet were bloody and small stones dug into her sensitive skin. The poor thing had been running from me in her bare feet. Each step she took must have been pure agony. All in an attempt to get away from me.

I leaned over her body and watched her chest slowly rise and fall with each breath she took.

She was still alive.

Before I knew what I was doing, I scooped her limp body into my arms and carried her back through the tunnel to my living quarters.

I laid her down on my bed of furs and checked her over for any other injuries. Thick waves of brown hair hung down over her face, and I pushed back the strands with the clawed tip of my finger. A jagged cut ran along her hairline and blood trickled down her temple.

She must have hit her head on a rock when she fell. I should have known better than to chase after her. Especially after all the rumors she likely grew up hearing about the demon that resides in this cave.

I grabbed a rag and dipped it in the water basin before returning to where she was sprawled out on the furs.

Her dress hung loose on her gaunt body. It was likely that she lived a life of poverty, like most of those unfortunate souls that found their way into these depths—myself included.

Gently, I dabbed at her wound and took note of her features. Her face was thin and pale, with a pert nose and full lips. Along one of her eyebrows was a greenish purple streak, the telltale color of a fading bruise.

Anger roiled up inside of me.

Her gaunt body, her stench, the bruising. It was obvious she lived a hard life, one that disgusted the town folks' fragile sensibilities, but that was in the past. She’d be safe now.

As I put pressure on her wound to stop the bleeding, I stared down at her face. She was beautiful, and with proper food and sunlight, she would be even moreso.

I gently trailed the back of my free hand along her jawline, and she stirred beneath me ever so slightly, but she didn’t awaken.

When I was confident I’d stopped the bleeding, I stepped back and checked her over once more. There was no way I could leave her feet like that. She was probably in immense pain.

I looked at the shelf I’d carved into the wall lined with tinctures and selected one specifically for pain relief. After popping off the cork top, I poured the mixture over her feet.

While she slept, I used the sharp tips of my claws to pick out each jagged piece of rock from her soles before bandaging them with strips of linen.

I sighed, allowing myself one last look at her before I rose to my feet and sat down by the fire to wait for her to wake.

Iris

My eyes fluttered open, the room around me swirling in warm orange tones and shadows. There was a steady throbbing in my head and my feet felt as if they were on fire. The low humming of a familiar song filled my ears as a large figure moved from out of the corner of my vision.