Note from the Authoress: This is the first of one of my fics containing the
same characters: the Moonbeam Series.
Rating: PG
Genre:
Mystery
Setting:
Main
Characters: Hyru, Neon
Part 5
Hyru felt a throbbing pain in her head. She opened her eyes, panicking.
Everything was dark. Where was she? What had happened? She vaguely recalled
somebody throwing a bag over her head. Why hadn’t she listened to Neon? He had
warned her that this town was no good. But then, he was paranoid, he said that
in most places that were peaceful. She struggled slightly. Rope tightly bound
her hands behind her, and another thick piece of rope bound her ankles. She
could feel the rough material of a gag preventing her from screaming. She
leaned back, wondering what was to become of her. As she wondered, staring
vaguely in front of her she heard voices. Her eyes widened in terror as a light
flicked on outside the room she was imprisoned. Whoever was talking clearly had
no intention of entering the room yet. She couldn’t make out the voices, they
just sounded muffled. But the light seeping into the room through the cracks in
the door allowed her to take in her surroundings, although the light merely
illuminated the room in shades of grey. There were no windows in the place, and
no other doors. She heard something scrape across the floor outside the door.
It sounded like a guard was being set up outside. Hyru wondered why. Perhaps
Neon had been sighted nearby. Hope rose in her heart, perhaps there was a
chance for her to escape after all. But if they were setting up a guard, that would mean that he was expected. They could
easily set up a trap for him. She felt her heart sink again. True, he would
soon realise that she was missing, but what could he hope to achieve if these
people were warriors. She realised suddenly that while her thoughts were
rationalising her chances of escape she had been staring at a corner of a room.
She became aware slowly that the floor in that corner was shifting. Someone…or
something… was coming out of the floor.
Neon had practically
destroyed the inn room. He had arrived there, unbeknownst to him, about five
minutes after Hyru had been dragged away. He had found a pole on the floor,
with blood scattered lightly over one part of it. There were signs of a
struggle. Neon wasn’t stupid, he immediately put the facts together and
realised that Hyru had been kidnapped. He hadn’t thought about questioning the people at the inn. He assumed that the innkeeper
either wouldn’t have a clue what had happened to her, or was one of the
kidnappers. In a fit of anger, partly at himself for leaving Hyru alone, and partly at whoever had kidnapped her, Neon had
taken his anger out on the room. He collapsed on the bed, burying his head in
his hand. Then a thought struck him. It was odd, how much noise he had been
making. Somebody should have heard. But nobody had come up to find out what was
happening. That could only mean that the inn was deserted. Which,
he reasoned, in turn would mean that the innkeeper and staff had kidnapped
Hyru. He had no idea where they would have taken her but if the inn was
truly deserted, it was possible he may be able to find some clue about her
whereabouts. Filled wit ha sense of purpose, he crept carefully out of the
room, intent on finding details about what had happened.
Hyru stared at the floor transfixed, as it moved upwards. A dark figure pulled
itself out of a hole, and immediately crouched. It looked incredibly deformed.
Hyru guessed it was taking in its position. It seemed to gaze at the door for a
while, then, almost as if it was convinced that nobody was about to enter,
started to creep towards Hyru. She was to terrified to
scream. The figure reached her. Her eyes widened in shock, as the feeble amount
of light still coming out from under the door showed the figures face. It was
the man from the pub, the one who had warned her to leave the village. Thoughts
began racing through her mind again. Why was he here? In a swift movement he
drew something from under what she could now see was a cloak. She tried and
failed to gasp as the light glinted off of a sharp edge. He had a knife. Was he
going to kill her? He slashed through the ties on her ankles even as she
thought this. He quickly cut the bonds tying her hands together, then removed her gag. Before she could say anything though,
he quickly stopped her, covering her mouth with his hand. He leaned close to
her ear whispering
“hush, there’s a guard right outside. Follow me, be as
quiet as you can.” he removed his hand. Hyru looked towards the door. It didn’t
look like she had much choice. At least she was free now, so if the man turned
on her she could defend herself. Carefully she followed him back to the hole in
the floor, a trapdoor she saw as she approached it. She hesitated on the edge
of the dark opening before dropping herself down in the darkness behind him.
END OF PART 5